From my recollection an SLP firehawk hood is legal in CMC.
Can anyone tell me how to verify if that style of hood is an actual factory (SLP?) piece or some knockoff?
There is one locally that I've looked at. I'm fairly certain is a cheapo but I want to be certain before I pass on it.
obviously I would NOT be using the ram-air function

Julie (CMC#37) use's one here in SoCal CMC. She a mod here, and has a website http://www.geckoranch.com/index.html

There's not really an easy way to tell if it's an actual SLP or a knock off. If you some picks (top, bottom and nostrils), I can tell you if it looks accurate or not, which may be the best you can do. Since there's not an easy way to tell an actual SLP from a knockoff, you'd probably be just fine with a good imitation. Also, just an FYI, the WS6 hoods are interchangeable with Firehawk hoods for 96/97.