Really? Just buy the authentic ones and not have to worry about messing with your iPhone. It's only $20.
i buy authentic ones, but for main use for work (i travel a lot) i use a monster cable, which is pretty reliable.
for my car i use a belkin, but there are 5 dollar ones that are cheap.
but 20 dollars? for faulty cables? ONLY 20 dollars is hardly cheap for a cable that withers pretty fast.