Recently, the U.S. Department of Justice announced federal charges against an Ohio man accused of smuggling body armor from China and marketing it to unsuspecting U.S. law enforcement and civilian customers. It’s a tactic I call whitewashing—slapping an attractive country of origin on foreign-made, untested gear and passing it off as legitimate protection.
This isn’t just bad business—it’s a flagrant breach of trust and safety that puts lives at risk. In my personal opinion, it should be prosecuted as attempted murder.
At Ballistic Armor Co., stories like this aren’t just upsetting—they validate the hard decisions we’ve made to build our business on integrity, transparency, and verifiable performance. Because in this industry, even if you’re not outright lying, willfully omitting key product information is deception.
Here’s how we’re different—and why it matters:
1. We Source from Reputable, Time-Tested Manufacturers
Every armor product we sell is made by suppliers with decades of proven performance. These aren’t fly-by-night factories or anonymous international exporters—we work exclusively with partners who uphold the highest manufacturing and ethical standards, and who are subject to the same regulations and enforcement bodies that we are.
2. We Test Everything—Independently
All of our armor is tested at laboratories that are independently accredited by the NIJ (National Institute of Justice), the federal body that sets the gold standard for ballistic protection. Our helmets, while not "certified" by NIJ (as the NIJ does not certify helmets), are tested to explicit NIJ-prescribed standards by those same accredited labs.
3. NIJ Certification: Real, Transparent, and Enforced
Some of our armor products are NIJ certified, and others are not. The certification process is expensive, rigorous, public—and always passed along to the end user, so we offer both options. If someone claims NIJ certification, you can verify it easily. If you can’t verify NIJ certification, that’s a red flag. We always encourage customers to do their own due diligence.
4. Chain of Custody is Everything
We maintain full chain-of-custody documentation and ballistic lab reports for every armor product we sell, from original manufacturer to final destination. These records are available to customers or partners upon request. We don’t post them publicly, and here's why: bad actors like the one indicted in February routinely steal, forge, or plagiarize these documents to sell fraudulent gear. We won’t enable that.
5. We Put Our Money Where Our Mouth Is
Shortly after we purchased Ballistic Armor Co. in 2022, we discovered that our best-selling product's country of origin had been misrepresented to us. We made the hard choice to discontinue the product and sever that supplier relationship—costing us a major revenue stream—because we will not compromise when it comes to safety or transparency.
6. There Are Fakes Out There—Don’t Fall for Them
If you’ve seen so-called “NIJ Level IV helmets” online for $300, you’ve seen a lie. The NIJ doesn’t even certify helmets—and yet these products, often made of fiberglass, are flooding the market. Ample helmets on the market are available for a great price and look very convincing, but they are dangerously misleading.
This is exactly the kind of deceit Ballistic Armor Co. was built to stand against. And the old adage holds true: if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
7. Transparency Even When It’s Uncomfortable
From the very beginning we’ve carried a limited line of helmets made in China from a reputable manufacturer. Many American companies bury the lead on this—quietly omitting the country of origin, as if ignoring it altogether is somehow more trustworthy than owning it. We’re transparent about where our products come from and will never hide or misrepresent it. That said, in 2025, Chinese helmets will make up a smaller part of our product lineup as we double down on U.S.-based manufacturing partners.
Truth Prevails & Integrity Wins in the Test of Time
This latest indictment is not a threat to our industry—it’s a cleansing. It is good for companies like Ballistic Armor Co. who have refused to cut corners, who have chosen to lead with transparency and trust no matter the cost. We welcome accountability. We advocate for regulation. We’ve operated that way from day one.
Ballistic Armor Co. is a family-owned American business headquartered in White City, Oregon. We’ve earned the trust of officers, departments, and individual operators because we don’t just talk about protection—we prove it, every day.
Save the smoke for the field, and partner with a transparent supplier like Ballistic Armor Co. Let’s raise the standard—together.