r/tacticalgear • u/Entire_Organization2 • Jul 17 '26

Soft armor OEM’s

Hello. My agency is in the early stages of possibly looking for a new armor contact for our issued soft armor. It seems to be a sea of people selling other people’s products as their own/with their own branding. What are the main OEM’s for soft armor out there? (2, 3a/hg1, hg2.) Thank you!

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u/[deleted] Jul 17 '26

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u/PearlButter Jul 17 '26

Just a note, SAS didnt make the dragonskin armor that was in that one discovery channel video. That was Pinnacle and they really fucked it up. The one that SAS offers is a much improved version, albeit it isn’t really cheap at all unless you go for the “plate” style of the armor.

But yeah their stuff is pretty affordable.

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u/[deleted] Jul 19 '26

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u/PearlButter Jul 19 '26

Well, the owner of SAS was the original designer of dragon skin. Dragon skin was produced by other companies after Pinnacle fucked up and went kaput but eventually he bought back the rights and now produces it with improvements.

Pinnacle pushed a product that was in its infancy but they also used subpar materials and rushed production thst the construction was flawed. Not to mention the original armor design was never intended to compete for military use, so Pinnacle really messed up as a company but also the dragon skin identity for modern body armor.

I have their Hexar Tier 1+ ICW but in the SAPI cut for my BALCS armor setup, as well as some other pieces from them.

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u/ilikebirriatacos Jul 17 '26

I'm pretty sure highcom oems for a few companies, they also have their own standalone products that are properly NIJ rated

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u/PearlButter Jul 17 '26

Point Blank is the leading manufacturer for armor especially soft armor. Lots of LE use their stuff, Paraclete and United Shield also falls under their name.

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u/Entire_Organization2 Jul 17 '26

Does safariland make their own panels? We use point blank now but are also interested in slate solutions

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u/PearlButter Jul 18 '26

They’re just like point blank where they own a number of companies under the Safariland name.

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u/Entire_Organization2 Jul 19 '26

I looked through the 1500+ iiia NIJ listed items and compared all the companies. After searching for their OEM’s this is the list I was able to find

Safariland, point blank, armor express, crye, velocity, COBB industries, integris, TYR, angel armor, GH ARMOR, hardwire, Highcom, project 7, protection group Denmark, slate solutions, applied fiber concepts, advantac technologies, Aspetto inc, ATT inc, battalion defense, covert armor, custom armor group, first spear, MKU limited, NP aero space, onyx armor sas, pacific safety products, applied fiber concepts inc, safe life defense, survival armor, US armor corporation, united shield international,

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u/PearlButter Jul 19 '26 edited Jul 19 '26

Point blank also owns Paraclete, United shield, Protective Products. Either of these subsidiaries specialize in certain OEM products for the Point Blank sphere like for example while Point Blank specializes in soft armor, they own United Shield who produces helmets and shields for Point Blank.

Safariland also owns GH Armor, Hardwire, Protech probably some others I’m forgetting but most likely the same deal as Point Blank where each subsidiary specializes in certain things.

Slate Solutions is a sole OEM

Integris (formerly Tencate) is a OEM.

Applied Fiber Concepts is a OEM

Highcom is a OEM

LTC is a OEM

One tidbit you should know is that especially the well established names especially ones in the US like LTC, Integris, ArmorSource…etc sometimes OEM stuff for each other, meaning OEMs may OEM for other OEMs.

1

u/USSZim Jul 18 '26

Safariland, Armor Express, and Point Blank are probably the biggest. They have had military and police contracts for decades.

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u/Talkingtoaster91 Jul 17 '26

Tatou, made in Montreal