We are real picky about the products we carry.  We expect quality and value for your money, nothing less.  The following is a little information about some of our more popular brands and why we think we have assembled the finest group of manufacturers in the world.

Wiley X

Wiley X, a California based company that has been producing protective combat/tactical eye wear for military and law enforcement for over 25 years.  Their products are manufactured at all points around the world to exacting specifications including the U.S.  Manufacturing sites including Italy, Japan, China, Taiwan and the United States.  As a result of their world-wide presence, they are the number one supplier to U.S. and foreign military units in the world.  They are a DOD approved supplier of protective ballistic eye wear for all branches of the U.S. military.

Wiley X gained a reputation in the first gulf war in the early 1990s.  But their reputation became legendary early in the Iraq war around 2003 when ballistic protection became paramount.  Many military personnel owe their eyesight and lives to Wiley X protective eye wear.  That's not marketing hype, that's a fact.  That's why today ballistic eye wear in the military is no longer an option; it is a DOD requirement in combat environments.

Body Specs

Body Specs is a California based company that started in the early 1980s producing protective eye wear for motorcyclists.  Since that time, they have expanded their product line to include ballistic eye protection for military and law enforcement.   They are a DOD approved supplier for military ballistic eye wear.

Their protective eye wear is characterized as very high quality, crystal clear lenses with no distortion at a reasonable price.  They are by our standard of measurement, the number one supplier when it comes to quality levels for tactical eye wear.  They aren't perfect 98% of the time, or even 99% of the time.  They are perfect 99.9% of the time.  To find a defect in their product is virtually impossible.

Randolph Engineering

Randolph Engineering is a Massachusetts based company that has been the prime supplier of aviator sunglasses for the Department of Defense going on 30 years. 

These much coveted aviator sunglasses are military issue to every U.S. military pilot of all military branches including pilots of several other nations.  They are also the choice of soldiers who guard the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Washington D.C. 

Despite being 100% manufactured in the U.S., and recent price pressures caused by a run up of metals and gold, they represent a bargain in high quality sunglasses.  For essentially $100 or less you can own a standard military issue aviator worn by tens-of-thousands of American military and commercial flyers for more than 30 years.  There is no brand professional military and commercial pilots prefer by a large majority than Randolph aviators.  The optical clarity with no distortion of vision or color, along with the fact that they are 100% compatible with LED and LCD displays makes them the preferred choice.

Condor

Condor Outdoors is our prime supplier of tactical/law enforcement military gear.  The company is based in Southern California.  They design, engineer and contract with suppliers world-wide including some manufacturing in the U.S.  Condor is one of those rare companies that listen intently to its customers. 

Let's face it, anyone and everyone seems to manufacture tactical gear.  Some of it is very high-priced; some of it is imported junk.  Condor has struck a balance with high quality products, produced to their specifications at a reasonable price.  It is not uncommon for them to solicit feedback from customers on product designs and improvements that can be made to make their products even better. 

I know this company well, and frankly, they are one of the best.  Their TTLH Tornado Leg Holster is an incredibly high quality product, very durable and priced right.  Feedback from troops in Iraq and Afghanistan has been 100% positive.  We have yet to receive a complaint about the product failing, or wearing out prematurely.  We have shipped tens-of-thousands of Condor holsters to troops and they have nothing but good things to say about the product.  They like the product, they work, and they are reasonably priced.  That's all our military personnel want, nothing more and nothing less and that's what they get with Condor products.

Frontier Watches

Frontier designs, engineers, and contracts world-wide for military/tactical watches.  All their watches use Japanese quartz movements for longevity and accuracy.  What separates Frontier from other watches is their feature-rich watches that are characterized as "bullet proof" at very reasonable prices.  That's why Frontier watches are featured world-wide in almost all base and post military exchanges.  They simply make a great product at an even greater price. 

While it's easy to spend hundreds of dollars on a fancy name brand military watch, you can spend $30 and buy a Frontier that will perform equally well, be just as accurate and durable, at whole lot less money.  That's why Frontier is a favorite of military personnel stationed around the world.

Orient Watches

To Vietnam Vets, Orient watches are not a mystery brand.  During the Vietnam War troops came home with one of two watch brands.  It was either a Seiko or an Orient mechanical watch.  They were the "in watch" brands at the time.  If it wasn't a name brand reel-to-reel tape deck being shipped home, it was an Orient or Seiko watch strapped to their wrists when arriving back to CONUS. 

Over the years Seiko went on to specialize in quartz movements, while Orient stuck with self-winding mechanical watches.  We can't tell you how many people have shown us their 30 or 40 year old Orient Watch that is still operating today.  When we ask if they ever took them in for maintenance, the answer is always no.  They just keep running.  We don't recommend you not maintain your Orient watch, but it proves how well built their mechanical watches are.

Orient is still in business and a very well known in Europe, Asia and South America.  Here in the U.S. they have more of a cult following.  Orient Watch Company never made a push into the U.S. market due to the lack of interest in mechanical watches.  But in other parts of the world, Orient watches are as popular and coveted as any Seiko watch here in the U.S.  That has started to change as of recently.  More Americans are recognizing the unique craftsmanship of self-winding mechanical watches.  Orient Watch has seen a recent surge in U.S. sales and that is expected to continue.

Here's a little known fact.  Over the years Orient and Seiko were competitors.  Orient is now owned by Seiko but maintained as a separate company due to their extraordinary brand loyalty.  Orient is one of a handful of companies worldwide that still designs, engineers, and builds their own mechanical watch movements.  The main factory for their mechanical watch manufacturing is in Japan.  They make a great product, at a great price.

Other Manufacturers

We have a number of other manufacturers who are nothing less than world-class.  XPO Aviators, AO Aviators, Bobster Eyewear, our own SDA Aviators, and others can count themselves among the best in the world.  We are very proud to be associated with our suppliers and will continue to work with them closely to provide the finest products at a price that is affordable.

How Come You Don't Carry...

To be perfectly honest with you our database of discontinued product is littered with very big name-brands that didn't cut the mustard.  We are constantly amazed at how some name-brand products are just that, name-brand products only.  When it comes to quality, some are just simply living off marketing hype and high prices. 

The only measure of quality is ultimately your experience with the product.  If we experience a failure rate in the field of 2, 3 or 5 percent of items shipped, that's bad, real bad.  And we have seen it all.  Name brands that you would expect to be a high quality product, based on its high price, well, is high priced junk.  We evaluate products before putting them on the market.  If they pass that test, it is only the first test.  And yes, occasionally we are fooled by the  samples we receive.  They are very quickly eliminated if it is anything less than full satisfaction on the part of our customers. 

We add new manufacturers, but we are very picky about whose product we add, and specifically what part of their products we will carry.  Some are very good at some types of products and lousy on other product lines.  We don't add products for the sake of looking like a "full line dealer."  We add them if they work, represent value and high quality.