Safariland, LLC is a division of BAE Systems, Inc. a subsidiary of the United Kingdom-based defense and aerospace company BAE Systems PLC. It is a major designer and manufacturer of equipment for sporting, military, law enforcement, investigation and public safety personnel.
The company was founded in Sierra Madre, California in 1964 by Neale Perkins, following his father's request for a custom holster. He named his new company after the African safaris he and his father enjoyed together. From these humble beginnings, Safariland quickly went from making a few hundred holsters to more than 5,000 within a few months.
In 1996, American Body Armor and its shareholders joined forces to form Armor Holdings, a diversified holding company with three manufacturing locations and plans for significant additional growth. Over the course of 11 years, Armor Holdings acquired many of the most-recognized equipment brands in the law enforcement industry, including Safariland.
In July 2007, BAE Systems acquired Armor Holdings, forming the BAE Systems Products Group of which Safariland was a part. In August 2008, it was decided that BAE Systems Products Group would go to market under the name Safariland.
Safariland manufacturers a wide array of products in the law enforcement space, but only markets a small number of them under the Safariland brand name. The majority of products appear in the marketplace under other, well known law enforcement brands that were acquired when the company became a part of Armor Holdings. Their current product offering includes holsters, duty gear and restraints under the Safariland and Bianchi brands. Body armor under the American Body Armor, Second Chance, SAVVY and PROTECH brands. Firearms accessories and cleaning kits under the B-Square, SpeedFeed, Kleen-Bore and BreakFree brands. Protective gear such as riot helmets and shields as well as protective police gloves under the Hatch and Monadnock brands. Less lethal munitions and chemical OC, CN and CS sprays and foams under the Defense Technology brand. A field narcotics testing line of products under the NIK Public Safety and ODV brands, as well as a line of equipment and consummable supplies targeted toward Forensics and Investigation personnel under the Forensics Source and Projectina brands.