Company Respect and ME: Black Helmet Apparel

Update: Black Helmet Apparel has since gone out of business. I will leave it at that.

Update 2: Black Helmet is back (2025) and they seem to be back to basics

Many of you may not know this about me, but I have a history in the fire service. It feels like a lifetime ago now, but it shaped who I am in ways that never really leave you.

I joined the Saratoga Fire District in 1990 as a volunteer firefighter in training. By 1991 and 1992, I had earned my Firefighter 1 California State Certification and my EMT-D designation, which is an EMT certification with defibrillator authorization. I loved every one of those four years. My father and uncle were both members of Saratoga Fire back when it was an entirely volunteer department, which made me second generation. That meant something to me then, and it still does.

I am in technology now, but the fire service never really leaves your blood. In recent years I earned my First Responder certification through the NREMT and have been working toward recertifying as a full EMT. Along the way, I have always loved wearing firefighting apparel. Shirts that represent what I did and what it meant to serve my community.

One brand I supported for over a decade was Black Helmet Apparel. They made quality, well-fitting shirts, not the stiff, heavy cotton you find on discount racks. I have years of workout photos wearing their gear. They were a brand I trusted and promoted without hesitation.

That changed recently.

Their designs began shifting toward explicitly political messaging, including anti-Biden slogans that have no connection whatsoever to firefighting, law enforcement, emergency medical services, or the military. I want to be clear about something: I do not have a problem with a company leaning left or right. That is their right. What I cannot support is a brand built on honoring first responders pivoting to sell gear that exists purely to demean a sitting President of the United States. Those are cheap shots, and they have no place in a catalogue that is supposed to represent the dignity of people who run toward danger for a living.

I wrote directly to the CEO of Black Helmet Apparel and told them I could no longer support or promote the brand given this direction. I packaged up 14 t-shirts, 4 hats, and 2 cargo shorts and sent them back, along with a clear explanation of why. I asked that they donate the items to a shelter of their choosing.

This is not the first time I have had to walk away from a brand I believed in. I wrote earlier about Blizzard and the toxic culture that unraveled one of gaming's most celebrated companies. The pattern is the same: organizations that chase divisiveness in the name of profit eventually lose the people who cared about them most.

I told Black Helmet Apparel directly: stick to what you do well. Honor the people who serve. If they remove the offensive items from their catalogue, I would consider supporting them again. Until then, their gear will not be on my body or on my car.

That genuinely makes me sad. But integrity is not negotiable.

Do better, Black Helmet Apparel.