Possible problem with customs?
 

Hey guys I'm looking at purchasing a black replica swat vest coming up from the states, here's my question. It has four patches on it, two say LAPD SWAT and the other two say NY TACTICAL SQUAD. Think customs will be stingy about those and seize it? I don't want to spend the money and lose it. Thanks

Probably not.

Would you risk it?

Yes, since the vest is probably innexpensive. Restricted items are gun related, not gear related. The is no import restriction to my knowledge for armor.

I'm spending about 40 bucks on the vest, so yeah, I guess it's not THAT bad, but still. Thanks!

The only thing you should be worried about for that is an 18% duty on clothing items manufactured outside of North America.

Plus GST and PST...

... + exchange rate, + brokerage fee (unless you can get it shipped by USPS)

It's coming usps and I guess when it gets here I'll pay the other fee's. It's worth it for me, it's a vest I've been waiting to find for a while and the patches make it that much better for me. It's for an LAPD SWAT rig, so having the patches come with it is a bonus! It's coming from Germany to the U.S., then from the U.S. to me. The guy who has it is in the Service and is sending it through the army post to newyork, then it goes usps to me.

this may be an issue but I don't know 100%. I ordered 4 CIRAS vests from Hong Kong and they were shipped via idaho on the way to calgary.
When they hit idaho they were stopped and shipped back to HK apparently becuase it was Armour and homeland security didn't want that type of item exported from the US of ghey. I don't know, I got my money back just didn't get my vest.... all in all it was better as I bought a Phantom

Hmm, thanks for the info. Dunno if it makes a difference that this is coming through ny and if it's coming from the army postal service, will they question it?

I've shipped and received soft holsters, hard holsters, molle pouches that expressly say "AK-47" and "M16" on the packaging, and chest rigs from the states with zero problem.

Also there is a brokerage fee if you ship USPS, Canada post charges I believe a nominal $8 fee for brokerage regardless of declared value. Also I find only 1/4-1/2 of my packages that are declared as being worth at least $40 actually get dinged with the charges at the border. Maybe 1/2 to 3/4 of my packages declared $100 or more get charged.

You are correct. There is however an export restriction from the US.

Hmm.. I've never been charged brokerage fees when something came via usps. Last week for example I got a package from Florida, was worth about 50 bucks and I wasn't charged.

If I get something through UPS though, they charge $rape.

Uh I bought 4 IBA with kevlar insert and never had problems, ceramic plates are maybe different issue

I hear the US is recalling interceptors that have been exported (through ebay and what not), something to due with the security of their soldiers. I don't know about anyone else but I've never heard of an afghan militia soldier wearing anything related to camouflage, let alone armor.

Unless there's another very recent incident of that, the recalls you're referring to involved USMC IBA packages (carriers with soft armor) being stolen from quartermaster stores and sold on eBay.

Note that there are legit items being surplused and sold, so just because you see one for sale doesn't automatically mean it's stolen (you can usually tell by the dates: the soft armor is considered to have a 5 year lifespan).

As mentioned above, there's also an export restriction on armor products. In the case of the IBA it's actually supposed to be restricted to mil/LE sales and cannot be exported outside CONUS without proper licensing. Not sure if "expired" armor is also restricted for export or not.

Also note that the export restriction is supposed to be on the armor components (soft and hard) themselves, although some shops have taken the restriction to apply to the entire armor package. Normally the carrier itself (without armor) shouldn't be restricted. Shops like Diamonback and Optactical get it right, others (specially on eBay) do not. I purchased a replacement IBA cover (no armor) from SDS, it exported/imported just fine.

This is not armor, it's simply a black vest with pouches! It's cloth, no plates in it of ANY kind! Unless I'm wrong and that's considered armor anyway? My only concern was the SWAT patches on it. The SWAT patches are real. But heck, if it's going to be this much trouble, maybe I shouldn't buy it =S

There's nothing illegal about SWAT patches, specially from another country.

Even if someone actually was NYPD or LAPD, they're out of their jurisdiction in Canada so the patch is meaningless.

Thank you