Wilcox® Industries – From Parking Lot Meeting to Premier Partnership

Due to a chance meeting in a parking lot in Raleigh-Durham, NC, between Team Wendy’s Sales Manager at the time and two members of the Wilcox^® Team (Military Manager Mike Roth and VP of Marketing Travis Mitchell), Team Wendy features Wilcox^® shrouds on their line of EXFIL^® helmets (excluding the SAR Backcountry).  

How did this come about?  Team Wendy had just developed the prototype for what is now the EXFIL^® Carbon Bump Helmet, which launched our EXFIL^® helmet line in 2012. Mike and Travis had a simple question; “How is Team Wendy planning to mount NVG’s (Night Vision Goggles) to this helmet?” This discussion began an industry partnership and friendship that still exists today.

Team Wendy offers the three-hole Wilcox^® W shroud on the EXFIL^® Ballistic Helmet and Carbon Bump Helmet, and an integrated Wilcox^® machined aluminum mounting plate on the EXFIL^® LTP Bump Helmet and SAR Tactical Helmet.
 

Wilcox Industries – Pioneering the Way

26 years ago a helmet mounting solution for night vision goggles was an unheard of, and somewhat radical, concept. However, the Special Operations Community was in search of a solution to effectively utilize Night Vision technology on various ballistic and non-ballistic head borne protection systems. 

It was previously thought that drilling holes in helmets compromised the function and integrity of the helmet.  Enter a team of engineers out of a small aerospace machine shop in Newington, NH – Wilcox Industries. The Wilcox engineering team devised a way of drilling the holes that preserved the protective shell as well as the ballistic integrity. They also created a pilot NVG mount that freed the operator while using the night vision technology.   

The Wilcox team went back to SOCOM (U.S. Special Operations Command) with these solutions to their operators’ needs, and a unit forward deployed and tested the very first prototypes, providing detailed feedback.  From this the first three-hole pattern NVG helmet mount system was born – the GO1. 

Since the GO1, Wilcox’s mounting solution technology has evolved to now be in its 4^th generation. Their entire line of shrouds and mounting solutions are the gold standard within Industry. Wilcox solutions are fully tested, certified and delivered worldwide under US SOF, NATO SOF and US/NATO DOD Program of Records. 

Team Wendy is proud to offer Wilcox shrouds on all its tactical helmets. Visit www.wilcoxind.com for more information.