Since 1908, family-run Belgian company Seyntex has led the way in new innovations of ballistic body armor. Beginning in World War II, the company’s flax weaving factory in Belgium started to specialize in the manufacturing of canvas for the British army, protecting the Allies as they made their way to win the war. Since then, the company has grown to multiple factories in Romania, Belgium and Bangladesh, making protective clothing for the ones that serve us for more than a century.
Working together with partners from all over Europe, their high-performance materials are low weight and long-lasting, giving their ballistics a great lifespan while only using the highest quality materials.
The company works closely with defense sectors such as the Belgian Army and police forces, adapting their specifications to reality. As the first company to start weaving ballistic materials in the mid-70s, Seyntex uses Areptide, an amino acid, to create their systems. “We have 50 years experience in ballistics; we are very well known for special police and military,” says Bart De Lombaerde, head of the ballistics department. The clothing they make has the right protection to be able to protect these officers, while at the same time providing the lowest possible weight and the most comfortable outfits possible.
Seyntex is currently on a 15-year contract with the Belgian Defense Army, creating the Belgian defense clothing system (BDCS) in multicam for a total budget of 410 million euros. SSC, a consortium of Sioen, Seyntex and Crye Precision, equips soldiers with new operational clothing and accessories; multi-layered equipment that is complementary and integrated into the armor. This includes wool-based underwear, rainwear, Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear (CBRN) equipment, such as chemical, bacteriological, radioactive, and nuclear protection, as well as ballistic protection such as protective vests and helmets and backpacks. They use chemical finishes and membranes are avoided where possible, and the armor is processed in an environmentally friendly way and uses currently used clothing to give it a second life.
The 100% recycled material BDCS uses is up to date for the ballistic parts, focusing on the key innovation in the quality of the clothing. “It’s a completely new system, not only for the ballistic part,” says De Lombaerde. “Ergonomy was very important, as well as thinking about the ecological aspects of the cycling system. Based on that, we made solutions for them.”
The company worked for 6 months on prototypes, focusing on the differences between men and women’s operational systems. Seyntex currently has 283 different ballistic solutions; “You know everybody requests something else, you need to listen to the customer— such as weight, thickness, and level of protection.”
“This is really a very professional collaboration between our team, our group, and the customer themselves,” continues De Lombaerde.
Their high performance material is layered from the underwear up, “the functionality of the full system based on the layers you use,” says Martin Vanovenberghe, BDS system engineer. “Sometimes, people’s appearance of heat and cold is different, so some of them are using other layers. It starts with the underwear, which is based on Marina wool; it’s antibacterial, keeps the heat in, it’s user friendly, it’s soft and everything. Then you have the combat uniform, using fabrics which give comfort, with elastane, which makes you able to move easily in it and makes the garments less bulky.”
Everything in the system is camouflage printed with a licensed multicam print camouflage. Field jackets, under armor, trousers and more are all equipped with this same print, creating a cohesive look for the whole unit. On top of this system is the ballistic vest, where insulation can be added depending on the user’s temperature preference. “It’s a nylon top layer fabric with some wadding in it, also polyester, which is really high performance, and it’s a liner in it which is traditional,” says Vanovenberghe. “This is against the climate, you can have this in different ways, so the soldier chooses whatever he wants to use if he’s feeling comfortable.” They even created rainwear, layers with white snow camouflage, and more features and different layers that can be built up depending on the mission. All the materials last at least one year in operational use. Although they are more expensive, the system lasts longer, creating the total cost of ownership at the end cheaper.
Working with the Belgian Army also created another challenge for Seyntex in creating ballistic solutions for women. “It’s very important for female body armor to have flexible material,” says De Lombaerde. Seyntex uses a 100% Areptide solution, which changes with your body due to its flexibility. If the body changes in any way, the Areptide solution will follow.
Seyntex’s ballistic solutions are very good protection against 9 mm bullets and fragments that could arise during combat. They provide hard and soft armor, creating body protection which lets users move easily and ergonomically. “It’s not only about the protection,” says De Lombaerde. It’s also about how easily a user is able to employ their weapon, and “be quicker than the other one.” The company has also created products for the Dutch defense, the Irish, the Swiss Army, and the French police. “Out of all 283 ballistic solutions, we developed a product with our own view, which is good because the level of protection for policemen is different than for somebody in defense; he’s confronted with other threats. We developed a system with the right protection that we think is right for everybody.”
While working for the French, Spanish, and Swedish police, they began by “looking at what is the importance for the policemen or somebody from the center— that is weight that has thickness and flexibility, then looking what he needs from, protection level.” They created a vest with a very high bullet protection, fragment protection, spike protection, and knife protection. “It’s a very, very flexible solution,” says De Lombaerde.
The company makes sure to test their products all the way through production— “none of the products that I know have done so much testing,” says De Lombaerde. For each new delivery a test is performed with the Belgium Army, with each order meeting protocol on how many tests are needed. Testing at +65, -35, and an ambient temperature is a protocol, as well as testing soft and hard panels and protection against bullets and fragments. Based on all of the information from the tests, as well as real life data from the war in Ukraine and other combat missions, the company is able to deduct what solution is needed for their ballistic requests.
“If the Belgian Army requests things, we directly take action.”
For an army of over 25,000, protection is important, but so is respecting the environment. The BCDS is made of 100% recycled material, and is even able to be recycled after 10 years to make more ballistic material. ”You cannot have better than this,” says De Lombaerde. “Sometimes you have your recycling products to have a lower additive, and you can recycle, but it doesn’t have the same performance anymore. This will have the same performance. You can 100% recycle it again.” Since the material is recycled, they are able to control what goes in and out of it, and they have removed all PFAs in the material, although they will not give up the secret on the treatment of the Areptide that they use— their secret recipe.
Since starting to work with the Belgian Army two years ago, Seyntex has been able to create ballistic materials that not only protect Belgians but also the earth. They also work with high-level gears, such as Airbus and Mustang, and have created CBRN clothing, which gives protection against the gas attacks, in which they are a market leader also. However, the family company makes sure to stay humble and enjoy where almost 100 years of protection has taken them. “It’s like my father said, don’t think that you’re on top of the mountain,” says De Lombaerde. “You go so quickly down. It’s very simple. Stay with your two feet on the ground.”
