If You're A Veteran, Shop Like One
Or a First Responder, Active Military, Nurse
Companies have offered discounts for veterans, active military, first responders, nurses, and doctors for a long time. And for a variety of reasons. Sometimes it is because one of those categories of customers is their primary market. Sometimes it is to capture additional customers. And sometimes it is just to demonstrate that they care about this group of people. Whatever the reason, those of us in these categories like getting a discount, especially considering that many of us don’t make princely sums of money.
It used to be pretty difficult to get your veteran discount, not too hard to get your military (active or retired) discount. As far as first responders and nurses, I really don’t know but I imagine that if you were uniform it was easy. Especially at the donut shops ;-)
Anyhow, these days, getting that discount is very easy if you shop online. Especially if you avoid Amazon, which doesn’t offer any sort of military/first responder/nurse discounts. They capture your spending via convenience: everything in one place and delivered quickly. But Amazon doesn’t actually care about any of those categories of folks and is pretty actively anti-military and cop. Not to mention extremely anti-firearms, although they don’t mind making money off firearms accessories. But why would you give money to a company (and Jeff Bezos) that don’t like you and hate your right to keep and bear arms?
Instead, here’s how you both get to take advantage of your military/first responder/nurse discounts very easily and make sure you are directing your spend to companies that you want to support with your dollars.
Please note that not every company I will list is a perfectly politically right or left aligned company. You may not like some of them or you may think I’m missing some that should be included. Great! That’s what dialogue is for. And I am very open to dialogue and wanting to know more, hear more, learn more. So, comment to your heart’s content. Just be polite and respectful.
The first thing you want to do is set up accounts with ID.me and GOVX. Both of them validate your status with appropriate documentation. And I happen to know some of the folks working in their privacy and security teams and they are very serious and capable. Anyhow, get those set up, because most companies that offer these discounts online want you to prove you should get the discount by using either ID.me or GOVX.
Once that is done, let the shopping begin!
I’ve organized this by types of clothing and gear. I give you a bit about why I like it and the link to the company. I tried to make sure it went to the page that tells you how to get your discount.
Shoes
Merrell - A bit on the granola cruncher side of things, but great shoes and solid 10% discounts for all of us. Start here, but you verify your status during checkout.
Salomon - If you want to wear the same shoes that Jack Carr likes, here you go. With a 20% discount. I know this works for military, veteran, and retired. I don’t know about first responders, give it a try. Go to the Amer Sports Club and sign up, uploading something that proves you are military, etc. I used my DD-214. I now can spend up to $2000/year at a 20% discount!
Reebok - I discovered recently that Reebok has a truly insane 50% discount for military, veterans, nurses, doctors, hospital employees, first responders, government employees, and teachers. Here’s the page describing the discount. Use ID.Me at checkout.
Outdoor wear and training wear
Oakley Standard Issue - Jackets, vests, pants, shorts, boots, shoes, and more. Worth checking out. Same start page as glasses, backpacks, etc.
Under Armour - Yep, UA has a discount for us. Take advantage of it! Their discount program covers military, veterans, family, first responders, doctors, nurses, etc. Start here, but you apply ID.me during checkout.
Outdoor sports gear
Amer Sports Pro Club - Brands include Salomon, Arcteryx, Wilson, and Atomic. I know this works for military, veteran, and retired. I don’t know about first responders, give it a try. Go to the Amer Sports Club and sign up, uploading something that proves you are military, etc. I used my DD-214. I now can spend up to $2000/year at a 20% discount!
Jeans
Shirts
Under Armour - Yep, UA has a discount for us. Take advantage of it! Their discount program covers military, veterans, family, first responders, doctors, nurses, etc. Start here, but you apply ID.me during checkout.
Vertx - Check out all of their gear. Especially with your military/first responder discount via GOVX. And there is a bunch of other stuff from Vertx that you may like, as well. Go here to learn more about the discount program, use GOVX at checkout.
Oakley Standard Issue - Jackets, vests, pants, shorts, boots, shoes, and more. Worth checking out. Same start page as glasses, backpacks, etc.
Grunt Style - I really like their button downs, especially the garage shirts. And my wife buys me t-shirts that she thinks are more veteran like than my standard trying to avoid notice shirts. Military, Veterans, First Responders get a 10% Discount using ID.me. Visit this page for details.
Belts
Kore Essentials - I have never found a military or first responder discount. That probably makes sense, we are their core market.
GOVX - You can buy a whole slew of different belts direct via GOVX. In fact, you can buy all sorts of stuff online via them.
Glasses
Oakley Standard Issue - Listen, if you are a Veteran, Active Military, Retired, or First Responder, I have a question for you. WHY AREN’T YOU BUYING ALL YOUR GLASSES from Oakley SI? You get about 50% off the regular retail cost. Seriously, I buy all my shooting and sunglasses here. For way cheap. Do. It. Now. Go to this page and sign in with ID.me. It’s that easy.
Knives and multi-tools
Leatherman - the granddaddy of multi-tools. I carried one of these since 1988. During Desert Shield, Leatherman replaced the one that I broke in the desert free of charge. Leatherman gives active and retired military, and veterans, and all types of first responders, 30% off one purchase per year: Leatherman Military Discount Page. Leatherman First Responder Discount Page.
CRKT - great EDC knives, when I’m not carrying a Leatherman, I carry a CRKT blade. You have to contact them and they will respond with the process to apply your military/veteran/first responder discount.
Lights
Fenix lights - some of the best for tactical, bikes, and other uses. First responders, military, veterans, hospital employees, nurses, medical providers all get 25% off after verifying with ID.me: Fenix Discount Page
Other Gear
Oakley SI - backpacks, gloves and more. Check out what they offer, consider buying from them. Start here to get the discount going.
General Gear For Working People
Carhartt - I don’t wear a lot of their gear simply because of my whole “gray man” approach to things. And wearing Carhartt as a middle aged, white, veteran is pretty much the same as hanging a “I’m the guy with the concealed gun” sign on yourself. That said, it’s great gear and ideal for people working in tough jobs on the regular. Plus, you get 25% off if you are military, veteran, first responder, law enforcement, nurse. You can use ID.me both online and in person! Here’s the discount page that tells you all about it.
Expert Voice - You can get up to 60% off the brands on Expert Voice. Start at this discount page to get going. These guys provide “industry insider” deals for a variety of different industries AND for active military and veterans. Check it out.
Everyday Carry
Console Vault - When you carry a pew pew every day, there are times where you have to take it off your body. Going to have a beer in the bar with your buddy? Have to go in the municipal court and pay a speeding ticket? Heading to a baseball game? And any number of other situations. But you have your freedom seed launcher in your waistband, what to do? Have a console vault installed in your car or truck and then you can put the firearm in the vault and securely store it while you go do the thing. Want 10% off of one? Start at this discount page. Give them Military or First Responder info needed and get your discount code. It’s really that simple.
Phlster Holsters - Solid kydex holsters for many typical EDC pistols and they created the Enigma system, one of the most loved CC systems out there. I use a Phlster Skeleton for one pew pew of mine. Good stuff. Here’s how to get your military or first responder discount: go to this page and provide the documentation requested.
Vedder - another good holster company. They make really solid holsters, good gun belts, and have some fun t-shirts and such. I use a Vedder Light Tuck for my Springfield Armory 1911 EMP 4” and like it very much. if you are active military and/or a veteran you can get a 10% discount by going to this page.
General Pew Pew
Sig Sauer Professionals Program - This is available for first responders, military, and security personnel. SPP is a way for SIG SAUER to support those who protect and serve our communities and our country. The discounts are solid. Sig ships to an FFL near you that does a transfer to you. Go to this page to get started.
Sig Sauer NRA Instructors Program - You should be an NRA member. You should be an NRA Instructor. And there is an easy, not expensive way to become one. Take the NRA RSO course. It’s a one day class, cost is generally about $100. Once completed and passed, you get an NRA Instructor ID. And that qualifies you for the Sig program. Pew Pew devices, ammunition, and optics are all part of it. Really good discounts. Go to this page to find out more and see the discount pricing. You can thank me later :-)
Personal Care
Beard care - Bad Ass Beardcare is my own choice for beard products. They are veteran owned. I particularly like their The Patriot wash, oil, and balm. But they have a ton of options plus accessories. And they give first responders, active military (okay, this will be a very small group of folks with both beard and active duty), and veterans a 15% discount. During checkout, hit the ID.Me button and you’re all set. If that doesn’t work, in the past, I have sent them an email at sales@badassbeardcare.com and they are happy to give the discount that way.
This is by no means all. But I have also given you the tools to get your discounts. Register with ID.me and GOVX. Then search your brand for a military discount page ….. I just use google and type in brand name military discount. It looks like “Leatherman Military Discount”. The result is the page you see that I linked above. You can do that for literally any brand and 9 times out of 10 you will find out that they have a military and first responder discount. The discounts range from 10 to 30 percent (and even more for Oakley SI). Reebok is crazy with a 50% discount for military!
Feel free to suggest other brands to add to the list that are great for outdoor wear, gray man/minuteman wear, or range gear. There’s tons of great brands, these are just the ones I tend to frequent.
I’ve been enjoying GOVX for a number of years!
Great info here, thanks!