Gateway Safety
Cleveland's above-the-shoulders PPE maker, family-owned since 1944 — and an unintentional lesson in why a standard number on an about page is worth less than the same number on a product page.
Sellstrom
Illinois eye, face and welding protection dating to 1923 — now a SureWerx brand filed under Jackson Safety, with its own century-old domain redirecting to a sibling's site.
Sellstrom eye, face, and welding protection. Compare model-specific markings, fit, replacement parts, and compatibility with other protective equipment.
- 1923Founding year, per current owner SureWerx's own history page
- 2023Partners Group buys SureWerx, the parent, from The Riverside Company
What we'd reach for
- Advantage Plus series welding helmetsThe current flagship welding helmet line — shade and switching specs are per model, which is where welding-eye claims belong.
- XPS530 series sealed safety glassesGasketed eyewear for dust and debris work — the sealed middle ground between spectacles and goggles.
- HP427 earmuffsThe hearing side of the catalog. As with every hearing product, the attenuation rating is a per-model laboratory figure, not a promise.
The most load-bearing sentence about Sellstrom today is on its owner’s website, not its own — because it no longer really has its own. SureWerx’s history page records the 2015 acquisition this way: “Founded in 1923 and based in Illinois, U.S., Sellstrom Manufacturing is one of the oldest American brands of safety products.” That is the current owner’s claim, and on this site it stays attributed — but 1923 is the year they publish, so 1923 is the year in the header.
What a century of eye protection looks like now
The current Sellstrom range runs “welding and head protection to hearing protection and knee protection,” in SureWerx’s words: Advantage Plus welding helmets, face shields, XPS530 sealed safety glasses, HP427 earmuffs, KneePro Ultra Flex III knee pads, and — the catalog’s odd survivor — germicidal UV cabinets.
The buying discipline for all of it is the one this site repeats until it sticks. ANSI/ISEA Z87.1 belongs to the model, not the brand: impact rating, splash rating and welding shades are claimed SKU by SKU, the standard’s text is paywalled, and what any retailer shows you — including the manufacturer — is self-reported compliance for that item. A 1923 founding date certifies nothing about the glasses in your hand; the marking on the lens does.
Current support
Sellstrom is part of SureWerx. Use the current catalog, model documentation, and service information when comparing equipment or replacing parts.
Where they fall down
The brand is dissolving into Jackson. A name with a century of history behind it is now presented as a sub-line of a brand its parent bought three years after it. Which SKUs stay Sellstrom-marked, and for how long, is not something the current pages answer.
Heritage without records. Beyond the owner’s one-line history, the current sites publish no founding story, no factory locations for today’s production, and no country-of-origin claims we could verify. We treat manufacturing origin as unpublished.
Compare hearing protection separately. For hearing products, compare the exact model’s rating, fit, and instructions with specialist options such as Howard Leight. Eye- and face-protection experience does not establish a hearing product’s suitability.
Where Sellstrom fits
Consider Sellstrom for eye, face, and welding protection when the exact model meets the work requirements. Compare fit, relevant markings, replacement parts, and compatibility with other PPE. The product documentation is the basis for selection.
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