Industry Code of Conduct

1. Who This Applies To

This code applies to any individual or entity that:

• Is employed by, contracted to, or owns a firearms or tactical gear manufacturer, retailer, or distributor;
• Operates as a brand ambassador, sponsored athlete, or paid influencer for any such company;
• Has any financial relationship — including affiliate, referral, or revenue sharing arrangements — with a company whose products appear on Loadout Combat Lab;
• Has been granted Industry status on this platform;
• Participates on behalf of a company in any official or unofficial capacity.

If you are unsure whether this code applies to you, assume it does and disclose your affiliation. Undisclosed conflicts of interest are treated as a serious violation.

2. Mandatory Affiliation Disclosure

Transparency is not optional. Every piece of content you submit — reviews, comments, price reports, forum posts — must clearly identify your affiliation if it is relevant to the topic or products being discussed.

• State your company affiliation at the beginning of any review or substantive comment about a product your company makes, sells, or has a commercial relationship with. A brief disclosure like “I work at [Company]” is sufficient and required.
• Do not create or use personal accounts to post undisclosed reviews or commentary about your own company's products or your competitors' products.
• Do not instruct, encourage, or incentivize customers, employees, or third parties to post reviews without disclosure of their relationship to your company.
• Your profile must accurately represent your industry role. Misrepresentation of your identity or affiliation is a violation of this code and our general terms.

3. Requesting Industry or Brand Flair

Verified industry representatives may request a brand flair designation that publicly identifies their company affiliation on their account. This flair serves as your permanent disclosure badge and enables the community to appropriately weight your contributions.

• To request brand flair, contact us via our contact page with your name, company, role, and a verifiable company email address.
• We verify all industry flair requests manually. Approval is at our sole discretion.
• Brand flair is non-transferable and tied to your individual account. If you change roles or leave your company, notify us immediately so your flair can be updated or removed.
• Having brand flair does not grant permission to advertise, promote products unsolicited, or otherwise bypass this code.

4. No Unsolicited Advertising or Product Promotion

Loadout Combat Lab is a consumer resource, not a marketing channel. The following are prohibited in all user-generated content areas regardless of your industry status:

• No product announcements. Do not use community areas to announce new products, sales, promotions, discount codes, or restocks. This includes framing promotional content as organic user discussion.
• No advertising in disguise. Do not post content that functions as an advertisement while presenting itself as independent opinion or community contribution.
• No cold recommending your own products. You may not recommend your own company's products to users who have not specifically expressed interest in them or asked for recommendations. If a user explicitly asks for recommendations in a category where you have a relevant product, you may respond — with disclosure — and must present your product alongside alternatives fairly.
• No competitor attacks. Do not post content designed to disparage, mislead about, or undermine competitor products under the guise of user opinion.

If you want to advertise or promote products on Loadout Combat Lab, contact us about our retailer partnership and featured placement programs. Paid placement is available and clearly disclosed to users. Covert promotion is not acceptable at any price.

5. Engagement Standards for Industry Participants

Industry representatives who participate constructively add real value to our community. We encourage genuine engagement that helps users make better purchasing decisions.

• You may respond to direct questions about your products, correct factual errors in reviews of your products, and provide technical clarification — with disclosure.
• Engage with criticism honestly. Defending a product is acceptable. Dismissing legitimate user complaints or attempting to suppress negative reviews is not.
• Do not mass-flag or report negative reviews of your own products as a strategy to suppress them. Reports are for genuine policy violations, not reputation management.
• You are held to a higher standard of accuracy than general users. You are presumed to have expert knowledge of your products. Errors of omission — especially those that affect safety or purchasing decisions — are treated seriously.

6. Violations and Consequences

Violations of this Industry Code are taken seriously because they undermine the trust that makes Loadout Combat Lab useful to its users.

• First offense — minor violation: Content removal and written warning. Disclosure requirement reiterated.
• Repeat offense or significant violation: Removal of industry/brand flair and suspension of posting privileges for a period determined at our discretion.
• Severe or deliberate violation (undisclosed fake review campaigns, coordinated manipulation, safety misrepresentation): Permanent ban of all affiliated accounts, removal of all associated content, and a public note on affected listings at our discretion.
• Staff decisions are final. Violations of this code may also result in termination of any active paid partnership or retailer agreement with Loadout Combat Lab.

7. Changes to This Code

We may update this Industry Code of Conduct at any time. We will make reasonable efforts to notify active industry participants of significant changes. Continued participation after changes are posted constitutes acceptance of the updated code.