50 Years of Superior Service, Quality and Product Innovation.
Falcon Safety Products, Inc. was founded as a result of one man's passion to prevent
tragedies due to house fires.
1950's
Around 1953, the then company founder, experienced the devastating loss of a close personal friend to a
house fire. Asleep in his bed, the friend was overcome by smoke and eventually perished. Tormented by
the loss, the company founder knew in his heart that this tragic accident could have been prevented had
his friend been warned of the danger.
After some personal investigation, he developed a device that linked a gas-powered horn to heat detecting
linkage, similar to that used in a sprinkler head, resulting in the first fire alarm. When room
temperatures reached a certain level, the linkage to the head would be broken, which would open a valve
releasing the pressurized gas. The pressurized gas would then flow from the canister, up through the open
valve and activate the horn, signaling an alarm to house dwellers.
It was the success of this product upon which the company was founded. From that point the gas-powered,
sound signaling technology was adapted for use on boats and later modified for use in industrial settings.
1960's - 1970's
In the latter part of the 1960's, an employee of the company, who happened to be a photographic enthusiast,
began experimenting with the gas-powered technology searching for a way to remove dust and lint from
photographic negatives.
What he uncovered was that the same pressurized blast used to sound an alarm, could be directed for the
purpose of blasting dust and lint from these surfaces without having to physically touching them.
The result: No fingerprints on their negatives and no scratches on their lenses.
After further product modification, the first generation of a compressed-gas duster was invented and
introduced to the photographic market in the early 1970's. The brand name - DUST-OFF®.
Through the 1970's Falcon continued to build its market share in the marine and industrial safety
markets with distribution of its signal horn products. While the Dust-Off brand began to take hold with
photographers.
1980's
While Falcon Safety Product's continued to flourish in the 1980's within the marine, safety and photographic
industries, the company found itself at the epicenter of the personal computer explosion, and Dust-Off II
was introduced as cleaning device to help rid damaging dust and lint from this new piece of technology.
Despite identifying the opportunity and reacting with the appropriate product, Falcon's main focus remained
the photographic industry. It wasn't until 1986 when current President and CEO, Phil Lapin, and his partners
purchased the company that the appreciation for this greater opportunity was pursued. As a result of their
focus on the computer/consumer electronics market the company and Dust-Off brand grew. No longer just a
photographic accessory, Dust-Off was now a complimentary item in the booming industry of computers.
1990's - Today
Today, Falcon remains a leader within the photographic, marine and industrial safety markets, however, it
has ridden the astronomical growth of the PC market to its current position as the market leader in
computer/consumer electronics cleaning accessories.
Falcon continues to manufacture its own compressed-gas products, including the Dust-Off® brand of
computer cleaning dusters. The company remains a focused participant in this niche category, resulting a
comprehensive line of products designed to help consumers not only preserve their equipment, but, more
importantly, the information contained within.
Consumers everywhere continue to find new and unique uses for this simple, yet clever product, and Falcon
continues to explore ways to uncover and promote these great ideas so that more and more people can benefit
from its use.
Tomorrow
For tomorrow, Falcon is committed to the improvement of its existing products, the development of new
products and the education of its consumers so that all may benefit from the simple, yet effective
application of our products.