Saturday, October 25, 2008

More from DEMA...

Yesterday, I promised more from the Dive Equipment and Marketing Show here in the States. Here it is. Continuing the theme of trends, something did seem to be more evident here than in previous years. This is the issue of accessibility to diving for disabled individuals. The picture is of the stand manned by volunteers of SUDS (Soldiers undertaking disabled scuba). It is just one of several organisations with representatives at the Show advertising their work and seeking support. Others included Eels on wheels, the International Association of Handicapped Divers and the Handicapped Scuba Association. Seeing them here, and reflecting on the amount of disabled sailing activity there is in Kingston, makes you wonder whether there shouldn't be some sort of support on the diving front.

The good news at the Show is that I have seen many, many Canadians down here. I went to an interesting talk by the owners of Nautilus Explorer, which operates out of Vancouver. They spend their Summers around BC and Alaska, then Winter in Guadalupe and Socorro visiting Great White Sharks and Mantas amongst other species. BARE and Whites are amongst the larger manufacturers out of Canada. Another, smaller, but very significant company from Ontario is Reefnet, who make data loggers and excellent diveguides and other products.






On the lighter side of product development, there are always products that amuse, but aren't very likely to attract the more serious diver. This video-capturing dive mask caught my eye.






Or perhaps the Club would like to invest in some fins that identify the instructors.

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