We asked PADI Staff to name the biggest “game changing” innovation for scuba in the past 20 years. Their responses are below. Please leave your favorite scuba innovations in the comments section below.
Alan Jan – Supervisor, Instructor Development
The tank-banger. I would no teach without it! This is the best way to attract the attention of your students U/W.
Nancy Fisher – Executive Assistant to the President & CEO
Warmth and love to my new generation drysuit!
Mary Kaye Hester – PADI Training
The affordability and instant gratification of digital underwater photography. Now anyone can take pictures underwater and share the wonders of our sport immediately.
LeRoy Wickham – Southwest and Central U.S. Regional Manager
The plethora of good, inexpensive dive computers. Tables are soo old school and no one who dives for any length of time uses them to plan and execute their dives. Dive computers make diving more enjoyable, better able to follow a safe dive profile and keep yourself relatively free from DCS.
Brigit Jager – PADI Training Consultant
(PADI Asia-Pacific)
Digital underwater imaging equipment! Be they still or film/video or snap shot or professional cameras, we are no longer limited to a certain number of images on a ‘roll’ of film, we get instant results (no more waiting till film is developed a week or more after you took the shots) and, above all, with internet and social media we can now so easily share the amazing underwater world with a much wider public and at the same time use this to create important awareness to care for & protect our beloved environment and threatened species.
Kristina Leadbeater – Sales Consultant
A neoprene slap strap for my mask – it has saved me from tearing my hair out every time I put my mask on!
Doug Bingeman – Sales Consultant, Instructor Examiner PADI Canada
Compact action-sport cameras! You no longer need to set up/ dismantle/ maintain lots of little pieces. Plus if you scratch a lens you can buy a new housing for much cheaper than the old style.
Andy Kunig – PADI Training Consultant
CCRs YO! It’s the only way to fly!
Budd Riker – PADI Training Consultant
The biggest “game changer” for how I dive is a recent one, Digital Micro 4/3rds camera equipment. Excellent image quality, in a travel friendly package, what’s not to love! No more back and shoulder problems. Now, let’s work on that scuba tank…
Randy Giles – Regional Manager / Directeur régional PADI Canada
So many great innovations however the one I am enjoying the most right now is my uber-affordable, size-of-a-cell phone, 1080P HD video camera, movie light and underwater housing set. The quality of the video images, the ease of use and the affordability make producing great video easily within reach of almost every diver; lights, camera … action ;-)
