January 2005

Vol. 20, No. 1   What's this?

And the Weird Winner is . . . .

from the January, 2005 issue of Undercurrent  

Each year, Undercurrent combs the DEMA show for the most outrageous new product introduction, usually with a bit of tonguein- cheek attitude. For instance, the big winner one year was the Dive Bubble. Its display was a focal point in the trade show hall that year, with a giant columnar glass tank filled with water, a scuba diver, and hundreds of colorful quarter-sized plastic balls whirling around. The small plastic Dive Bubble balls were to be carried in a clip-on case attached to one of your reg hoses. When surfacing, the diver was to grab and release one these balls and then follow it to the surface in order to maintain the correct ascent speed, which at the time was considered to be the same rate your air bubbles would rise. To no one’s surprise, that one never made it big.

This year’s event didn’t have a good showing of new products, but I did manage to track down the Freedom Fin. Over the years I have seen more deviations of fin design than one could ever imagine, but the Freedom Fin reaches the farthest afield. It’s a fin designed to work from the leg instead of the foot, and it might even work if it ever goes into production, because the ankle has to be the weak link in fin action. Still, I may not be the first one on the dive boat to try this fin out. You can check them out at http://www.freedomfins.com