AP Diving sets divers three challenges

With the UK diving season now under way in the year that AP Diving celebrates 50 years in business, the Cornwall-based dive-gear manufacturer would like to remind scuba divers about the three “AP 50th Challenges” it is running.

For the first, 50 Dive Adventures, divers are invited to submit a report illustrated by photos of their best dive adventure of 2019. AP says it is looking for uniqueness and newsworthiness, quality of the submission, effort, and entertainment and inspirational value.

The best three reports chosen by AP will go into a random draw in December, with a range of product prizes – first of which is a Commando BC and SMB – and another 47 entrants receiving SMBs and anniversary coffee mugs.

AP’s 50 Beach Cleans Challenge is aimed at dive-clubs – it wants them to sign up and commit to cleaning at least one local beach this year. “If each club does one beach each, the 50 target will be easy!” it says. Divers have the necessary gear, knowledge and organisational skills as well as access to RIBs, says AP, allowing them to reach beaches the public can’t reach.

There are training SMB prizes for each club that submits a brief report and photos of its beach-cleaning event.

Finally, in the 50 Oldest Buddy BCs Challenge AP is seeking out jackets that are still working and possibly even in use. At the DIVE 2018 show at the NEC it displayed the original 1986 Buddy SeaKing BC that belonged to King Hussein of Jordan, still in good condition, but it had made its first single-bladder “horse-collar” BCs 12 years before that.

If you think you have the oldest working Buddy BC, submit photos of it now (and if possible as it looked back in the day) with serial number and any back-story. Prizes topped by a new Commando will be the reward.

Submissions in all three challenges should be sent to jeff@apdiving.com and will be posted on the manufacturer’s website and social-media channels. Closing date is the end of November.

Find out more here.