A Look Into The Future of Diving at DEMA 2024

Las Vegas is the stage for DEMA, the largest scuba diving trade show in the Americas. Let me get you an access pass so we can look at my top picks from this edition in today's episode on the Dive Saga channel. Guys, look at that! As far as hotel room window views go, I feel like that's pretty epic. You can see the sphere as well. Do you see it? Crazy here. Looks better at night though, but this is pretty cool. Well, hello guys and welcome back to another episode on the Dive Saga channel. Sick view! We're in Las Vegas. Why? For the DEMA dive show. We are going to take a look, a bit of an unusual episode, but maybe cool for those of you who don't have access to the show. By the way, also some really cool new Dive Saga merch here that has dropped that you maybe want to check out. There will be a link below this episode. Let me grab my badge. Now we're gonna walk for like 15,000 kilometers until we get to the convention center. Let's check it out. Whenever DEMA dive show lands in Las Vegas, the Westgate Hotel and Resort is the preferred hotel partner because it is located closest to the Las Vegas Convention Center. When I say close, you do have to take that with a grain of salt because it is still easily a 15-minute walk from door to door. There is a complimentary shuttle bus service available, but quite frankly I really enjoy the morning walk with my coffee down hallways, up and down escalators and stairs and across parking lots to the show's entrance. Just like everything else in Las Vegas, these buildings are absolutely massive. Luckily, the DEMA organization has left us with a scavenger hunt of signs and arrows to find the front entrance. We're literally only halfway. Maybe this is a good moment to remind you to subscribe to the Dive Saga channel and give us a follow on Instagram as well. And here we are. The first stop for me is the mandatory PADI course director update. Every two years, course directors need to check in with the agency and make sure they are still up to date on the latest teaching techniques and standards. Luckily, I train scuba instructors so frequently that I'm not only up to date, but I even get to collect my 10th consecutive Platinum Trainer Award. Shout out to all my instructor candidates who helped make this happen. Once that award is in the bag, it's time to go through the gates of DEMA Dive Show. DEMA stands for Diving Equipment and Marketing Association, as the name suggests the trade show is intended for diving businesses rather than consumers, so regular divers can't get an access pass unless they work for a diving industry entity. My first stop at the show is the X-Deep and KISS booth, so I can have another look at the KISS Sidewinder 2.0. The Sidewinder 2.0 was actually introduced at last year's DEMA show, but getting new rebreathers properly certified takes time. The Sidewinder 2 will continue its CE testing the next few months and is expected to be available for instructors within the next few months and consumers sometime after that. Another stop is the Divextras booth to have a look at their latest DPVs. While the Blacktips are probably their most known and most affordable scooters, the KUDA X units catch my eye. The rugged aluminum construction and customizable colors definitely offer something different. The fact that they are built to be the fastest and most powerful scooters on the market is a bonus. Might be a little bit strange to host a dive convention in the middle of the Nevada desert, but DEMA dive show rotates every year between New Orleans, Orlando and here in Las Vegas. For those of you who follow the Dive Saga channel who live in Asia, there's also ADEX, which is the largest and longest running dive expo in Asia. They have shows in Sydney, Singapore, Beijing, Shanghai and many other locations across Asia where dive industry professionals, enthusiasts and conservationists meet for exhibiting, networking, learning, education and conservation. You will actually be able to find me at ADEX Singapore on April 4 through 6, 2025. I will put a link to their website below. Make sure to check it out and consider attending. Joining Dive Saga to ADEX Singapore in April 2025. Back to Las Vegas where the DEMA 2024 dive show is in full swing and I'm in a deep conversation with the lovely people from DecoSoft to try out their new decompression calculation software. It uses my preferred Bullman 16C algorithm just like most other planning softwares, but the interface is extremely user-friendly and I particularly like that you can share a plan with the tap of a button, but on the receiver's device, the plan will open with their specific dive settings in the calculation, which is particularly interesting for teaching. I can't wait to give it a try. Next stop is a quick chat with my friends over at the Insta360 booth. As many of you know, I shoot a lot of the Dive Saga underwater videos on the Insta360 Ace Pro, for which you'll be able to find a link in the comments below as well, in case you're interested in getting one. Attending DEMA dive show is all about meeting other divers, and I'm fortunate enough to run into a friend of a friend named Michael Lombardi from Lombardi Undersea. Michael has developed an underwater presenter helmet. It's essentially a fully transparent hardhat that connects to a rebreather. This allows the wearer to breathe and talk as they would on the surface, while having a complete 360-degree view. The idea is that this allows underwater filmmakers to present to the camera while they are literally immersed in the action. I can't help but ask Michael to let me try on the helmet on the spot. It's surprisingly comfortable, but I definitely can't hear any outside noise from inside the helmet. Of course, the helmet does have a microphone inside, which is meant to be hooked up to a recording device. Encountering cool divers and cool inventions like this is exactly what DEMA is all about. Lastly, I visit my friends from Dive Lantern. Dive Lantern is an Australian company that produces underwater dive lights. As an avid underwater videographer, I'm always keen to learn about new lighting solutions, especially since so many of our underwater adventures take place at great depths or in caves or mines, and require a lot of light. So Nick and Abby introduce me to their newest V7000 video lights. With 7000 lumens, a 120-degree beam angle, magnetic charging and a CRI of 90, it is no surprise that I'm packing two of these into my dive bag as I head out to shoot some cave diving episodes in Mexico.