Bruce Justinen
Contributor
SEASOFT SCUBA has been in existence first as Hippo Scuba and then Watermark Scuba since 1985. For more than 29 years we have provided divers with innovative products. We are known within the dive industry for having the most inventive, original, advanced products in the categories we serve.
We were the first company to engineer (* now copied by others):
Depth-compensating soft weight belts. (SEASOFT PRO Weight Belts in DINA-HIDE & SEASOFT Weight Belts in durable standard nylon covering)
Stretchable, adjustable ankle weights. * (SEASOFT Ankle Weights)
Designed first weight belt buckle in solid stainless steel heavy duty designed for lifelong service including commercial & military diving; weighs almost .5 lbs. Used by dozens of companies now. * (SEASOFT Weight Belt Buckle)
Athletic dive booties with raised heels & real arch supports. (SEASOFT STEALTH & SUNRAY Booties)
Hoods with compressed neoprene panels that do not become thinner & colder the deeper you dive. (ALL SEASOFT Hoods)
Gloves that do not have a line of stitching across the palms that allows cold water to flush in and out of the glove. * (ALL SEASOFT Gauntlet Gloves)
Gloves that have a thinner index finger & thumb compared to the rest of the glove for superior warmth AND dexterity! (SEASOFT EDGE Gloves)
Gloves that have a thinner trigger/shutter finger for divers wanting a tough but resilient glove with great dexterity. This is the industrys only hybrid glove with both DINA-HIDE & KEVLAR. (HUNTER Gloves)
Lead shot that was covered in multiple layers of graphite to protect the environment & the diver. * (ALL SEASOFT Lead Products)
Drysuits that had Raglan sleeves for greater freedom of movement & a huge reduction in leaks under the arms by reducing stress on the seams. (ALL SEASOFT Drysuits)
Drysuits that had the entire front & back made from one piece of neoprene with no cross seam thereby almost eliminating crotch leaks. (ALL SEASOFT Drysuits)
Drysuits with boots that had raised heels & real arch supports. (ALL SEASOFT Drysuits)
Drysuits that have the exhaust valve mounted on the forearm, the logical choice for buoyancy control. (ALL SEASOFT Drysuits)
BCs that dump weight STRAIGHT DOWN, the position a diver will be in when a ditching emergency occurs. (SEASOFT PRO & SEALION BCs, TravLITE BC)
BCs that are Bi-adjustable in height & circumference but also adjust by allowing the wearer to pull the back of the BC toward the front & the front toward the back for a locked in fit. Most SEASOFT BCs fit approximately 5 sizes. (SEASOFT PRO & SEALION BCs)
A BC with a built in flashlight pocket & retractor. (SEASOFT PRO BC)
The first Travel BC to weigh less than 5 lbs. and fit multiple sizes. (TravLITE BC)
A dry bag with a roll out change mat connected to the bag itself. (DRY-MAT-BAG)
A Primary dive light that weighed less than 6 ounces. (RAYGUN Dive Light)
A Beta Titanium Dive Knife with a GLOW-IN-THE-DARK handle & secure fastening system. (Watermark NITE-EDGE Beta Titanium Dive Knife)
An Enzymatic Cleanser for cleaning nasty wetsuits & other gear that leaves it smelling Lemony instead of like wet neoprene. (Lemon GrenAIDE Enzymatic Cleanser)
An Anti-fog Spray engineered for Anti-reflective Coatings on dive masks as well as regular masks. Also prevents mildew & mold from taking hold of your mask while in storage. (SEAVue Anti-fog Spray)
The first mask strap to ensure that your dive mask is evenly seated on your face to virtually eliminate leaks & discomfort. (SEA-DIAL Mask Strap)
The first Weight Harness that is fully adjustable, height & girth. (SEAWOLF Weight Harness w/ 2 20 lb. quick release pockets)
These are just a few, there are many others AND we have dozens more already developed, engineered and ready to manufacture.
But in the life of every company there comes a time when you must decide HOW you are going to grow.
My name is Bruce Justinen, I founded this company in 1985 after being with Procter & Gamble and Schering Plough, and our first product was the SEASOFT Weight Belt. Many still know us for our weights but we are so much more than that. We have won awards for our drysuits, our lights, our boots, our gloves, our hoods, and we have developed a reputation for being creative and thinking outside the normal diving sandbox.
We have watched while dozens of other companies, most of them far larger than us have gone out of business during the last 29 years while we have grown. Those who know us have heard us say many times, we do not stay in business by trying to be as good as SCUBAPRO and AQUALUNG and the other great companies of the dive industry. No, we stay in business and even prosper by striving to be better.
We are better because we innovate, we look for niches, we look to make our products better in some way, to make diving products warmer, more comfortable, better performing, lighter, stronger, longer lasting, etc.
In other words, we want to give our customers more.
But it takes capital to do this. We have been using our retained earnings and small loans to make this happen over the last 29 years but now, after this recession we face this dilemma.
We must either:
Having given it a lot of thought I still have a lot of passion for this business so I prefer #2. I own the entire company and I could use someone who has fresh ideas, who is willing to work hard in a small company and knows that #3 probably will happen at some point but WE will decide when it does. But when it does, they can sit in their own rocking chair
SEASOFT SCUBA has a lot of new products waiting to come to market but we used up a lot of retained earnings during this long recession. We still came out with 3 new products in 2013 and we have already come out with more in 2014.
But we have new products (that with the right amount of capital) we could give the company a very, very good year in 2014 and beyond.
So as is our custom, we are going to think outside the box.
If you are interested in joining this team and you have $150,000 minimum to invest in equity in a diving equipment company then email me at bruce@seasoftscuba.com If you are just interested in an equity position and have a minimum of $50,000 you may also contact me.
Thank you for taking the time to read this. We appreciate all of the support we receive from the diving public, we know it is easy to support the BIG companies, we appreciate those who take the time to learn about those of us who work hard to make products that are innovative, creative and give you more than you thought you were buying. Thank you.
Bruce Justinen
President
SEASOFT SCUBA Inc.
We were the first company to engineer (* now copied by others):
Depth-compensating soft weight belts. (SEASOFT PRO Weight Belts in DINA-HIDE & SEASOFT Weight Belts in durable standard nylon covering)
Stretchable, adjustable ankle weights. * (SEASOFT Ankle Weights)
Designed first weight belt buckle in solid stainless steel heavy duty designed for lifelong service including commercial & military diving; weighs almost .5 lbs. Used by dozens of companies now. * (SEASOFT Weight Belt Buckle)
Athletic dive booties with raised heels & real arch supports. (SEASOFT STEALTH & SUNRAY Booties)
Hoods with compressed neoprene panels that do not become thinner & colder the deeper you dive. (ALL SEASOFT Hoods)
Gloves that do not have a line of stitching across the palms that allows cold water to flush in and out of the glove. * (ALL SEASOFT Gauntlet Gloves)
Gloves that have a thinner index finger & thumb compared to the rest of the glove for superior warmth AND dexterity! (SEASOFT EDGE Gloves)
Gloves that have a thinner trigger/shutter finger for divers wanting a tough but resilient glove with great dexterity. This is the industrys only hybrid glove with both DINA-HIDE & KEVLAR. (HUNTER Gloves)
Lead shot that was covered in multiple layers of graphite to protect the environment & the diver. * (ALL SEASOFT Lead Products)
Drysuits that had Raglan sleeves for greater freedom of movement & a huge reduction in leaks under the arms by reducing stress on the seams. (ALL SEASOFT Drysuits)
Drysuits that had the entire front & back made from one piece of neoprene with no cross seam thereby almost eliminating crotch leaks. (ALL SEASOFT Drysuits)
Drysuits with boots that had raised heels & real arch supports. (ALL SEASOFT Drysuits)
Drysuits that have the exhaust valve mounted on the forearm, the logical choice for buoyancy control. (ALL SEASOFT Drysuits)
BCs that dump weight STRAIGHT DOWN, the position a diver will be in when a ditching emergency occurs. (SEASOFT PRO & SEALION BCs, TravLITE BC)
BCs that are Bi-adjustable in height & circumference but also adjust by allowing the wearer to pull the back of the BC toward the front & the front toward the back for a locked in fit. Most SEASOFT BCs fit approximately 5 sizes. (SEASOFT PRO & SEALION BCs)
A BC with a built in flashlight pocket & retractor. (SEASOFT PRO BC)
The first Travel BC to weigh less than 5 lbs. and fit multiple sizes. (TravLITE BC)
A dry bag with a roll out change mat connected to the bag itself. (DRY-MAT-BAG)
A Primary dive light that weighed less than 6 ounces. (RAYGUN Dive Light)
A Beta Titanium Dive Knife with a GLOW-IN-THE-DARK handle & secure fastening system. (Watermark NITE-EDGE Beta Titanium Dive Knife)
An Enzymatic Cleanser for cleaning nasty wetsuits & other gear that leaves it smelling Lemony instead of like wet neoprene. (Lemon GrenAIDE Enzymatic Cleanser)
An Anti-fog Spray engineered for Anti-reflective Coatings on dive masks as well as regular masks. Also prevents mildew & mold from taking hold of your mask while in storage. (SEAVue Anti-fog Spray)
The first mask strap to ensure that your dive mask is evenly seated on your face to virtually eliminate leaks & discomfort. (SEA-DIAL Mask Strap)
The first Weight Harness that is fully adjustable, height & girth. (SEAWOLF Weight Harness w/ 2 20 lb. quick release pockets)
These are just a few, there are many others AND we have dozens more already developed, engineered and ready to manufacture.
But in the life of every company there comes a time when you must decide HOW you are going to grow.
My name is Bruce Justinen, I founded this company in 1985 after being with Procter & Gamble and Schering Plough, and our first product was the SEASOFT Weight Belt. Many still know us for our weights but we are so much more than that. We have won awards for our drysuits, our lights, our boots, our gloves, our hoods, and we have developed a reputation for being creative and thinking outside the normal diving sandbox.
We have watched while dozens of other companies, most of them far larger than us have gone out of business during the last 29 years while we have grown. Those who know us have heard us say many times, we do not stay in business by trying to be as good as SCUBAPRO and AQUALUNG and the other great companies of the dive industry. No, we stay in business and even prosper by striving to be better.
We are better because we innovate, we look for niches, we look to make our products better in some way, to make diving products warmer, more comfortable, better performing, lighter, stronger, longer lasting, etc.
In other words, we want to give our customers more.
But it takes capital to do this. We have been using our retained earnings and small loans to make this happen over the last 29 years but now, after this recession we face this dilemma.
We must either:
- Go into debt to grow.
- Sell equity in the company to grow.
- Or be swallowed up by another company who only cares about getting bigger at any cost; at that point I just get in a rocking chair and watch my mutual funds and stocks.
Having given it a lot of thought I still have a lot of passion for this business so I prefer #2. I own the entire company and I could use someone who has fresh ideas, who is willing to work hard in a small company and knows that #3 probably will happen at some point but WE will decide when it does. But when it does, they can sit in their own rocking chair
SEASOFT SCUBA has a lot of new products waiting to come to market but we used up a lot of retained earnings during this long recession. We still came out with 3 new products in 2013 and we have already come out with more in 2014.
But we have new products (that with the right amount of capital) we could give the company a very, very good year in 2014 and beyond.
So as is our custom, we are going to think outside the box.
If you are interested in joining this team and you have $150,000 minimum to invest in equity in a diving equipment company then email me at bruce@seasoftscuba.com If you are just interested in an equity position and have a minimum of $50,000 you may also contact me.
Thank you for taking the time to read this. We appreciate all of the support we receive from the diving public, we know it is easy to support the BIG companies, we appreciate those who take the time to learn about those of us who work hard to make products that are innovative, creative and give you more than you thought you were buying. Thank you.
Bruce Justinen
President
SEASOFT SCUBA Inc.
