AP Diving began life over 55 years ago as a small family business. Today, they are an award-winning internationally respected dive manufacturer with a legacy of pioneering and landmark products – from the AP Valve, the Tekwing and the Commando BCD range to the constantly evolving, world-beating INSPIRATION closed circuit rebreather.
Company founders David and Angela Parker were BSAC instructors and early club stalwarts way back in the days when The Beatles were at their peak. The first AP products developed partly as a result of the do-it-yourself ethos which was common among BSAC divers at that time. They saw a need and set about designing and building their own kit to meet it. The AP Valve was born – and the next logical step was to make their own jackets to put it on. The AP “BUDDY” BCD range developed and thrived alongside the expansion of BSAC itself throughout the 1980s and 90s – with the Commando and the Tekwing proving to be firm club favourites.
With their son Martin at the helm in the late ‘90s, AP had a second lift-off, taking the sport itself in entirely new directions – or to be more precise, to new depths and dive times. After many years of intensive R&D, AP introduced the world’s first production closed circuit rebreather – the INSPIRATION – and changed the way people dived forever. As a result, multiple ‘firsts’ have been achieved since then, not least, the individual firsts achieved by the many thousands of Inspiration divers worldwide – from the discovery of virgin wrecks to new personal depth and exploration records.
The next generation of AP products will aim to carry on this pioneering tradition, helping divers to dive better, explore further, stay longer, and enjoy the journey. AP Diving will continue to make game-changing dive kit, manufactured in Cornwall and ‘built for adventure’.
- Ambient Pressure Diving Ltd, Water-ma-Trout Industrial Estate, Helston, Cornwall TR13 0LW
- Telephone: 01326 561040
- Email: info@apdiving.com
- Website: www.apdiving.com
