About SEASOFT SCUBA
SEASOFT SCUBA, founded in 1985 by Bruce Justinen, is the most innovative, creative and fastest growing manufacturer in the dive industry. It is well known for being the David among the Goliaths as it wins comparison tests and recognition for its advanced, groundbreaking designs.
• First depth-compensating, stretchable integrated soft weight belt (the SEASOFT Weight Belt).
• First stretchable, adjustable ankle weights (the SEASOFT Ankle Weights).
• First soft, shapeable soft weight pouches (SEASOFT’s SEABAGS™).
• First dive glove, with a gauntlet, to eliminate the seam across the palms (SEASOFT’s Ti PRO™ 5 & 3 mm Gloves).
• First wetsuit and drysuit hood to use multiple types of neoprene to achieve specific needs, especially the use of compressed neoprene to prevent heat loss (SEASOFT’s Ti PRO™ Wet and Drysuit Hoods)
• First booties to use an elevated heel and an integrated 4 mm arch support underneath the sole for incredible comfort and performance (SEASOFT STEALTH™ & SUNRAY™ Boots).
• Designed the first heavy duty stainless steel cam (weight belt) buckle, it weighs almost 1/2 a lb. It is used on over a dozen other products from other dive equipment companies (the SEASOFT Stainless Steel Weight Belt Buckle).
• First 5 mm glove with a 3 mm index finger and glove for incredible warmth AND dexterity (SEASOFT Ti PRO EDGE™ (Kevlar) & Ti EDGE™ (Dina-Hide™) 5/3 Gloves).
• First 3 mm glove with a 1.5 mm index finger and glove for incredible warmth AND dexterity (SEASOFT Ti PRO EDGE™ (Kevlar) & Ti EDGE™ (Dina-Hide™) 3/1.5 Gloves).
• First fool-proof, mechanical-release, weight ditching system whereby the weights ditch from the bottom of the pocket (SEASOFT PRO Buoyancy Compensator™, SEALION Buoyancy Compensator™, SEAWOLF Weight Harness™ & QUIK DITCH Pockets™).
• First Buoyancy Compensator & Diving Vest with weight pouches located in the back on either side of the cylinder. The weights are released by pulling a Yellow Ripcord located on the right shoulder (the SEASOFT TravLite Buoyancy Compensator™ & the QUIK PAK Diving Vest).
• First Free Diving Vest to have the weight pocket located in the back with the weights being ditched by pulling a YellowRipcord located on the right shoulder (FREE Free Diving Vest).
• First Buoyancy Compensators that are completely adjustable for height and weight so that each SEASOFT BC covers at least 5 sizes of what other company’s BCs fit (SEASOFT PRO Buoyancy Compensator™ & SEALION Buoyancy Compensator™. These SEASOFT Buoyancy Compensators are available in 4 sizes that fit from 45 lbs. to 450 lbs.
• First drysuits to be manufactured with STEALTH-like footwear with a raised heel and a 4 mm arch support located underneath the sole (SEASOFT TX3™, SEASOFT TX™, SEASOFT Ti 3000, SEASOFT Ti 5000 & the flagship SEASOFT XV-4).
• First drysuits to be designed and manufactured with a Raglan sleeve and the exhaust valve located on the forearm, this allows all of the air to flow to the exhaust valve increasing dumping speed 5 X over a shoulder mounted dump valve (SEASOFT TX3™, SEASOFT TX™, SEASOFT Ti 3000, SEASOFT Ti 5000 & the flagship SEASOFT XV-4).
About Bruce Justinen, Founder of SEASOFT SCUBA
Bruce Justinen, the founder and president of SEASOFT SCUBA has always had a love affair withh the water! When he was a very small boy, he and his brothers would spend hours at the Kankakee, IL. YMCA swimming and diving. One of their favorite activities was diving to the bottom of the deep end to bring up a 5 lb. block and soon the boys were diving for pennies, nickels and dimes that amused adults would throw into the deep end.
When Bruce had finished 2nd grade, Bruce’s parents divorced and there was a sudden move to a logging camp on Vancouver Island where for the next several years they would spend the summer camping at Vernon Lake, a mountain lake fed at the opposite end by melting glacial water. The cold water did nothing to keep the boys out of the water and after his mom’s help in buying his first mask from Frank White’s dive shop in Victoria, he and his brother Lars would soon have their first “jobs”.
They would dive down past the frigid thermocline to salvage fishing lures that unfortunate anglers had snagged on the many sunken logs of the lake which was teeming with rainbow, lake and cutthroat trout. They would sell the lures back to the fisherman for a reduced price and Bruce would add money to his savings account.
From there they moved to Quatsino, B.C. on Northern Vancouver Island, a small fishing village accessible only by boat or seaplane where their single mom was the public school teacher. The school consisted of for the most part 8 children with 4 of them being Justinen. There was a frigid lake a half mile behind their house and the Pacific Ocean directly in front of them, both bodies of water entertained the Justinen boys.
Then when Bruce was in 6th grade they moved back to “civilization” in Victoria. Summers were spent camping back at Vernon Lake, diving for fishing lures, learning to dive deeper and deeper, going as deep as 40 feet without fins to retrieve a lure that might bring $.50 or even $.75. Winters were spent hanging out in Frank White’s Dive Shop on Fisgard St., longingly looking at the spear guns, fins (which he FINALLY bought) and other dive gear.
Then in 1985, Bruce got certified through a PADI dive store in Abbotsford, B.C. and he can still remember that first session where he was waiting to introduce himself to Paddy, the instructor. No one had explained what PADI stood for and so when he was told that he would be “certified by Paddy” he assumed that it was the name of the instructor.
By the end of the class Bruce had purchased all of his dive gear including a custom FITZWRIGHT 7 mm drysuit and his love affair with the ocean swung into high gear. With Shirley Kaban, his more experienced dive buddy, he started to dive and could not get enough. To him it was magic (and still is), and every weekend found him diving 2 or 3 dives a day and sometimes weekdays as well.
Within a month of starting to dive his only complaint was the 42 lbs. of hard, “stacked” blocks of lead required to dive that drysuit. The weights would feel loose at depth and on some of the longer hikes to special dive spots the lead would leave his hips sore and bruised.
So one day in spring of 1985 he casually mentioned to Shirley, his dive buddy, “I wish someone would make a weight belt that was stretchy and comfortable!” Her reply was “why don’t you?” and from that moment forward Bruce was determined to make a better weight belt.
A trip to buy a huge needle, inner tubes, thick thread, and a couple of 25 lb. bags of lead shot saw him sitting on the floor hand sewing what would become the famous SEASOFT Weight Belt. The company shipped its first order in June of 1987 to FITZWRIGHT where the national sales manager at that time Simon Morris (the now famous sculptor) helped Bruce and first employee, dive buddy Shirley, produce an attractive neoprene sleeve to fit over the rubber tubes of lead shot.
In August Bruce was invited to DACOR, at that time the #1 manufacturer and distributor of scuba equipment in the world. A distribution agreement was arranged so that DACOR would distribute SEASOFT Weight Belts under the brand name DACOR Hi Tech Weight Belts.
Two years later Bruce decided that he could distribute SEASOFT Weight Belts to more divers for a lower price by eliminating DACOR as the distributor. Since 1989, SEASOFT has continued to add innovative gear to its product line and continues to grow and expand. In 2011, it introduced SEASOFT Super Masks and snorkels, incredible titanium knives and US manufactured dive lights. All of these products have proven to be winners.
Almost 35 years later, Bruce is still the president of that small start up but it has grown into the most innovative, creative and fastest growing manufacturer in the diving world. Now almost 63 years old with over 5,000 dives all over the world, Bruce lives on Puget Sound with his dive buddy, wife Noreen.
“I have watched the diving world change over all these years but one thing I never forget; the customer wants comfort, dependability, performance and value. Give the customer even more by adding innovation and you will succeed.”
“Thank you to every customer over all these years, we trust that we have met or exceeded your expectations. We invite you to try other SEASOFT Products, we are confident that you will be pleased that you did!”