Rodale’s Scuba Diving

An Interview with Mike Ange

Mike Ange began diving in the mid-80s and started a full-time professional career in the dive industry in 1991 with an eight-year-old truck, four sets of well-worn dive gear, $250, and “a concept considered crazy by all of my peers.” Since that time, he has been recognized for numerous accomplishments within the diving industry, earned a number of certifications, and made lots of good friends along the way. Mike counts among his diving accomplishments owning a successful retail operation in North Carolina which is celebrating its 10th anniversary in 2001, being a successful sales rep for equipment manufacturers in North America, and participating in the cutting edge of diving and diver training long before it was the popular thing to do. His latest accomplishments include being selected to head the North, South, and Central American division of the world’s largest manufacturer of civilian and military rebreathers, Draeger Safety, Inc., and acceptance as a member of the International Who’s Who of Entrepreneurs for 2000, for the successes of his diving businesses.

RSD Extra: Can you tell us Draeger’s history and how you operate?

Ange: Draeger is one of the oldest companies in the diving industry. The company got its start in 1889 with the invention of a new and revolutionary pressure reducing device used in beer taps. By 1907 Draeger was producing apparatus for escape from sunken U Boats and 1911 found us conducting our first experiments on diving equipment. The company had introduced three "hose free" helmet type diving systems by 1912 and was already active in chamber testing diving equipment and decompression tables. On July 17, 1914, a diver stayed 40 minutes at a depth of 80 meters in a Draeger chamber and returned safely from the dive. We believe this to be the first such dive successfully completed. These accomplishments led to the development of a closed circuit rebreather released in 1926, construction of underwater habitats like the Helgoland underwater laboratory in the 1960s, The Drager Newtsuit in 1991 and, of course, the world's first viable recreational rebreather, the Atlantis I in 1995.  

The company is an international multi divisional company with large interests in industrial safety equipment, fire fighter apparatus, gas detection equipment, aerospace engineering, medical equipment and of course both military and civilian diving equipment. The company is still based in the very old and picturesque city of Luebeck in Northern Germany, however it has daughter companies all over the world including Draeger Safety, Inc., Draeger Dive Americas' parent company in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Manufacturing is done where the technology and capacity exist for a specific product and these finished products are then marketed around the world by our divisions. The Draeger Dolphin for example has parts manufactured in England, Germany and even in sunny Florida and these parts are assembled and tested at our facility in Luebeck.

RSD Extra: Tell us about your various products, which seem to have a very loyal following.

Ange: In the USA our primary products are the Draeger Dolphin and the Draeger Ray semi-closed rebreathers. As you know these have been the most successful rebreathers ever launched in the recreational diving industry. The Dolphin is the next generation of the Atlantis I rebreather and there are literally thousands of these units in use around the world. The Ray is a less expensive version of the same technology that is packaged in a very traditional BCD. It has a little less flexibility than the Dolphin and fewer bells and whistles but it is a very good unit for the entry level rebreather diver. Our recreational rebreathers are built from some of the same technology that made our military rebreathers, like the LAR V CCR, the most successful military rebreather in the world.  

The most noticeable advantages to the Dolphin and Ray over open circuit are the virtually noiseless operation and the extended duration of dive time received from small cylinders. Since the units use enriched air Nitrox, SCR divers get the benefit of extended no stop times which further enhances the up to 3 hour duration received from our 28 cu ft tanks. In addition to smaller tanks for most dive trips you also only need to take one. As divers become more experienced on rebreathers they quickly discover the biggest benefit of all: the ability to interact and observe marine life in a very different, up close and personal way. It is the closest thing I have found to actually becoming a part of the marine environment, except for maybe free diving.

RSD Extra: What about the growing popularity of rebreathers specifically?

Ange: The number of serious recreational divers continues to grow annually and as they become more experienced these divers naturally look for new challenges and experiences. This accounts for the growth of underwater photography and other special activities. Many divers do not want to undertake the challenges associated with technical diving so rebreathers offer an exciting new experience for these experienced divers. Coupled with the other rapidly growing specialty fields of photography and videography, the rebreather offers an exciting tool to expand the sport diver’s capabilities and his or her enjoyment of the diving experience.

RSD Extra: What do you think the future will bring in terms of enhancing the scuba diving experience and gear?

Ange: I think the trend in diving gear is and has been for some time moving toward lighter, more comfortable, and easier to use equipment. As the experienced diver population continues to grow innovative companies will come forward to meet these increasing demands. As a result, we will see diving equipment continue to evolve in this direction (either willingly or with great resistance from the industry, in that this evolution will occur).  

As far as the diving experience goes, I think the trend toward more exotic travel and eco tourism will continue. As an instructor, I have noticed the ecological IQ of new and experienced divers alike continues to rise each year. This increased diver awareness also enhances the diver's curiosity and desire for new interaction with the marine world. This means going to more pristine and less traveled locations or expanding the areas in which we dive. Technical diving has grown from this desire to expand our playground. For the less daring, equipment like rebreathers will give divers a chance to see the underwater realm in a different way even in the places they dive regularly.

RSD Extra: How do you see diving changing?

Ange: The diving industry is undergoing a great evolution today. Divers are more educated and more discriminating today than ever before in the history of the sport. Our customers are demanding better and more customer oriented service at every level of the industry and we must provide that service or perish. Many well established retail facilities have discovered this hard fact recently at great cost. Gone also are the days where we can spin a line of BS about a new technology to prevent customers from wanting it. With the information available today from on line resources and all the divers participating in cutting edge activities this tactic will and has failed to work. As an industry we cannot treat the diving consumer like we did when the BCD, the Computer and Nitrox were introduced. They will not stand for it. Come to think of it if you compare our growth to the growth of other recreational industries like snow sports maybe the previous generations of consumers did not stand for it either.

RSD Extra: Is the Internet affecting equipment distribution and sales?

Ange: The Internet is perceived as the great monster that will devour the retail diving industry leaving nothing behind but rotting corpses. The truth is far from this ridiculous myth. Some consumers do purchase diving equipment on line and some never will, that is the simple truth. Most research indicates that these are not competing markets even if the Internet consumer and the dive store are in the same block. In 1993 when my dive store put its first web page on line most of the local dive shop owners thought it was a waste of money. It wasn't. It also wasn't a ticket to overnight wealth and fortune. It was and it is a valuable marketing tool to advertise a diving business and educate potential consumers about the services and products provided. Even with direct sales capabilities this will remain the primary purpose for the Internet. It's use is only a threat to those too short sighted to embrace this valuable technology and use it to their advantage. Perhaps as an industry we would be better off with a few less of those businesses anyway.

RSD Extra: What new products are you excited about?

Ange: Obviously, rebreathers! Closed circuit technology is far from new, in fact it predates open circuit by decades, but the new developments are exciting. The capabilities of this technology to change the way the world dives is absolutely fascinating. I am also watching with some interest developments in dive instrumentation such as computers. The amount of research going into new fin design is also very interesting.

RSD Extra: Do equipment sales vary geographically and how so?

Ange: Well, I can only speak about rebreathers and related products. But in the worldwide market the US has the lions share of rebreather sales. Based upon our sales we have about 75% of the world's rebreather owners here in the US or in the Caribbean. Within the US the distribution is about what you would expect based on the placement of dive stores. The east coast definitely exceeds the west in rebreather sales. However, there are notable anomalies, like the state of Colorado, and the most active dealer in the US, who happens to be in southern California.

RSD Extra: Where did the name Draeger come from?

Ange: The Draeger name comes from the Draeger family that founded and still owns the Draeger Companies.

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