Santi Diving Equipment USA, Inc.

Article below is a short company history with few photos from production line.

Tomasz (Thomas) Stachura is the man responsible for Santi and now the Santi Diving success. He started working in the garment production industry just after finishing school and has been doing it ever since. His first passion was motorcycle riding at the time in Poland in a relatively cold climate where motorcycle apparel did not exist. As every motorcycle rider knows, comfort and warmth adds greatly to the sports enjoyment. Faced with no choice but to produce his own leather motorcycle gear, Tomasz did just that by adding sports apparel to his already thriving industrial garments lines produced by Santi.

Living just outside Poland’s biggest port city, a few yards away from the beach scuba diving took over as his next recreational interest. About 1980, he embarked on a vain search for wet suits for his diving. The best he could do was to obtain neoprene scraps and that was no small miracle. Knowing that a wet suit needs to be snug to the body and at the same time not to restrict movement, he wanted to not waste precious materials so the prototypes were made from cotton bed sheets. After tests and final construction he became proud owner of the first wet suit amongst his diving friends.

A few years later, Santi started the mass production of arctic and cold weather gear for explorers and mountain climbers that included clothing and sleeping bags. Tomasz enjoyed the challenges associated with the development and improvement of apparel for different and in some cases extreme applications. Mass production runs were never his ultimate goal; nevertheless the company grew and now employs over 120 people. One of the pivotal products was designed for North Sea oil rig personnel and was required to be waterproof with massive insulating properties as well as to allow workers to perform various jobs with ease. The heat gluing or welding processes that were developed and improved for this type of application are now being sought in all cold weather industrial wear. This process alone made Santi the biggest exporter of its kind to Scandinavia and other cold weather regions.

Around 2001, Tomasz found himself getting cold in his new dry suit and decided to do something about it. Success with his clothing line for the North Sea Oil Riggers, prompted him to apply his expertise to Dry Suit undergarments. The first prototype for the EXTREME 400 JUMPSUIT was born. Right away he noticed that the new Jumpsuit was much warmer then anything he had tried previously. It will be hundreds of dives in many extreme environments and tens of changes and improvements before it was ready. In that process, his dive partners asked for the jumpsuits and their friends did the same. With a vast pool of divers, Tomasz was willing to listen to their input about the EXTREME 400 JUMPSUIT and now it has became the leading product in new the Santi Diving division.

No doubt the internet and newly established mail order sales division, contributed to quick growth of the company by providing the ability to fulfill large orders throughout the world. By 2004, he was persuaded by Robert Klein (respected Polish cave diver and instructor) to follow the success of the jumpsuit line by initiating development of the new Dry Suit production.

Tomasz and his key Santi employees realized right away that the new Dry Suit production would be a major challenge. Undaunted the preparations went on with the first design stage; then prototypes were made from rubberized material so not to waste expensive “Try-Laminate”. At this stage parameters were set for durability and fit with a full range of motion and the most important feature; ONE MUST STAY DRY. Then on to the building service department to repair any problems arising with existing suits. With this valuable experience, emphasis was directed to the development of innovative solutions to avoid these problems and a need for certain repairs all together. Lastly, equipping leading Polish and European divers and a few friends with new suits and putting them through a rigorous testing schedule (they just went diving – a lot). Feedback after the testing was immense, the whole company geared up to listen and to sort through all their suggestion from the diving leaders to the novice divers alike.

Approach of the diver-manufacturer interaction has proven to be a valuable key to the Santi Diving success in the market place. That said; let us not forget the dedication of the entire workforce behind the products, the skills of master craftsman and the artist tailors with decades of experience. Job satisfaction, financial rewards and a customer appreciation followed with each unit being sold. Tomasz insists on being “diver first and businessman later” and he gives complete attention to each and every comment he receives from the sales. The development of Santi Dry Suits took years of time and substantial investments to become the BEST DRY SUIT anywhere.

Santi Diving Equipment USA, Inc. is presently new to the USA and most of the products are still unknown. It maybe redundant to mention that new designs and newly developed space age materials are being used for the next generation of Dry Suits and Jumpsuits. You will be able to see them this year at DEMA (booth 3843). Meanwhile if you do not believe me, see your local retailer and try one on. You may just be the next person writing a new chapter in the Santi story. In either case, we will still have fun diving staying WARM & DRY.