Stats

The diving equipment collection is now complete, and what an enormous success it was! More than a hundred willing donors from both Finland and Sweden contacted me, and although we couldn't accept everything offered for various reasons, we received items from around ninety people. Even on the last day before we packed everything into the vehicles, we received donations from five different sources, one of which was the Finnish diving equipment manufacturer Ursuit. Ursuit contributed three brand new drysuits, including one so-called MPS – Multi-Purpose Suit. In addition to these very valuable donations, they also gave five Ursuit Phantom 20 BCDs of the wing type and no fewer than 25 diving knives, all brand new. A huge thank you to Ursuit!

Ursuit's donation arranged as neatly as I could manage. Two drysuits in their bags, with an MPS in the middle, and the five wings behind.

In total, we collected over 600 individual diving items (along with a large number of spare parts), weighing over 2000 kg. Almost half of that weight was air tanks, about 1000 kg, with lead weights coming in a strong second place at 250 kg.

Here is a list of everything donated.

34 drysuits
17 undersuits
25 wetsuits
20 wetsuit hoods
35 wetsuit gloves (and a large number of dry gloves, many of which were part of their respective drysuits)
50 BCDs, of which 19 were wing-type
53 air tanks of various kinds, including 11 doubles (the largest 18 liters each) and five smaller ones, around four liters each
59 pairs of fins
53 regulators in all possible configurations
20 dive computers
19 compasses
31 masks
19 snorkels
45 weight belts
11 SMBs
4 large spools of line
20 small and 16 large dive lights
67 dive knives
11 waterproof bags
14 large gear bags
1 gas analyzer
2 sets of gas blender equipment
3 compressors (one donated and two purchased at a good, discounted price)

Everything fit perfectly into two vans.


Fully packed

Receiving all this has been a fascinating experience, truly showing how much we in the Nordics want to support and actually do support Ukraine in their fight against evil. It’s been fantastic to see how everyone has contributed by donating and spreading the word about the campaign. People have reached out from as far as Muonio in Finnish Lapland and Skåne in Sweden. And our wonderful partners have stepped in with their time, expertise, and resources, which allowed us to verify the condition of much of what was donated and avoid sending items that were in poor shape. Most of the donated gear, after all, has spent the better part of the last decade on a shelf somewhere, and depending on the circumstances, it could still be in tip-top shape, or time may have taken its toll, as it did with this poor regulator’s second stage.

No longer functional second stage.

Soon, we will head to Ukraine to deliver everything. As usual, I'm a little anxious about what the recipients will say. Will they be disappointed with the motley assortment of gear we bring to them? Probably not, but these are the thoughts I always wrestle with. We’re waiting with anticipation!