Founded in 1958, Poseidon is today probably known to every diver for its reliable diving equipment. Poseidon supports us with the legendary Xstream regulators and we asked CEO Jonas Brandt for an interview.
Cleanwreck.org: Jonas, how long have you been with Poseidon, how did you join and what were your responsibilities in the company?
Jonas: I’ve been involved with Poseidon since 2008, at that point being responsible for the development of the Poseidon MKVI rebreather. Employed as CTO 2011 and appointed CEO 2015.
Cleanwreck.org: How is Poseidon involved in marine conservation? What is Poseidon x divers against ghost nets?
Jonas: As an example, we provide rebreathers for NOAA (US) and their subsurface scientific program. We sponsor Divers Against Ghost Nets so they can continue cleaning the ocean from old nets and cages that continue to fish without purpose. Further, we do everything we can to produce locally, introduce circular thinking within our product range and reduce the amount of plastic waste in our product packaging.
Cleanwreck.org: What is your personal connection to the sea?
Jonas: I’ve been sailing and diving since I was a kid. In general living next to the ocean in Gothenburg. The sea is my second home.
Cleanwreck.org: Poseidon supports us with Xstream regulators. The technology is unique and the performance is certified for depths up to 200m. Why is the regulator not adjustable like others?
Jonas: None of our regulators have “dive controls” because we believe that regulators should be tuned and designed for perfect performance from the factory. When you must install deflectors and control levers you have a fundamental design issue with either leaking downstream valve or severe venturi effects. Each dive control system adds a failure point and are designed in the system to solve a particular issue. At Poseidon we try to eliminate the issues already in the design phase and minimize the amount of failure points.
Cleanwreck.org: The Cyklon is also 65 years old this year. Is its technology getting old?
Jonas: You might think that it’s about to become old but at the end of the day most regulators on the market are based on the same downstream technology that was developed by the founder of Poseidon back in the days when the single hose regulator was launched. In terms of the Cyklon valve technology it’s a very proven and stable valve design, proven in use over many years with very high availability in terms of performance. One example of that is that the rescue divers that found the Thai boys in the cave, used Cyklon for a very advanced and demanding diving operation (Editor’s note: read more).
Cleanwreck.org: The Cyklon X recently comes with Xstream’s first stage. A workhorse with athlete genes?
Jonas: You can definitely say that we launched that combo mostly because of a market demand. A big client of ours wanted to combine the extreme ice diving performance of the Xstream 1st stage and the heavy-duty design of the Cyklon 2nd stage. Together the combination gives outstanding breathing performance and availability in all ambient temperatures.
Cleanwreck.org:Thank you very much, Jonas!