SKÖ Gear at the Vertical Blue Freediving Competition First Aid
SKÖ Gear at
Vertical Blue
At one of freediving's most recognizable competitions, SKÖ waterproof gear was used by members of the medical team working around the water.
When the workplace is surrounded by water.
Vertical Blue brings elite freedivers, safety personnel, medical staff and support teams together in an environment where the water doesn't sit in the background. It defines the event.
For members of the medical team, that creates a different equipment problem from working inside a clinic or medical facility. The team needs to remain close to the action while operating around open water, boats, wet surfaces and constant movement.
SKÖ Gear had the opportunity to provide waterproof backpacks for members of the medical team at the competition.
It was a real-world example of the problem waterproof carry is meant to solve: important equipment may need to stay protected even when the people responsible for it cannot simply stay away from the water.
Around a freediving competition, water isn't an occasional hazard. It's the environment.
Gear that stays with the team.
A medical team working at a water-based event has a different storage challenge from someone working indoors. Equipment has to move with the team across working areas while remaining protected from the surrounding environment.
That is where wearable waterproof storage can make sense. Instead of requiring important items to remain somewhere dry, protection becomes part of the way the equipment is carried.
Working beside open water means spray, splashes and wet conditions are part of the environment.
Gear can move with the team instead of requiring a separate stationary dry location.
A waterproof enclosure creates a physical barrier between selected contents and surrounding water.
Wearable storage can keep equipment accessible while leaving the user's hands free.
The dive is individual. The event isn't.
Freediving can look intensely individual from the surface: one athlete, one breath and one descent.
An event like Vertical Blue depends on a much larger group of people working around those athletes. Safety personnel, medical teams, event staff and other support crews all play different roles in making the competition possible.
SKÖ's role was a small one. Providing waterproof gear for members of the medical team allowed our equipment to be used in exactly the kind of setting it was created around: one where avoiding the water isn't the answer.
Waterproof gear isn't only for adventure.
Waterproof bags are often associated with kayaking, paddleboarding, beach trips and travel. Vertical Blue highlights another side of the same design problem.
Professionals can also work in environments where rain, spray and direct water exposure are part of the job. In those situations, waterproof storage can provide a practical way to protect selected equipment while keeping it mobile.
Mobile protected storage around aquatic events and competitions.
Wet terrain and waterways can create similar equipment protection challenges.
Work conducted around boats, coastlines and waterways can benefit from protected storage.
Floods, storms and water-related incidents can create environments where selected equipment needs protection.
Protection works better when it can move with you.
A waterproof container can protect equipment. A wearable bag can move equipment. Combining the two creates a more useful system when people need to move through wet environments instead of avoiding them.
Separate what matters from the environment.
The most basic job of waterproof storage is creating a barrier between the contents and surrounding water.
Keep important equipment mobile.
Wearable carry lets selected equipment travel with the people responsible for it.
Make protection part of the workflow.
In a wet environment, protection is most useful when it is already built into the way gear is transported.
Current SKÖ Gear
From the field to everyday carry.
The format has changed, but the basic water-first idea remains. Today's SKÖ Waterproof Crossbody applies waterproof construction to a much smaller group of essentials: a phone, wallet, keys and other compact valuables.
It is not the backpack used by the medical team at Vertical Blue. It is the current expression of the same broader SKÖ design philosophy: build carry gear for environments where getting wet is part of the plan.
Waterproofing changes where a bag can go.
Most everyday bags are designed around staying reasonably dry. A waterproof bag begins with a different assumption: the environment itself may be wet.
That distinction can matter whether someone is paddling, traveling through heavy rain, spending the day around a boat or simply carrying electronics somewhere water exposure is difficult to avoid.
Different people.
The same need.
The athletes are the reason people watch Vertical Blue. Behind them is a much larger group of people working to make an extraordinary event possible.
SKÖ was proud to have waterproof gear used by members of the medical team. Seeing the equipment in that environment reinforced why waterproof carry exists in the first place.
Sometimes keeping something dry is about convenience. In professional environments, dependable protection can matter for much more than that.
More from SKÖ.
Learn more about waterproof gear, find equipment by activity or compare the different ways to protect essentials around water.
