15 Fathoms

09/09/2026

09/09/2026

All three colors are back and the trio that started it all is available in a bundle!
Our high-detail woven embroidered patches have come sewn on since 2015. They’re built to hold, somehow they look even better with a little salt and sweat.

Snag all three while you can!

09/04/2026

The number of veterans dying by su***de is staggering.
If you’re at that point, reach out.

VETERANS CRISIS LINE
Dial 988, then Press 1
Text 838255

NO MORE BROTHERS LOST.

09/03/2026

I lay my head on the west coast but Panama you have my heart, at least tonight! Thank you for the big orders! I threw a few slaps for y’all.
Thank you!

09/02/2026

Former U.S. Navy Diver – Thomas “Tommy” McConnell ⚓️🇺🇸

Thomas “Tommy” McConnell is a former U.S. Navy Diver who served nine years on active duty. He joined the Navy in 2011 and completed Navy Diver training at the Naval Diving and Salvage Training Center in Panama City, Florida. He went on to serve with Mobile Diving and Salvage Unit ONE in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, and later worked within Naval Oceanography and the Navy’s unmanned underwater vehicle community.

During his career, McConnell participated in diving, salvage, recovery and maritime operations throughout the Pacific, Middle East and United States. His experience included work surrounding the 2014 HMCS Protecteur casualty and tow, operations involving the USS Arizona, RIMPAC exercises, and a deployment to the Arabian Gulf. In 2015, he was part of the recovery effort for a U.S. Navy F/A-18F Super Hornet lost at sea, conducting dives at approximately 180 feet.

McConnell later transitioned into the unmanned underwater vehicle community, supporting military and maritime operations in the U.S. and abroad. After medically retiring from the Navy in 2019, he remained in the defense industry, where he continues to work today.

Outside of his defense career, McConnell is the founder and owner of 15 Fathoms, a brand inspired by the history and culture of the Navy diving community. Originally founded while he was still serving, 15 Fathoms takes its name from 90 feet of seawater and draws heavily from the equipment, traditions, humor and brotherhood of military and commercial divers.

Today, 15 Fathoms has grown beyond apparel into a way for McConnell to preserve diving history, tell the stories of the people behind the faceplates, and give back to the community that shaped him.

Founder & Owner of 15fathoms

Square yourself away and prepare to leave bottom.

09/02/2026

The solutions being proposed for the Cove do not solve the actual problem. There are too many people being funneled into one small area.

They don’t just show up on their own. They’re told to go there. Google La Jolla Cove and it’s clear as day why you see so many people forcing their way into a selfie with our wildlife. The precedent is set before they ever arrive. On top of that, tour buses and trolleys drop people just blocks away during the busiest hours of the day.

Ocean-access-only is a great solution that has already worked at Boomer Beach. Adding more park rangers, lifeguards or signage is a Band-Aid on a bullet hole. It doesn’t address the source of the problem. If anything, you’re going to create more tension between enforcement and tourists who arrived expecting the wildlife experience they were sold.
The Cove is a sacred place. Do not punish San Diego residents and responsible ocean users for the actions of a small percentage of tourists.
Start at the source. Rethink how La Jolla Cove is advertised. Stop funneling massive numbers of people into a tiny wildlife rookery and then acting surprised when there’s a problem.
Before taking access away from San Diegans, let’s have a serious conversation about why so many people are being sent there in the first place.
If you’re a city leader, tourism official, local business owner, environmental advocate or San Diegan who wants to actually solve this problem, DM me. Let’s get the right people at the table and protect the Cove without taking it away from the people who call San Diego home.

09/01/2026

Just grab that mystery pack. I know you love mystery.

08/31/2026

Proud to put together a pile of 15 Fathoms gear for Mobile Unit 3’s upcoming Khaki Ball silent auction. Hats, shirts, patches, slaps and plenty of Deep Sea goodness headed their way. It’s an honor to give something back and support the sailors carrying the torch today. Hope it raises a few bucks, gets into the hands of some good people and maybe raises a toast or two along the way. HOO-YAH DEEP SEA!

08/30/2026

The last post got a lot of attention and definitely pi**ed some people off. I understand how reposting a video of a rescue could be interpreted differently than I intended. The woman wasn’t the point. The conditions at the Cove were.

I love the Cove. I swim there, dive there and want to keep doing that for a long time. But when I’m swimming back to shore and see people stacked 10 or 12 rows deep on a tiny beach I have to ask why. We keep sending more and more people into this little space and then act surprised when something happens.

That’s really where Audit the Cove comes from. I don’t want to close it and I don’t think another sign is going to fix it. I think we need to look at what’s bringing so many people there in the first place.

There are four parts to my idea. Marketing, language, redirection and beach sovereignty.

Stop marketing the Cove as a wildlife encounter or experience. Change the language so wildlife is something you respect and observe, not something you go down there to interact with. Redirect some of those visitors to the hundreds of other things San Diego has to offer. And let the Cove be the Cove. It’s an incredible place to swim, freedive, snorkel and scuba dive.

I’m not trying to take the Cove away from anyone. I’m trying to figure out how we keep it open without loving it to death.

08/28/2026

The one that started it all.
Seen dive-side around the globe, this is the hat that helped put 15 Fathoms on the map. A true staple, one of our most recognizable pieces, and one we’ll never stop making.
Tap in and grab yours from one of the most recognizable names in dive apparel.