AirBuddy Is A Scuba Diving Gear That Doesn’t Require Air Tanks

Scuba diving can be brutal the first time. Especially if you haven’t been at the gym in a while or you have back pains (like this writer, here). The gear is so heavy, it feels like it’s going to crush you in an instant! Since air tanks are crucial for breathing underwater, there’s nothing you can do about it, right? Wrong! A team of divers, mechanical engineers and entrepreneurs found a way to make diving almost weight-less. Their product, AirBuddy, doesn’t require air tanks #objectmagic

AirBuddy was born out of a need to find a portable, compact gear. “We love diving. But not so much the logistics of SCUBA tanks. We felt the need for a “grab-and-go” dive gear for our self-guided shallow-water dives here in Sydney and on our travels. We looked into the options and came across surface-supplied diving, but didn’t find any unit that would be practical for us to use – they were too large, heavy and expensive. So we decided to build the first prototype of AirBuddy.”, told us Jan Kadlec, co-founder AirBuddy.

So, how does AirBuddy look? From afar, you could mistake it with a red swim ring. The truth is this gadget is the liaison between snorkeling and scuba. By combining a compressor unit with a pressure reservoir (float), a supply hose, harness and regulator, plus the battery to charge them up, AirBuddy allows you to dive at 40 feet deep with 60-70% less weight! The air comes right from the surface and helps you breathe easily for up to 45 minutes. 

After using it once, you’ll realize that you don’t need to adjust buoyancy throughout the dive anymore. Plus, you will be able to use smaller fins since there’s lower drag and even swim more naturally underwater.

How does it work? Well, the battery powers the air compressor which in turn pressurizes the air from the surface. Then, the air travels through a receiver, a supply hose and the regulator to reach the diver. Pretty simple, right? The best part is you can set up the gear in 2 minutes tops! The battery recharges in about 3.5 hours from a standard power outlet.

The world’s smallest diving gear is now up on Kickstarter. AirBuddy needs to reach an AU$ 169,000 goal to accept orders and start shipping. If you hurry now, you could grab the Early Bird Special that comes at 1,025 euros/$1,499. There’s also a Buddy Pack offer for two divers and other bundles – make sure to check them out.