AirBuddy snorkeling meets SCUBA
Want the freedom of diving, without the hassle of heavy gear?
This is basically what you get if a snorkel gets a bit frisky with a portable air-compressor. The result? A little box on a floaty, a long air tube and a nifty dive flag. All of which you can comfortably put in a smallish backpack and lug about to your hearts content. Apparently it's plane safe, so I'm assuming it doesn't breach some arcane airline safety regulation.
The specs are pretty simple. AirBuddy offers; a dive depth of 12m (about 40ft) and 45min of dive time for the a mere a dime. Mmm. Dime... ten cents right?
I dive, but honestly, not enough to have a bunch of expensive gear sitting in the back shed with the spiders gathering dust. And yes, being a shed in an Aussie backyard I have bloody big spiders in there (and a reason to keep a cricket bat by the door). So, again being honest, it's not something I do as much as I'd like. Ok, it's not going to cut the mustard for anything serious but for mucking around at the beach it looks perfect. AirBuddy, not the cricket bat.
The downside? Cost for one thing, as it's looking like a basic unit will retail for about US$1350.00 (AU$1780.00). Which is steep but not too bad all things considered. I can pick up a decent BCD, Regulator, Tank, Computer & Gauge package at a local dive store for about the same money, so it's comparable. Dual diver units will also be available, which might make for some fun times with a close friend. Just speculating of course.
The AirBuddy team is raising money on Indiegogo with a June 2018 delivery. And it looks like the fund raising is going pretty well as it is 208% funded as of June 2, 2017.
They look like they are based in Sydney, so if anybody from AirBuddy reads this. Please drop me an email, cause I'd love to try it out.
You can view the AirBuddy site at http://www.airbuddy.net/