Review | NOMAD Tankless Dive System

Review | NOMAD Tankless Dive System

Heavy and bulky apparatuses, license costs, finding a convenient dive shop to top up your air, tank servicing and high initial set up costs...these are just some of the realities of traditional scuba diving that the Nomad Tankless Dive System has completely overcome. Read on to find out more and if it’s right for you!


Underwater Metal Detecting with Blu3


Here in Australia and around the world, we know that metal detecting at the beach is very conditional and that excess sand often buries the treasure deeper than our detector can reach.  However, we often find that heading into the water we can find much better conditions and a heap more good targets with our metal detector!  To “Go below the surface” (as BLU3 puts it) with the BLU3 NOMAD dive system, we can massively increase our time and quality underwater.


As avid Detectorists ourselves, we can easily and confidently say the Nomad Dive System by Blu3 is a force multiplier out in the water and the ability to reach the treasure and other great finds beyond a couple of meters shouldn’t be underestimated. The Nomad Tankless Dive system is able to take you down 9 meters at full depth, affording you a significant degree of freedom to very conveniently dive deep in a wide variety of underwater environments.  On top of that, when you combine the Nomad with a portable underwater metal detector such as the PulseDive from Nokta Makro, you’ve just created the most compact and effective combination of gear for filling up your treasure pouch while treasure hunting just below the surface.



Is the NOMAD compact and portable?


Yes it is! The Nomad Tankless Dive System from Blu3 is one of the worlds most compact Dive Systems and another very exciting addition for the world of recreational diving and scuba in Australia. This ultra-portable, lightweight hookah dive system weighs less than 11kg (Less than the weight of a single small scuba tank.Yes, really!)  The Nomad backpack is very compact in size (46 x 33 x 29cm) and features a rechargeable battery that allows for a depth of up to 30ft or 9 meters for 45-60 minutes or more. Even better, the Nomad’s Smart Reg™ monitors your breathing to ensure you get the most out of each dive by extending the life of your batteries.

What all this adds up to for the Nomad is a backpack-portable, travel friendly diving solution that is perfectly suited to underwater/diving activities and recreation such as underwater metal detecting, shallow water exploration, treasure hunting, underwater photography and even boat maintenance.


While what Blu3 is offering here certainly doesn’t make traditional scuba or snorkelling gear completely obsolete, the Nomad provides a very convenient and attractive hookah dive system in a variety of situations!


Blu3 NOMAD Dive System VS Traditional Scuba Diving


What problems can the Nomad solve?

We would describe Blu3s Nomad as a fantastic no fuss and no problem system and we’ve outlined below a few scenarios where Blu3 has solved some of scuba divings’ biggest inconveniences with their Nomad Tankless Dive System.  For example:

Imagine that you plan to scuba dive in any built-up area, many things need to line up for an experience that is seamless, easy, and/or convenient.

  1. Find a scuba shop anywhere near you or your desired dive location.
  2. Find one that’s open when you need it. Too early or too late and it probably won’t be open
  3. Find a parking spot. Enough said!
  4. Carry heavy gear to the shop and wait to fill up on air, then pay the bill and walk it all back.
  5. After planning for all that, have you remembered to have your equipment serviced because they won’t fill your tanks unless they’re in test!

What is being offered in the Blu3 Nomad is a hookah diving solution that can be ready to go with just a few hours notice (if your batteries are low) or sooner if they're charged already! Additionally, if you want to do back-to-back shallow dives, it’s trivially easy to carry extra Nomad batteries with you and swap a new one in from shore or on the boat. 


How can I use the Blu3 Nomad?


The potential use cases for a hookah dive system like the Nomad are many, but we’ll go through a few quick scenarios to help compare and contrast against traditional scuba diving systems below. 


  1. New to Scuba


Important: We highly recommend getting scuba certified before using Blu3s NOMAD dive system, due to the risks associated with it’s depth range of up to 9m (30ft). We also highly recommend to any diver the use of a back-up air supply such as Spare Air (link) and remember, it's always safer to dive with a buddy.


With that statement foremost in mind, if you are new to the world of scuba diving, or are just looking for a convenient piece of equipment for some fun exploring or important jobs such as boat maintenance that goes beyond 3 meters, we can highly recommend the Nomad from Blu3.


With the high start-up costs and licensing, more maintenance to keep on top of associated with more traditional complex scuba setups, this can be daunting or prohibitive for some people or applications.


What Blu3 is offering here does away with all that. All that is required is the purchase of the Nomad and a helpful online course + waiver. Yep, that’s literally it! 


  1. Remote and/or difficult to access locations.


There are many “hidden gem” type locations all over the world that might require hiking to access and/or be a considerable distance away from Civilization and Dive Shops. 


Now just imagine the prospect of having to bring all your heavy and bulky equipment all the way to the water (A single small dive tank weighs 15kgs!), plus you might also need to find a shop that can refill or top up your air tanks.  If you’re imagining a situation that requires diving to a depth up to 9m then this is where we see Blu3 shine again with this Tankless Dive System, the NOMAD. The Nomad + Backpack + Battery weighs just 10.8kg! And if the unit's 45-60+ minute battery life and optional spare battery still isn’t enough you only need to find a power-point to recharge. The entire unit stows away easily and conveniently.  Simply recharge the batteries and chuck on the backpack to start your adventure!


This is probably where we see the biggest impact with Blu3s Nomad. Situations where accessibility to dive shops and convenience of transport are a big deal. 


  1. Busier and/or more accessible locations


We’re sure many of you can think of a few swimming areas, rock pools, and other waterfront locations that you’ve wanted to explore, take photos or go underwater metal detecting, etc. Here it’s worth considering a few important things.  


Portability, convenience and depth still apply, but also in some areas the prospect of being run over by a boat or otherwise entangled in someone's gear that doesn’t know you’re there may be a consideration to you. Fortunately, just like the older Nemo, the Nomad (and Nomad Mini) unit floats on the surface complete with a colorful Blue/White or Red/White flag, and anyone near enough will hear the compressor noise. Blu3 has made sure the Nomad system makes it very obvious to others on the water that a diver is below.  If you’re looking to be discrete, then traditional scuba gear you will be virtually invisible to anyone on the surface.

Will the NOMAD take you on your next underwater adventure?


When we first began stocking hookah dive systems made by Blu3 a few years back, it was clear they would be popular, fun to use, and an exciting solution to fill a crucial niche for people in the water. We started with the Nemo, and we’re so excited to also offer the next evolutionary step in Blu3's range of ultra-portable diving systems for underwater activities in Australia. Equally we're so excited to see how and where you use your NOMADS!

Back to blog

Leave a comment

Please note, comments need to be approved before they are published.