Air Bladder (Subnautica)

| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Category | Tools |
| Description | Emergency flotation device. Chemical reaction produces lighter-than air gas for fast personal buoyancy. |
| Acquired From | Fabricator |
| Build Time | 3 seconds |
| Size | 1 |
| Debug Spawn | airbladder |
The Air Bladder is a tool crafted with the Fabricator. It is a flotation device that allows the player to reach the surface of the water faster than simply swimming to the surface.
Uses
Controls
| Action | Mouse & Keyboard | Xbox One | PlayStation 4 | Nintendo Switch |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Inflating and Deflating | RMB | Right Trigger | R2 | ZR |
The player cannot swim down into the ocean with the Air Bladder equipped and inflated.
The Air Bladder is especially useful in situations where the player is in danger of drowning or needs to escape dangerous creatures. Once inflated, the player only needs to press the correct button to deflate the Air Bladder.
The Air Bladder can also be used to replenish 15 seconds of oxygen by pressing F. This will deflate the Air Bladder, and the player must swim to the surface or enter a seabase to inflate it.
Speed
A number of tests were run from the depth of 50 meters to determine the speed of swimming to the surface with Fins versus using the Air Bladder.
- With fins, players will average 4.16 m/s (12 seconds to ascend from a depth of 50 meters).
- With the Air Bladder, players will average 20.52 m/s (3 seconds to ascend from a depth of 50 meters).
Recipe
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Gallery
The Air Bladder in the Player's hand
The Air Bladder inflating
The Air Bladder deflating
The Air Bladder’s In-Game Model
An uninflated Air Bladder (Old Model)
An Air Bladder undergoing inflation (Old Model)
A full Air Bladder (Old Model)
An Air Bladder undergoing deflation (Old Model)
The new Air Bladder model, screenshot by a developer
Developer screenshotcomic while doing some animations
Model from Sketchfab
Trivia
- The player can inflate the Air Bladder and then unequip it, and when re-equipped the Air Bladder will still be inflated, cheating the loss of 3 oxygen.
- The Air Bladder is the only non-sustenance item in the game crafted using a fish.