AIRDRIVE DESIGN | Concept

Rotation like you have never felt before. The future of DAIWA Spinning Reels is AIRDRIVE Design. By reducing the weight of rotor, spool & bail assembly, a lighter rotation is achieved. The effortless rotation allows the angler to feel the true joy of trouble free function. This new chapter starts with 22' Exist.

AIRDRIVE DESIGN VIDEO

Consequences of the AIRDRIVE Design

1. Reel balance improvement
   16% lighter front unit compared to the 18' Exist (2500size reel used for the comparison) Weight adjustment and reel balance improvement allows angler to cast freely with control.
   
   
2. Rotation improvement
   The sensitivity and responsiveness of the reel has seen significant improvement. Low inertia allows anglers to experience a quick reaction and smooth running. The new AIRDRIVE roter instantly starts and elevates the control.
   
   
3. Less line trouble
   By combining the benefits of AIRDRIVE Rotor & AIRDRIVE Bail, along with Twistbuster III technology, 22' Exist is the easiest to manage spinning reel created by DAIWA!

AIRDRIVE SPOOL

Design reflects the future.
The stand out features of the AIRDRIVE Spool would have to be the newly shaped spool skirt and the simple single silver coloured cosmetic. Just by looking at the spool it is clear the structure has been redeveloped, reducing the weight and maximising the feeling of presence.
Reducing the spool weight creates many benefits for a reel; the total weight of reel is reduced, oscillation is improved, less resistance during winding and rotation, better balance when attached to the rod and of course the reel feels light and easy to fish.
In addition, DAIWA has added a skirt to the bottom of the spool edge to prevent line getting caught behind the spool and tangling with the main shaft.
The drag sound and clicker has also been redesigned to create a higher pitch drag sound.

AIRDRIVE SHAFT

Friction free rotation.
Vertical rotational force from the handle is converted by the pinion gear to horizontal rotation. The mainshaft goes through the pinion gear to support the oscillation of the spool. To create a smoother oscillation and rotation, improvement to the mainshaft and pinion gear was required.
Most DAIWA spinning reels use linear shaft which has a non contact structure between the mainshaft and the pinion gear itself. The linear shaft creates less friction resistance which leads to smoother rotation along with minimal power loss.
The newly developed AIRDRIVE Shaft has taken the same benefits and improved further. AIRDRIVE Shaft also has a non contact structure between the mainshaft and the pinion gear. In addition to this, both ends of pinion gear are now supported with bearings to relay the crank power from the handle to the rotor with a higher level of efficiency.
AIRDRIVE Shaft creates the feel of smooth, quiet rotation and provides anglers with torque and power.

AIRDRIVE BAIL

Trouble free future.
DAIWA’s well known technology AIR BAIL has seen further improvement with the concept of AIRDRIVE. The AIRDRIVE bail is the next evolutionary step in bail design and perfectly matched with the new AIRDRIVE concept. DAIWA succeeded in designing a somewhat thinner bail that nevertheless offers the required strength and further decreases the reel weight. Compared to the 18' Exist the new AIDRIVE bail reduces the weight by 33% (Size 2500).
Creating the bail in a smaller diameter reduces weight to create stress free and user-friendly fishing experience. DAIWA has adjusted the angle of bail setting to improve the line movement into the roller. Careful attention was given to the roller and slider and individual design alterations were done for each size of 22' Exist, perfectly adjusting the line management for each size of the reel.

AIRDRIVE ROTOR

Low inertia is the key.
A lighter rotor increases the functionality of small spinning reels. The lighter and more compact rotor will require less initial force to rotate, creating that feeling of low inertia and effortless start up. The new AIRDRIVE rotor is made of Zaion. The robustness is the same as at the 18' Exist but nevertheless DAIWA was able to reduce the weight of the 22' Exist significantly. The goals during the development were to ensure an extremely light and smooth running.
The rotor weight has been reduced by 16% compared to the previous edition (#2500) and sets a new benchmark regarding rotor design.

MONOCOQUE® | Body

Light and strong like a Formula 1 racing car. Lighter and stronger through Monocoque Body technology.

Since the first spinning reels it was common sense that the body is made up of two parts: The reel body and the body lid. With its introduction 2016 the Monocoque body design simply crushed this long-standing paradigm. At the Monocoque design, the reel body serves as a stiff and distortion-proof frame, which is handy and compact at the same time.

Thus the body lid has no longer to be secured with a screw and the resulting free space can be used for a larger driving wheel. By this design, the reel body can house a driving wheel, which diameter is about 85% of the body surface. To put it simple: This design allows the use of larger and thus stronger driving wheels at the same body size.

MAGSEALED® | Sealing

MagSealed® Body Construction

The MagSealed principle is based on a special magnetic oil, which has been developed by the NASA to transport fuel to the starships based on the magnetic principle. Such an oil for reel production is not available in the super market. It has to be manufactured under most difficult circumstances. The embedded ferric oxide, which is necessary for the magnetic field has a diameter of 1/100.000mm and is that small, that the surface of a single particle has the tenth of the size of an influenza virus.

The molecules in this new "metal oil" are capable of changing. If they are exposed to a magnetic field, they change their shape and the oil forms a fluid seal. This magnetic oil is that strong, that it would stick to a magnetic bucket, even if the bottom was cut out.

Such a seal, based on the principle of liquid magnetic oil produces nearly no friction, isolates perfectly and prevents even penetrating of little dust particles. The big challenge for the DAIWA engineers was the development of a reel, which is designed for the principle of the magnetic oil to generate a kind of liquid membrane, that prevents water penetration. The MagSeal design is based on the purpose to keep water away from a spinning reel. First of all for sea anglers this is an amazing idea - since it promises a longer life span. No corrosion, better function. If salt water penetrates the reel and dries, it crystallizes, corrodes the gearing and affects the ball bearings.

The simplest solution for implementing a sealed mechanism, would have been the usage of a rubber seal. But this would cause such a strong friction, that an isolation of the rotor and axis would have been impossible. Only the use of a metallic oil in combination with a magnet provides the desired isolation effect without heavy friction. Years of research and development were required to develop such a reel isolation.

We call this liquid isolation MagSealed.

FUNCTIONALITY

To prevent the penetration of water, dust particles or salt crystals between rotor and reel body, we have developed a nearly frictionless barrier based on magnetic oil, which cannot be overcome by neither water nor smallest particles. The result is a silky-smooth running.

MagSealed® Line Roller

The smoother a line roller turns, the less friction emerges between line and roller. If delicate salt or dirt particles penetrate the line roller, it is continuously dragged and the friction is considerably increased.

The magnetic MagSealed oil forms a barrier, which prevents the intrusion of water and therefore also of salt and dirt particles into the line roller, which could affect the free rotation.

MagSealed® Ball Bearings

Our DAIWA technology further on changes the fishing tackle market. Our engineers succeeded in further devolving the Mag Sealed invention to a new level. First we sealed the axis, then the line roller and now the ball bearing!

MagSealed is a new chapter in the history of the fishing reel. Thanks to our targeted research and development, we succeeded in integrating MagSealed into a ball bearing. For a long lifespan and a silky-smooth running over a long period. A revolution!

TOUGH DIGIGEAR® | Gear

Machined, digitally developed gearing for maximum performance and endurance. Embeded in our lightweight reel body, it transmits smoothly and efficiently the power of the handle directly to the rotor. Like this you can concentrate on fishing completely.

Our DAIWA engineers completely perfected the technology of milled gears with the Digigear II and newest with the Tough Digigear (TDG). The shape and surface of the gear teeth enable the construction of gears with extraordinary smooth running, smallest resistance and extremely long lifespan.

Result – A real evolution for the strength of the Digigear!

ZAION® | Body & Rotor

Zaion is an excellent material developed by DAIWA to built reel bodies and rotors. The big advantage of this material is its lightness and solidity. Zaion is a kind of "High Density" carbon strain material, which is made for highest performance and to resist maximum impact.

Due to Zaion, it is possible to construct lightweight reel bodies and rotors (Zaion AiR Rotor) that durably support the gearing. The strength of Zaion corresponds to magnesium and is 20% stronger than Nylon/ABS material, usually used for reel bodies. Zaion is about 50% lighter than Aluminium.

Zaion – the ultimative reel material!

ATD® Type-L | Drag System

The second generation of the ATD drag system. Works smoother and delivers the adjusted drag power almost without any inertia. The drag clicker sound has also been improved.

TWISTBUSTER® II | Line Roller

DAIWA´s original advanced technology designed to reduce line twist during retrieving. An essential reason for line twist has been eliminated with this smart idea.

The newest Twist Buster II line roller not only minimises line twist, but also reduces further friction between the line and the roller.

ABS® | Anti-Backlash-System

The super system that allows long casts and prevents line twist reliably. DAIWA reels with ABS have spools, which are constructed in such way that they have a spool guide of a very large diameter which is getting bigger towards the spool's top.  Like this the line unwinds in big loops and very evenly from the spool and thus prevents the twisting of the line.

Thanks to this system also longer casts are possible.