snorkel, what’s it good for?

[MXGratefulDiver]

My son just finished his OWD course and one day his instructor chewed him out for forgetting his snorkel. I know I shouldn't have, but I said "Why the fuss, we both know that his open water checkout is the last dive where he is ever going to wear one?" Knowing that his tip depended upon his reply he wisely settled for just glaring at me.

Dumbest PADI standard ever, and nothing will change my mind on that.

It's not just a PADI standard ... NAUI requires it too. But we're also required to teach skin diving skills ... in which case a snorkel comes in handy.

For scuba ... not so much ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[TMHeimer]

And snorkels can be quite entertaining when your dive buddy forgets to remove his snorkel and replace it with his regulator just prior to descending.

Snorkels are mostly useless while diving. They add clutter to your rig, and newer divers will often try to use them to dump air from their BCD ... again, the ones with the floppy corrguated hose.



Yeah, I admit, I've done both these infamous things when I was a newbie. But the next time you just don't do that....I just don't find the snorkel to be any real inconvenience.

 

[burna]

It's not just a PADI standard ... NAUI requires it too. But we're also required to teach skin diving skills ... in which case a snorkel comes in handy.

For scuba ... not so much ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

I didn't do any skin diving or free diving skills in my PADI OW. I remember asking them at the time if I really needed to buy a snorkle and they told me that I did because they'd teach me how to use it. Of course, they didn't!

 

[DevonDiver]

You did the snorkel-regulator exchange as one of the core skills on your OW course. That makes a snorkel essential for the course... how else would you have completed that skill?

 

[burna]

You did the snorkel-regulator exchange as one of the core skills on your OW course. That makes a snorkel essential for the course... how else would you have completed that skill?

Nup. Don't remember doing that.

 

[DevonDiver]

Your instructor broke PADI standards then.

The snorkel-regulator exchange skill is properly demonstrated in this video.

The skills should be taught on Confined Water Session 2 and repeated by the student on one of the Open Water dives.

Snorkel and Regulator Exchange Objective; Exchange snorkel for regulator and regulator for snorkel repeatedly while at the surface without lifting the face from the water.

Here is a list of all the skills that must be taught on the course, and which the student must demonstrate mastery of. The skills involving snorkel use (other than the optional skin dive) are highlighted in red.

• Equipment Assembly and Disassembly
  Learn how to properly assemble and disassemble your equipment.
• Pre-Dive Safety Check
  With your buddy, check each others' equipment to ensure that everything is in place and working properly before the dive.
• Regulator Clearing
  Remove your regulator, put it back in your mouth, and clear it.
• Regulator Recovery
  Learn two techniques that will help you recover your regulator in the event that it is knocked out of your mouth.
• Clear a Partially Flooded Mask
  Partially flood your mask and clear it while remaining underwater.
• Mask Removal & Replacement
  Take the last skill a little further and completely remove your mask, put it back on, and clear it.
• No Mask Breathing
  This skill is normally done in combination with Mask Removal & Replacement. Learn how to comfortably breathe without your mask on.
• Alternate Air Source Use
  Simulate being out of air by signaling to your buddy, securing their alternate air source, making contact with each other, and ascending while breathing from their alternate.
• Free Flowing Regulator
  Simulate a freeflowing regulator. You'll see how easy it is to continue breathing normally from a regulator that won't stop flowing.
• Air Depletion
  Experience the feeling of running out of air and signal that you're out of air to your instructor.
• Standard Hand Signals
  Practice all of the standard diving hand signals with your instructor.
• Disconnect Low Pressure Inflator
  Simulate a stuck inflator and practice disconnecting your low pressure inflator.
• Deep Water Entry
  Enter the water safely using an appropriate deep water entry. The correct entry will depend upon the conditions.
  • Giant Stride
  • Controlled Seated Entry
  • Backwards Roll
  • Bellyflop Entry
• Proper Weighting
  Fine tune your weighting to achieve perfect buoyancy on every dive.
• Snorkel to Regulator Exchange
  Practice exchanging your regulator for your snorkel on the surface.
• BCD Oral Inflation
  Simulate a broken inflator or low air situation by practicing orally inflating your BCD.
• Cramp Removal
  Learn how to remove your own cramp and the cramps of your dive buddies.
• Tired Diver Tow
  Practice different techniques for helping a tired or injured diver on the surface.
• Weight Removal & Replacement
  Practice removing and replacing your weight system both on the surface and underwater.
• Scuba Unit Removal & Replacement
  Practice removing and replacing your scuba unit both on the surface and underwater.
• 5 Point Descent
  Go through the steps for a proper 5 point descent.
• Fin Pivot
  Learn how to find neutral buoyancy by moving up and down using only the air in your lungs.
• Hover
  Learn how to finely regulate your buoyancy by remaining perfectly neutral in the water.
• No Mask Swim
  Practice swimming without a mask. It's not an easy skill but it's important to learn.
• Controlled Emergency Swimming Ascent (CESA)
  Simulate an out of air emergency. You can't find your buddy and have no choice but to ascend on only one breath of air. Ascend at a safe rate while constantly exhaling.
• 5 Point Ascent
  Learn the proper method for ending every dive with these 5 steps.
• Skin Dive (optional)
  You'll learn to properly hyperventilate, make a vertical dive, swim underwater, and clear and breath from your snorkel upon ascent.
• Navigation
  Learn how to use a compass underwater. You'll set a heading, follow a straight line, turn around, and come back to where you started from using only your compass for guidance. You'll practice this skill both on the surface and underwater.

 

[Spady]

My 4 year old LOVES using my snorkel in the bathtub

 

[burna]

Ok. I can't look at the vid ATM 'cause I'm at work. I will check it out later.

Don't remember doing these things. Perhaps I did, but I certainly don't remember it.
No mask breathing.
Disconnect low pressure inflator.
Controlled seated entry or bellyflop entry.
Oral BC inflation.
Snorkel to reg exchange.
Cramp removal.
Hover.

Definitely didn't do...
No mask swim.
Proper weighting. In fact, my OW wasn't even done in open water! It was a brackish lake about 8m deep with a very silty bottom. My first boat dive after the course was only done in 12m and I was horribly underweighted and had to go back to the boat for more weight.

My AOW wasn't much better. (SSI) I think the instructor was double booked and so my buddy and I didn't even have an intructor, we had a DM. We couldn't make the classrooms lectures so it was supposed to be done on the boat ride out, it wasn't really. Didn't learn a damn thing that I didn't either a) know already, or b) couldn't have figured out the very first time I tried it. Complete bollocks and is only good for the cert card IMO. That's why I don't have any faith at all in courses now and why I have had to work so hard over the last 3.5yrs or so and 117 dives to develop my skills.

 

[Rhone Man]

You did the snorkel-regulator exchange as one of the core skills on your OW course. That makes a snorkel essential for the course... how else would you have completed that skill?

I am pretty sure that I didn't, but PADI standards may have been different in 1984. Either that or the instructor broke standards (which would not shock me in the least).

 

[TMHeimer]

burna, Wow. I did all those things in PADI OW. What DID you do?