Tell me about your Snorkel (POLL)

[dmaziuk]

Just looking at IST Silicone Soft Flex Tube Snorkel....How does the mask clip work does it hook in from the top or bottom?

IST Snorkel Holder For IST SN60 Snorkel

The button with down arrow on it is part of the piece that sits on the mask strap. It slides into the snorkel-side clip from the bottom, i.e. the snorkel sits on top.

(They sell replacement mouth pieces and purge valves as well though it takes some googling to find a reseller.)

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

Is urchin diving not profitable ?

They’re the wrong type of urchins.
The invasive ones are the little purple urchins and there are literally millions of them. Most of them are from the size of a golf ball up to about baseball size. The eating urchins are the big red or black ones and they can get up to small cannalope melon size but mostly about like a large grapefruit. This is the body shell size minus the spines.
Right now the red ones can’t even compete and are thinning out. I grabbed a few red urchins the last time I was out and the row was brown and bitter and not a lot of it. Ideally the row should be plump and bright yellow. There just isn’t enough for them to eat. Urchin diving is pretty crappy right now.

 

[Snoweman]

Too bad they don't have urchin tournaments like they do for lionfish in the Caribbean. At least lionfish are delicious.

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

Too bad they don't have urchin tournaments like they do for lionfish in the Caribbean. At least lionfish are delicious.

They do!
But it’s more of a public service rather than a feast from the harvest.
CA department of fish and wildlife upped the urchin limit from 35 individual urchins up to 20 gallons of crushed urchins. That’s 4 -5 gallon buckets full!
On those organized urchin removal dives I fill the biggest green Trident game bag they make twice. I use a lift bag to suspend it while I’m stuffing urchins in. After it’s so full that I can’t stuff one more in I come up and hand it up to a commercial urchin boat that is anchored in the cove we’re working and offloads them. They are there as volunteers too. On one event we gathered seven thousand pounds of urchins in one cove and it barely made a dent. But it’s fun doing it.

 

[aquacat8]

Won’t they eventually starve?

 

[Alan Browne]

Won’t they eventually starve?

They will reach a balance unless the kelp stops putting up shoots. Then of course they may find something else to munch on.

 

[Jiminy]

Is a snorkel required to be used in AOW?

 

[happy-diver]

Yeah this one!

and when you're not listening the instructor creates some ripples in the pool

 

[Mr Carcharodon]

Why in the world would you have a snorkel if you want to go diving? Being a minimalist I'd leave things that rarely if ever get used at home (aka useless crap). On a tangential note consider going down to Goodwill. You can unload all your stuff you don't use, including your snorkels, and get a tax deduction too boot. April 15th is coming!

 

[TMHeimer]

Why in the world would you have a snorkel if you want to go diving?

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We definitely need to start a thread on this.