Do you dive with or without your snorkel attached and why?

[BigJetDriver]

I don't know about on this board, but some of the Southern divers I've met in person had accents, most of the divers up here don't.

:lol3:

Rob

 

[grouchyturtle]

LOL!!!!

i know tons of people from New York and New Jersey, and, i hate to mention this,
but.... they have these... accents, you know?

Whatchutalkinbout? People from joisey don't have accents?

 

[Diver Dennis]

A reading from the Book of Scuba Gear, Chapter 4, Verses 16 to 20:

Then did he raise on high the Sacred Snorkel of Doom, saying, "Bless this, O Lord, that
with it thou mayst slay those who dare use it, in thy mercy." And the people did
rejoice and did feast upon the lambs and toads and tree-sloths and fruit-bats and
orangutans and breakfast cereals ... Now did the Lord say, "First thou affixeth the
snorkel-keeper to the mask. The snorkel-keeper shall have two openings at either
end. Two shall be the number of the openings and the number of the openings shall be
two. Three openings are an abomination. Neither shalt one opening suffice, excepting
that thou then proceedeth to make a second opening by hand. Five openings is right
out. Once the snorkel has been placed through the two openings, two being the
number of the openings, then hand the mask with the Sacred Snorkel of Doom affixed thereunto to thine foe, who, being naughty in my sight, shall snuff it."

VERY GOOD H2! Nuff said.... :wave-smil :wave-smil :wave-smil

 

[lostinspace]

(am I going to get fish-slapped for continuing this beast?!)

ach well, here we go.

I have a snorkel that I always attach - it's got a one way valve so I never choke on it.
My main uses are
1) when floating vertically waiting for all the other divers to get off the boat into the water (I get seasick - so my buddy & I are pretty quick at going through our checks and straight in there! - not toooo quick though )
2) when swimming either on my back or front to the drop down point (saves air - allows me longer down time - again lucky as buddy & I have almost identical consumption rates)
3) when hanging on that granny line waiting to get up the ladder after a long dive. I've had my reg knocked out on a couple of occasions by others waiting so the snorkel is more compact.

I wear the snorkel on my right hand side. It is attached with a purpose built snorkel clip to the mask and you have to pull it pretty hard to get it to release - ie it cant come off accidentally but can come off in an emergency if pulled off. ****, if **** really happend I'd ditch the mask and go back up to surface with my buddy.

 

[pilot fish]

After reading the pros and cons of using the snorkel I'm still puzzled why an experienced diver will not dive with one on a drift dive, as in Coz for example. It would add a safety factor to a drift dive. It just makes your surface float easier.

 

[grouchyturtle]

After reading the pros and cons of using the snorkel I'm still puzzled why an experienced diver will not dive with one on a drift dive, as in Coz for example. It would add a safety factor to a drift dive. It just makes your surface float easier.

Because when diving in the Carib I always come up with at least 1000psi left. If it's really choppy, I keep my reg in, otherwise I'd rather breathe through my mouth, than a narrow tube.

I also dive a long hose, see the previous 1,000,000,000,000 posts to see why that makes it a hazard during the dive.

 

[grouchyturtle]

Actually, now that I think about it, even diving in Saba, there was some chop on the surface, and we were diving off a small boat, where we had to take our rig off and hand it up.

I was fine on the surface, with just fins and mask.

 

[scubapolly]

I keep an eye on my gauges, and in the 1:1,000,000,000 I run out of air and need to make a surface swim, I'd rather do so on my back so that I don't have to work to keep my tank out of the water.
I do however carry a fold-up snorkle in my BC pocket, that I will occassionally throw my gear on the boat and so some snorkling or free diving durring surface intervals.

 

[Goose75]

I don't know about on this board, but some of the Southern divers I've met in person had accents, most of the divers up here don't.

I prefer to differ. Y'ALL have the accent. We speak perfectly good.

(From a Texan lost in Seattle)

 

[cowdog77]

After meticulously reading all the replies to this thread to date....your summary "cinched" it for me. The entanglement possibility and exhaustion issue caused by CO2 are significant factors. Thanks for taking the time to spell it out so well, I appreciate it! ~~~~~~~~~~

During the majority of dives they are completely worthless. If worn attached to the mask, they create a significant risk of entanglement, they can inadvertently unseat your mask, and they can interfere with the immediate use of other people's equipment. They interfere with gas sharing, but do so at the risk of dislodging your mask when donating gas in an emergency.

As for entanglement, the snorkel as typically worn is attached to the mask strap, and left free to rotate when not in use. This creates an entrapment hazard around the divers head, since the upper end of the snorkel tube can direct monofilament, kelp, or debris into a position where it can either exert force to dislodge the mask, or come loose from its parent object and hang from the snorkel, creating a hazard in the manipulation of other equipment.

In addition, if you are diving with a long hose for gas donation, the snorkel is in a position to catch the hose as the regulator is deployed, interfering with immediate donation, and pulling off your mask in the middle of a potential emergency.

On the surface, the snorkel neither conserves gas in your cylinders, or does not help you breathe better. All it does is create additional dead gas space which detracts from your capacity to get full breaths of fresh air. The snorkel does not provide you with air - the air is already there, and all you have to do to get at it is breathe. Exhaustion is made much worse by the increased CO2 resulting from the additional dead gas space. Within the context of a proper gas management plan, sufficient gas should be available to continue to breathe from the regulators for the duration of any anticipated surface swimming if conditions require it. If not, or if conditions change during a dive rendering the remaining gas useless for surface use, the diver is best served by breathing the surface air without the problems caused by use of a snorkel.

The best argument in favor of using a snorkel is the ability to breath without inhaling water when conditions are rough, as one might do without the snorkel. This is not true. In any sea state, the clear air is in the bottom of the wave troughs, and you need to time your inhalations to click with that position. Spray may be present in extremely heavy seas, but this originates from the wave crests. In the troughs, the airspeed is too low to support a liquid water load. Accordingly, it makes sense to draw air from the lowest possible position, instead of extending the height of the air inlet by using a snorkel. In addition, spray and breaking waves and so on can be managed simply by breathing through clenched teeth with the tongue as a splash shield. Even if you have to resort to doing this, you are better off this way than with the snorkel, since in a panic reaction you will breathe instinctively, which may be will not help due to the position of a snorkel inlet in any particular instance.

Swimming, or accomplishing any useful work in a heavy sea state is necessarily going to represent an elevated workload, and raise heart and breathing rates. This is the last place you want to introduce additional dead gas space as well as moving the air inlet to a position that does not enable you to discriminate against incoming water from breaking waves or spray without distracting your attention from other things.

The snorkel does allow you to breathe with your face in the water, but this is generally not an effective position for any purpose. Surface swimming in dive gear is more effective on your back, since you can generate more powerful fin strokes. You can follow a compass course this way, too. Surface swimming at all is actually less efficient than swimming completely submerged due to the effects of the water and the snorkel is a trap for kelp, sea weed or other floating debris.

Awareness is reduced with your face in the water, especially in areas with poor visibility. Keeping the head out of the water while surfaced enables you to see all surface traffic, hear all surface noises, and send and receive light and sound signals appropriate to the situation. Also, if you consider the scenarios which would require extensive surface swimming like emergencies, it makes sense to present as large a visual profile as possible, to help people which could be searching for you on the water's surface.

Snorkels are appropriate for snorkelling, in SCUBA the use of a snorkel is limited, and can be replaced by simply putting the reg in your mouth which is a better solution anyway.