Found on eBay - DIY FFM - humor/horror/genius?

[James79]

Well, shallow end was the right call. Disregarding my beard buggering up the seal, or my short piece of inner tube as the interface between the reg and the snorkel, it worked exactly as anticipated.... poorly. While upright, it functions.... like trying to inhale on a 2 foot snorkel. You work for your air! As you tilt your head, it gets progressively easier.... up until your head is near sideways or face down and back, at which point it free-flows like that's its job in life. Fundamental issue for inhale is that the diaphragm is way to high up, and your subjective work of inhale is felt at the throat level. Fundamental issue with free-flow, is that the exhaust on the mask is about 10 inches away from the diaphragm.... constituting the worst case fault geometry in history!

So.... It was dumb, I tried it anyway, it was fun (in waist deep water), and I recommend against ever trying to duplicate the experiment!

Respectfully,

James

edit to add: I didn't have time to mess with the camera, due to thunderstorms rolling in.

 

[Bigbella]

Could have been far worse -- a true "hold my beer" moment, for the tabloids . . .

 

[James79]

Could have been far worse -- a true "hold my beer" moment, for the tabloids . . .

Hence waist deep water to verify what logic already told me. I might be crazy, but I'm not stupid!

 

[kelemvor]

If you really want to dip into FFM without breaking the bank, maybe try an OTS Spectrum ($450) or a knockoff ($80). Scubapro also sells one but it's full price and doesn't come with a second stage. I'm sure they work well enough.