I hate my snorkel!

[Randy43068]

.. But the AOW instructor insists I have to have it somewhere on me. Considering I way overspent for my semi-dry snorkel I don't want to spend more money to get a collapsible one, so are there any other suggestions for attaching it somewhere other than my mask strap? It always ends up snagging on my cartilage piercing in my upper ear which hurts, or bending my ear funny, or just generally all sorts of in the way. For class last night, I took it completely off and laid it on the pool deck, but he noticed it as I was getting out of the water and said I needed to have it on me next week, so I'd love to have some recommendations on what to do.

If you're done with training leave the stupid thing in your gear bag... or better yet, at home. There is no use for the damn thing while diving.

 

[TSandM]

If you're done with training leave the stupid thing in your gear bag... or better yet, at home. There is no use for the damn thing while diving.

Although I agree with you completely, that doesn't help the OP, whose instructors is quite rightly insisting she have a snorkel, as his standards require it.

 

[lmorin]

Here's what I did: 1) made a "snorkel keeper" out of a piece of 1/8" bungee cord; 2) made two loops that would snugly fit around the snorkel shaft; 3) hand stitched one loop to the top outside edge of the BCD weight pocket over my right scapula; 4) stitched the second loop to the bottom outside edge of the same pocket; 5) inserted the snorkel shaft into the loops to determine the up/down positioning of the snorkel relative to the specific features of the BCD (e.g., the bladder layout; the backplate that holds the tank); 6) when the positioning was finished, I chose the proper location for a hole in the plastic backplate to which the "snorkel keeper" would be attached; 7) attached the "snorkel keeper"; 8) inserted the snorkel mouthpiece through the keeper bungee. Done. The snorkel can be reached easily with one hand and pulled loose easily. It is out of sight and out of mind until needed. It gets rinsed along with the BCD. I ought to patent this procedure

 

[Charlie99]

My husband takes his apart -- the mouthpiece and main shaft will separate, and he separates them and can fit the components in the pocket of his BC.

I have a similar sort of setup, but made up of parts from two small kid's snorkels.

One has a nice purge valve on the bottom, but too short of a tube. Hot pink of course. The other snorkel was just a tube + simple mouthpiece. I chopped up the simple tube and non-purge mouthpiece to make a tube extension, joined to the main snorkel with the leftovers bits of the silicone mouthpiece.

It fits nicely in my BCD pocket for when I assist in classes, go out on boats in the Florida Keys that insist on you having a snorkel, and for those very rare occasions that I take it as a piece of safety gear.

Many of us make fun of divers that wear snorkels, but I know a guy that got left at sea for 5 hours in 40+kt winds and nasty breaking seas. He really wishes he had brought a purge valve snorkel with him, and now carries one with him for all 400 or 500 dives he does each year.

 

[Nemrod]

Here is what you do and it has worked well forme for many years in all sorts of things. Take the (scuba) course and learn from the teacher/instructor all that you can and get your moneys worth. Then when you are completed with the course pick and choose as your experience grows those things that work for you and discard those learnings that don't. In other words, when your done with the course, thank the instructor for all that you have learned from him/her, and as you walk out the door toss the snorkel into the circular file and think not of it again.

N

 

[cold_water]

A tricked I picked up from underwater hockey is to have the snorkel go under your ear, to the back of your head and secure it with your mask strap there. It basically then sticks out of the water at the back of your head. I don't use a snorkel holder or anything that could let the snorkel rotate, I just slip the snorkel under the mask strap. It's secured very well in that position so it doesn't move. More importantly, you don't have the thing flapping in the wind like a flag on the side of your head if you move fast or if there is a lot of current.

 

[billtodive]

Yet another method for those who absolutely don't want the snorkel.....I slip mine down the neck of my wetsuit, laying it against my chest. If I need it, I will have to breath-hold on the surface till I can get it.....

 

[Theunis]

If you're done with training leave the stupid thing in your gear bag... or better yet, at home. There is no use for the damn thing while diving.

I agree 100% with you.

Buy the cheapest secondhand one before training and then you donate it to the children to play with in the swimmingpool after training.

 

[violakat03]

Thanks to those who have given suggestions.

I've already got the snorkel, so buying a cheap one and getting rid of it later isn't a solution for me. The instructor (SSI) requires us to have it, even though the assistant instructors don't wear theirs. I have a sneaking suspicion that they told the main instructor they have collapsible ones in their pockets and then "forget" to put them in their gear before coming to class. Now that he's seen that I didn't have one this week and made a point of telling me I needed it, I don't think I'd be able to get away with that.

I didn't have a problem with it until I got a slap strap for my mask, and my head is so small that the wide soft part of the strap goes almost all the way around my head. I've only got about 1/2 inch of the thin part of the strap where I can hook it too, so there's no ability for me to move it around to someplace else on my strap.

I think I may play around with some elastic cord and see if there's a way to attach it similar to what lmorin did. I have never ever used it except on a snorkeling trip, because I can't stand the feel of breathing out of it after coming off a reg (feel like I can't get enough air without really sucking it down) so if I can't get to it quickly, oh well. At least the instructor can't complain that I don't have it! He did say I could have it in my pocket or similarly attached, I just have to have it on me, not laying on the pool deck or in my bag.

 

[Hockeynut]

What's a snorkel?