Large Bore Snorkel?

[BNow0707]

Does anyone know of a manufacturer of lager than normal tubed snorkels?

I'm trying to get my girlfriend interested in diving so i've been getting here to snorkle with me. Her problem is that she is used to breathing through her nose and mouth together and feels like she cant get enough air when wearing a mask and snorkel so we have to stop every few feet because she gets panicky because shes short of breath. I dont mind it but it bothers her and she tires out quickly when she does snorkel. Shes not overweight or bad out of shape? Anyone got any advice? I've been just getting her to sit still and calm down when we start and that seems to help. But after about 15 to 20 mins shes ready to quit.

 

[diversteve]

Does anyone know of a manufacturer of larger than normal tubed snorkels?

Akona Andros

 

[cmburch]

Aqua Lung Impulse 3 at LeisurePro. There is no resistance and can be used for working out and racing. They are very dry and have a comfortable mouthpiece.

http://www.leisurepro.com/Cat/Context_954/Filter_1%3d461/Page_1/Snorkels/959.html

 

[Isaac-1]

One problem is the larger the bore of the snorkle the more air it holds, and therefore the more air you are rebreathing, this makes shallow panic breathing even worse as the person is getting little/no fresh air.

 

[tstormdiver]

There was a guy in my Dive Con class who had a DIY large bore snorkel. He basically attached a 2" or 2-1/2" rubber hose (the clear kind with the threaded reinforcements woven in) to the mouth piece section of an old snorkel & a floaty thing (for lack of a better term) on the top to help keep it straight & upright in the water. It was rather humorous looking in my opinion. Didn't seem to do him much good though, as he still couldn't complete that portion on the swim test. I agree with Issac-1 with a larger bore snorkel you have to move more "dead air" which will have higher concentrations of CO2, which can give the feeling of not getting enough air (it's the build- up of CO2 that triggers the body's breathing mechanism). I would suggest just letting your girl friend snorkel around in a shallow pool (about 3-4 ft) for a while; let her practice some & get used to it. For some of us it takes a little more practice to learn to breathe completely from the mouth (I'm a terrible nose breather also). That way if she does get that panicky feeling, all's she has to do is to stand up. The big thing is to just give her ample time to adjust, don't push her. Breathing underwater is not a natural thing to do for most people.

 

[guinsu]

I used to have the same problem as your GF when I started snorkeling. I would get panicky and out of breath. I learned that if I just kept at it for about 15 minutes my body would eventually calm down. I had to repeat that process if I didn't use a snorkel for a few months but now I seem pretty well adjusted. As a side note, as difficult as it was for me to adjust to a snorkel I never had that problem with a scuba reg. You could try getting her to switch to scuba

 

[Nemrod]

Try and ebay a ScubaPro Shotgun snorkel. Alas, simple J tube large bore snorkels just do not seem to exist today. A good Shotgun will go pretty strong on ebay, selling for quite a bit beyond it's original price. N

 

[redacted]

One problem is the larger the bore of the snorkle the more air it holds, and therefore the more air you are rebreathing, this makes shallow panic breathing even worse as the person is getting little/no fresh air.

Yes, larger bore may going in the wrong direction. WOB through a snorkel is damn near zero (compared to a regulator). I exercise swim with a mask and snorkel and it usually takes me a couple hundred yards for me to get my 2nd wind and adjust to the rebreathed CO2 before I can breath "normally".

You might want to borrow a smaller bore snorkel like a scubapro folding snorkel (they must be good for something) and see what that does. Also, you might work on her just floating (minimal effort) for at least 5 minutes so she can get used to breathing with as little stress/effort as possible.

 

[kevindwhite]

One problem is the larger the bore of the snorkle the more air it holds, and therefore the more air you are rebreathing, this makes shallow panic breathing even worse as the person is getting little/no fresh air.

Not if the snorkel is a Kapitol Reef. The snorkel has two tubes, one for inhalation and one for exhalation.

 

[BNow0707]

I took time saturday afternoon and got her to just float because i knew that was one of her problems. When she would get in the water she just thrashed and kicked like she was sinking. After a few minutes she realized that she did float, LOL. She tried the discover scuba thing at the LDS a few weeks ago and didnt have this problem. But we snorkel about as much as we dive and I really want her to be able to do both. I'm gonna try and get her some "real" equipment her stuff she uses now is either my back-up equipment or stuff she bought from walmart at the beach. With her own personal fitted equipment and more time im sure it'll work out.