Ode to the lowly snorkel

[DiveLvr]

I have been diving for many years, since 1974. I have worked in dive shops and been an instuctor (in the the '80s). I have seen impressive advances in divng equipment and streamlined and far less personal instruction. One thing that does trouble me is what seems a determined effort to get rid of the snorkle. I can only attribute this to todays instructors and dive shop personnel. In over 30 years of diving I don't think I have ever dived without a snorkle. I can also say I have used my snorkle on almost all of those dives. I was taught as a tool for air managment to use the snorkle when on the surface as an air management technique. I "rest" on the surface with snorkel in my mouth, I pull myself along the bow line top the anchor line usually in the surface with my snorkel in my mouth and when waiting my turn to go up the ladder I usually wait on the surface with my snorkel. People not long ouf the course have snorkles folded and tucked away or no snorkel at all. I watch them swim at the surface with regulator in their mouths sucking away preciouos bottom time before they get underwater. Many are surprised to see how much air I have left at the end of the dive adn think I have terrifc air consumption. Actually, my air consumption is about average, but air managment with the snorkel, affords me more air underwater.

I see people without snorkels and oft times see people with snorkels but on the wrong side or upside down or incorrectly fasten to the strap so that the is more "tethered" than attached and flopping everywhere. I heard this one diver vent in frustration that this was the last dive she would diver with a snorkel. I noticed her marsk strap passed through one of the holes on the snorkel strap and the snorkel passed through the other asnd the snorkle flopped about in a rediculus manner.

I have seen in the last couple a weeks people with no snorkel get "in trouble" at the surface while fighting a current. Rather than resting on the surface with water chin level and cathing their breath through a large bore snorkel they fought to get their head out of the water, unable to get enough air through the regulator. This past weekend thr lady frustrated with her snorkel was in trouble. She was doing a surface swim against the current and waves slapping her in the face breathing off her regulator. She would surface, ,kick enough to get her head ouf of the water for some breathes of air then put the regualtor in her mouth on go to the bottom (30 ft) then go to the surface to get bearing again, swim, and catch her breather and down. After I got to her her comment (besides saying she wasnt in trouble) was that her regualtor (top of the line Atomic) was giving her enough air. She never used her snorkel. At a time when she should have surfaced and put the snorkel in her mouth and rested she was trying to catch her breath through the regulator. She was 70 yards down current from our point of entry and 50 yards from shore. At the time I got to her she had but a thousand psi left. In the fashion she was going she would not have made it back. Just a foot note, 2 weeks before she had to be rescued by a boat while diving in a channel with a similar current. She didn't use her snorkel them either.

I hope "newbies" will not believe that becvause the snorkel doesn't have an LED background and digital circuitry that it is a dying anachronism that should wither away and die from the diving seen. You new people should know the snorkel is as important today as it was 30 years agao and will add bottom time to your dive, allow you to be more rested, and may even save your life.

Dive Lvr

 

[CT-Rich]

I have been certifide since 1980 and I have seen the same problem. New divers seem to be happy to add more stuff to their kit, entering the water dressed like christmas trees, but without a snorkel. god help them if they have a long surface swim. I like to have one on my mask so that I have the option of skin diving with my kids or if something goes overboard in shallow water.

 

[TSandM]

This is a frequent topic here.

When double-hose regulators were the norm, you had to have a snorkel to surface swim, because you couldn't swim on your back.

When 72s were the norm, you didn't want to use any gas out of your tank surface swimming.

Nowadays, with modern regulators and bigger tanks, it's really not a big deal to use some air from the tank for surface swimming. In places like Puget Sound, where the viz is frequently poor, you're actually better off surface swimming on your back, where you can maintain some kind of visual reference, than swimming with your face in the water, where you can't see where you are going.

Snorkels have uses, but none of them involve cold water diving, and although a warm water diver may choose to keep one on his mask, I do not believe there is any necessity to do so.

 

[redacted]

I can't think of anything in scuba that is more out of place than a snorkel hanging from the mask strap of a submerged diver. For most dive, I see no need for such a snorkel. For off-shore diving where a snorkel could prove useful, mine is attached between my plate and wing where it is out of the way but accessible should the need arise.

 

[jmneill]

I wore one without using it for a long time because I thought I was supposed to. Haven't worn one for diving in years and have just never been in a situation where I missed it. (I have, however enjoyed the freedom of NOT having it) I do like to snorkel and have at least three or four laying around for that purpose.

 

[agilis]

You are of course completely correct. It has been observed by some very experienced divers here that the best way to learn scuba is to first become a competent snorkeler and free diver. Scuba is the next step in the process of becoming a competent diver. This is how the original masters learned, the UDT people, SEALS, etc.

Such long and thorough training protocols do not work well with contemporary economic imperatives. There are some excellent instructors out there, but in many cases it is a 'one eyed man as king in the land of the blind' type situation. There are AOWs, DMs, and instructors out there who are dangerous to themselves and to people who rely on them. The situation is one that grows worse as economic forces create an environment in which competence is low on the list of factors that contribute to the success of training programs.

There was a long string on this topic recently, with all kinds of foolish comments. Your description of the problems faced by a new diver unable to effectively use a snorkel was the kind of thing offered as a rationale by some anti-snorkeling people. They maintained that because new divers do not know how to properly use a snorkel the device is somehow hazardous. The superficial and abbreviated training that economic competition has made the norm cannot encompass the teaching of many fundamental skills. Even if the time were available, some instructors do not possess these skills to the extent needed to teach them. There is also the imbecile tendency sometimes found among new divers to deride and ridicule as old fashioned and obsolete skills that they have never learned.

The snorkel is a classic example of this kind of thing.

 

[gcarter]

This is a frequent topic here.

When double-hose regulators were the norm, you had to have a snorkel to surface swim, because you couldn't swim on your back.

When 72s were the norm, you didn't want to use any gas out of your tank surface swimming.

Nowadays, with modern regulators and bigger tanks, it's really not a big deal to use some air from the tank for surface swimming. In places like Puget Sound, where the viz is frequently poor, you're actually better off surface swimming on your back, where you can maintain some kind of visual reference, than swimming with your face in the water, where you can't see where you are going.

Snorkels have uses, but none of them involve cold water diving, and although a warm water diver may choose to keep one on his mask, I do not believe there is any necessity to do so.

Are you saying that a snorkle is of no use swimming on your back?

I did a back swim with my snorkle in cold water to and from the descent buoy on a dive last week.

(I'm an air hog so I like to keep my air for when I'm UNDER the water)

 

[MG11]

Based on my very limited experience of 8 ocean dives and two 100 yard Bataan death swims in 3-6 foot rolling seas against a current to get back to the boat(not with Conch Republic)

and not a great amount of air left in my tank on one of the two swims

and having to fix my dive buddies tank that slid out of the straps and was pulling her regulator away from her mouth done with me on the snorkel

and sea sick but didn't puke

and I really hate saltwater in my mouth

Ok get the picture

I will never not have a snorkel with me because I saw potential to get into a situation that I could burn up 500 psi on the surface swim pretty quickly and be stuck floating away.


Mike

 

[stairman]

I quit using a snorkel during my overhead training. Last time I dove on a cattle boat I took one and when everyone was gearing up, no one had one on their mask so I took mine off. They would help for surface swims where you would waste air in your tanks or even overbreathe your regs during exertion but for the most part something you can do without. I did find a nice one on a ledge at 110 ft. yesterday at Volusia Blue though.

 

[OldNSalty]

One good reason for a snorkle - while returning from a dive a few ago we encounter some dauphin in the pass. The boat Cpt, not having another trip that afternoon stopped and let us get in. Those of us with a snorkle had a great time and stayed in until the Cpt told us we needed to go, those without didn't stay long.

I see that DiveLvr is a local so it may be that down here a snorkle is a real great asset to have. I take one for all the reasons he listed above but obviously not all places are the same.

As for using a snorkle while swimming on your back; I can't imagine how that would work. It sounds like you would get a mouth full of salt water.