Ode to the lowly snorkel

[mathauck0814]

If using the regulator at the surface is "wasting precious bottom time" you're practicing poor gas management and not diving with enough. Get bigger tanks or get in better shape to reduce your SAC. The snorkel is an utterly useless piece of equipment for scuba diving.

 

[mala]

Or a desire to shore dive.

And long is a relative term. Any surface swim I use my snorkle.

i like shore diving.
never needed a snorkle to find the reef/wreck or get back to the entry point.

 

[supergaijin]

snorkles are not needed.

long surface swims are usually due to bad planning .

I gotta have a little talk to the guy that planned my island......


Blanket statements like this are the reason snorkel threads go on for 10 pages. Snorkels are tools that come in handy sometimes- nothing more or less.

Swim on your back and watch clouds or snorkel swim and look for stingrays, ghost pipe fish, flounder, nudibranchs, mantis shrimp, snake eels and octopus. Clouds are nice but I dive to look for fish- not clouds.

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

I was trained and dived 95% of my many years diving in cold water, in wet and dry suits with a single tank with doubles even triple 72’s never have I left my snorkel behind and I use it exactly as the OP described. We dive the way we are trained. I snorkeled for 5-7 years before I was old enough to take scuba lessons. We were trained to use the snorkel when on the surface. That’s what I do. To those that don’t like the way it looks on me; I ask why you lookin’ at me look at the fish!
I lost my best diving snorkel last season and I missed it. I haven’t found one like yet. There are no bare bones, big bore contoured barrel, silicone flex, snorkels made anymore. They have purges and top blocks and all manner of nonsense that make them cumbersome and a PITA to use.
It’s no wonder people don’t like them! I’m not fond of any snorkel I’ve looked at yet, junk, overpriced junk.

Afterdark,
They do still make a straight J snorkels with no fancy trappings. Look at freediver snorkels like Picasso, Cressi, and other Euro style freediving snorkels. They are as simple as they get and work great.
Cressi Free Diving Corsica Snorkel

Cressi California. Snorkels Snorkels, Scubastore.com, buy, offers, dive

I freedove before I scuba dove so I was also trained with a breathing tube first. While I don't use snorkel on every dive, I do use one when I shore dive because I like to surface swim face down and navigate through kelp, and I like to look at stuff on the way out. I really don't care what people think or say so with all due respect they can kiss my ass. I invite them to dive with me where I dive anytime and the truth will tell.

 

[mala]

I gotta have a little talk to the guy that planned my island......
View attachment 129130

Blanket statements like this are the reason snorkel threads go on for 10 pages. Snorkels are tools that come in handy sometimes- nothing more or less.

Swim on your back and watch clouds or snorkel swim and look for stingrays, ghost pipe fish, flounder, nudibranchs, mantis shrimp, snake eels and octopus. Clouds are nice but I dive to look for fish- not clouds.

i agree
when i dive i look for fish too-if the water is deep enough i'm diving,if not its a walk.
if i want to snorkle an interesting site i will-and leave my scuba gear on shore.

you cannot snorkle with scuba gear just as you cannot scuba with a snorkle.

 

[TSandM]

supergaijin, you'll notice that I did acknowledge that someone surface swimming in clear water might choose to use a snorkel, because it's fun.

I am still trying to wrap my mind around why someone swimming on his BACK, with his face OUT of the water, would choose to add dead space by breathing through a snorkel while doing so . . .

 

[gcarter]

If using the regulator at the surface is "wasting precious bottom time" you're practicing poor gas management and not diving with enough. Get bigger tanks or get in better shape to reduce your SAC. The snorkel is an utterly useless piece of equipment for scuba diving.

My SAC is what it is. My regular buddy's SAC is better. Should I apologize for using a snorkle on the suface so as to minimize the amount of air he surfaces with to accomodate me? Is this some sort of macho contest? He and I are both quite ok with the arrangement.

It is interesting that you consider a high SAC and gas conservation efforts "poor gas management". I carry sufficient to achieve my objectives and to deal with contingencies. I typically end my dive (on shore or back on the boat) with 700 - 1000 psi. I dive conservatively. Is that bad gas management? Should I be aiming to finish with less? Should you really be commenting on my gas management skills with so little knowledge or information other than the fact that I choose to use a snorkle on surface swims?

Sheesh.

And BTW, surface swimming is not scuba diving regardless of what kit you have strapped on. It is a way to get to where you want to dive (or return from). Just like a boat. Is the boat trip to your dive site scuba diving? Should I use my reg while getting to the dive site on a boat? Silly? Yes. So are your blanket statements.

I will use whatever tool I feel best serves me in that interval. The fact that you do not find the same tool useful to you is interesting as a data point, but it is far from a definitive statement, just as my data point is not a definitive statement.

I confess I do not understand the mentality that different = bad. I could care less if you wear or use a snorkle. I choose to on most dives, and have ocassionaly not when it made no sense.

---------- Post Merged at 01:09 AM ---------- Previous Post was at 01:03 AM ----------

supergaijin, you'll notice that I did acknowledge that someone surface swimming in clear water might choose to use a snorkel, because it's fun.

I am still trying to wrap my mind around why someone swimming on his BACK, with his face OUT of the water, would choose to add dead space by breathing through a snorkel while doing so . . .

I use a dry top snorkle http://www.baresports.com/en-ca/Watersports/Products/Snorkels/Dry-Top/Dry-Top/Unisex

Swimming on my back in choppy water this keeps me from taking mouthfuls. YMMV.

If others are comfortable with the same scenario without a snorkle, good for them, I choose to use it. I remain more relaxed as a result which is all that matters to me.

 

[supergaijin]

I am still trying to wrap my mind around why someone swimming on his BACK, with his face OUT of the water, would choose to add dead space by breathing through a snorkel while doing so . . .

If your head is lying back in the water, with you looking up at the sky, the snorkel will most probably be underwater or very close. This is a good way to cop a wave straight down the pipe.

Personally if I'm swimming on my back, I try to tuck my chin down to my chest to get a reference from a fixed object of something that I'm swimming away from so that I can swim in a straight line- all the while trying to minimise my profile in the water. I don't normally use a snorkel for swimming on my back.

You'll have found that with experience, as soon as water starts coming close to the mouth, you stop breathing automatically- even while talking/briefing at the surface with your back to the waves. We don't even think about it any more. For many beginners, that reflex has not yet been developed which IMO means using a snorkel means being another 10 inches away from gagging. (Keep you minds out of the gutter!)

 

[g1138]

I lost my best diving snorkel last season and I missed it. I haven’t found one like yet. There are no bare bones, big bore contoured barrel, silicone flex, snorkels made anymore. They have purges and top blocks and all manner of nonsense that make them cumbersome and a PITA to use.
It’s no wonder people don’t like them! I’m not fond of any snorkel I’ve looked at yet, junk, overpriced junk.

Riffe, Cressi, Omer, and even Mares makes standard J-snorkels out of flexible materials.
Not purges or gimmicks either.

My personal favorites are Riffe Standard J and Cressi Corsica.

---------- Post Merged at 10:49 PM ---------- Previous Post was at 10:46 PM ----------

I am still trying to wrap my mind around why someone swimming on his BACK, with his face OUT of the water, would choose to add dead space by breathing through a snorkel while doing so . . .

Because seagulls don't have THAT good of an aim.
In all seriousness, it helps a bit when you're taking high waves or rouge waves from the behind.

 

[AfterDark]

Riffe, Cressi, Omer, and even Mares makes standard J-snorkels out of flexible materials.
Not purges or gimmicks either.

My personal favorites are Riffe Standard J and Cressi Corsica.

---------- Post Merged at 10:49 PM ---------- Previous Post was at 10:46 PM ----------



Because seagulls don't have THAT good of an aim.
In all seriousness, it helps a bit when you're taking high waves or rouge waves from the behind.

I'm not looking for a standard J-snorkel. I want a bare bones, big bore contoured barrel, silicone flex, snorkel. No purges or top blocking gizmos. Some come close but all have some kind of gizmo on it. Thanks anyway.