Snorkel a necessity on open water dives?

[Dr. Lecter]

I would NEVER drop my tank. That's bouyancy when empty, and air for breathing in rough seas and inflating my BCD (you know, the thing keeping me alive?) otherwise. Reg is useful until the tank is empty, and may provide some aid in tying divers together otherwise.

I would be very interested in my snorkel. If/when the waves pick up; it's nice to be able to breath easier.

Weight? First thing overboard.

Maybe your tank's buoyant when empty, but mine sure as Hell isn't. As long as it's got pressure in it, it and the reg are useful. After that, they're just dead weight. The wing doesn't need anything but my mouth for inflating it. If/when the waves pick up, they're just going to flood your snorkel anyway.

Not that it'll matter if you're waiting for 30-60 minutes. You go missing overnight, then it's time to start thinking about what you need to ditch.

 

[Redshift]

In rough seas my wing and suit can put me quite high in the water if needed. And if a wave is coming, as Jon_R said, I just close my mouth. It's also easier to see the waves coming. With such high waves, they'll also go over the snorkel, so there is no real difference at all! And how many people practice enough snorkeling, clearing the snorkel, feeling the water movement and stopping their breaths after inhaling when a wave is coming not to be caught with empty lungs after a wave floods the snorkel, clearing the snorkel when only with little air in lungs, breathing when the snorkel has some water in, etc? This all happens and from what I've seen in OW courses, it's not practiced enough. Often divers are being told to use a tool with which they had very limited training and usually in benign conditions. I've seen plenty of people chocking and getting distressed with snorkels, having to put their faces up and take out the snorkel to drain it and to breathe.

 

[AfterDark]

Snorkels are for surface use, compressed air/gas is for using while submerged. Waste good gas at the surface, no way! At the surface waiting for a buddy I'm not wasting gas, a long surface swim out to the site, I use my snorkel. I figure after all these years diving if the snorkel was useless I'd have found out by now but, just the opposite, I use it on almost every dive.

Some divers post about snorkel like it is an affront to their manhood of something.

 

[Dr. Lecter]

Some divers post about snorkel like it is an affront to their manhood of something.

Some of us just think we have enough crap to carry with the doubles/SM with all the regs, and the stages with their regs, and the deco bottles with their regs (or the CCR and bailouts with regs), and the reels, and the lights, and the cutters, and the SMBs, and the strobes, and the goody bags, and the wreck tools, and the DPVs, and the argon systems, and the drysuit, and the EPIRB, and the spare mask, and the wetnotes, and the compasses, and the computer/BT, and the spare computer/BT. Did I miss anything? Almost certainly.

A snorkel isn't so you can breathe while swimming, it's so you can simultaneously see underneath you and breathe while swimming. If I want to see what's under the water and I have dive gear on, I'm going under to see it. It also makes breathing while maintaining a front crawl stroke somewhat easier, but I don't see too many divers doing their surface swims using that approach. If a diver has a long surface swim where they want to see the pretty fish but not use gas, a snorkel is probably a fine tool to bring…but I usually see it being hocked as a safety item with some gas-saving convenience benefits.

I don't see the appeal of a snorkel for rough water, and I've been out surface swimming in seas where my buddy was a good 15'-20' above me on the crest of the rollers while I was down in the trough, both of us trying to make sure we didn't land on each other. If you're adrift or even just swimming for a long time in rough seas, you want to keep your eyes and ears out of the water as much as possible to see what's happening and adjust your position as needed. IMO, if you've got a BCD or a wing or anything else you can inflate, the best way to manage that while making sure you don't wind up with empty lungs right as you get dropped into the spin cycle... is to be on your back, not with your face in the water breathing through a straw. It'd also suck to miss spotting a potential rescuer because you had your face in the water, breathing through your trusty snorkel.

 

[Rich Keller]

Snorkels are for surface use, compressed air/gas is for using while submerged. Waste good gas at the surface, no way! At the surface waiting for a buddy I'm not wasting gas, a long surface swim out to the site, I use my snorkel. I figure after all these years diving if the snorkel was useless I'd have found out by now but, just the opposite, I use it on almost every dive.

Some divers post about snorkel like it is an affront to their manhood of something.

I agree 100%. I never go in the water without a snorkel and a knife. They are to two cheapest and most important pieces of safety equipment there are.

The only way not wearing a snorkel will improve your manhood is if you stick the snorkel in your shorts.

 

[diversteve]

Don't wear one if you dive near sea lions, they're going to want it more than you do. Especially if it's a bright color or has a shiny tip.

We dive near a rookery and invariably someone does. I've twice seen people fighting to keep their mask.

 

[dfx]

I hate those things dangling on the side of my face. I tend to carry a flexible one in my BCD pocket when I have reason to believe that it could come in useful (surface currents, shore diving, etc), but even then there are many times where the valuable pocket space ends up being used by something else.

 

[agilis]

Some of us just think we have enough crap to carry with the doubles/SM with all the regs, and the stages with their regs, and the deco bottles with their regs (or the CCR and bailouts with regs), and the reels, and the lights, and the cutters, and the SMBs, and the strobes, and the goody bags, and the wreck tools, and the DPVs, and the argon systems, and the drysuit, and the EPIRB, and the spare mask, and the wetnotes, and the compasses, and the computer/BT, and the spare computer/BT. Did I miss anything? Almost certainly.

A snorkel isn't so you can breathe while swimming, it's so you can simultaneously see underneath you and breathe while swimming. If I want to see what's under the water and I have dive gear on, I'm going under to see it. It also makes breathing while maintaining a front crawl stroke somewhat easier, but I don't see too many divers doing their surface swims using that approach. If a diver has a long surface swim where they want to see the pretty fish but not use gas, a snorkel is probably a fine tool to bring…but I usually see it being hocked as a safety item with some gas-saving convenience benefits.

I don't see the appeal of a snorkel for rough water, and I've been out surface swimming in seas where my buddy was a good 15'-20' above me on the crest of the rollers while I was down in the trough, both of us trying to make sure we didn't land on each other. If you're adrift or even just swimming for a long time in rough seas, you want to keep your eyes and ears out of the water as much as possible to see what's happening and adjust your position as needed. IMO, if you've got a BCD or a wing or anything else you can inflate, the best way to manage that while making sure you don't wind up with empty lungs right as you get dropped into the spin cycle... is to be on your back, not with your face in the water breathing through a straw. It'd also suck to miss spotting a potential rescuer because you had your face in the water, breathing through your trusty snorkel.

My last two potential rescuers were sound asleep in the bottom of a small open boat, as it slowly drifted away. This happened once before, except the rescuer was blind drunk as well. Granted, both these experiences were in the very remote locations I greatly prefer and the one other diver with me each time was the DM, if you stretch the point. One asked if I could swim. ""Yes, very well", I answered. "Well, I cyant and dat bwoy is drunk on white rum." was the reply.

Off with the fully inflated bc/tank, and over an hour's long swim to the boat pushing the bc/improvised raft ahead. It's much less effort and more efficient to swim face down, breathing through a snorkel and using only your fins, lifting you head every minute or so to keep on course. A compass is useless because both you and your tiny target are moving. Looking at fishes has nothing to do with it. It's just far more efficient on a long, long swim.

Other potential rescuers? You can hear them if your ears are submerged, loud and clear if they have an outboard, but even the rumbling rattle of oars travels very audibly through the water.

Much of this is less applicable for people who dive from large well appointed vessels with lots of people. I do my best to avoid such arrangements.

And a snorkel is indeed so you can breath while swimming, swimming in the most efficient and least tiring manner. Not a big deal if you're swimming a few hundred feet, but a very big deal if you are swimming a mile or two.

 

[AfterDark]

Some of us just think we have enough crap to carry with the doubles/SM with all the regs, and the stages with their regs, and the deco bottles with their regs (or the CCR and bailouts with regs), and the reels, and the lights, and the cutters, and the SMBs, and the strobes, and the goody bags, and the wreck tools, and the DPVs, and the argon systems, and the drysuit, and the EPIRB, and the spare mask, and the wetnotes, and the compasses, and the computer/BT, and the spare computer/BT. Did I miss anything? Almost certainly.

A snorkel isn't so you can breathe while swimming, it's so you can simultaneously see underneath you and breathe while swimming. If I want to see what's under the water and I have dive gear on, I'm going under to see it. It also makes breathing while maintaining a front crawl stroke somewhat easier, but I don't see too many divers doing their surface swims using that approach. If a diver has a long surface swim where they want to see the pretty fish but not use gas, a snorkel is probably a fine tool to bring…but I usually see it being hocked as a safety item with some gas-saving convenience benefits.

I don't see the appeal of a snorkel for rough water, and I've been out surface swimming in seas where my buddy was a good 15'-20' above me on the crest of the rollers while I was down in the trough, both of us trying to make sure we didn't land on each other. If you're adrift or even just swimming for a long time in rough seas, you want to keep your eyes and ears out of the water as much as possible to see what's happening and adjust your position as needed. IMO, if you've got a BCD or a wing or anything else you can inflate, the best way to manage that while making sure you don't wind up with empty lungs right as you get dropped into the spin cycle... is to be on your back, not with your face in the water breathing through a straw. It'd also suck to miss spotting a potential rescuer because you had your face in the water, breathing through your trusty snorkel.

Sorry to hear you're so burdened with gear, so much that one little snorkel makes the difference. Reminds me of the just one after dinner mint from one of the Monty Python movies!

I've been wearing a snorkel on my mask for 50 years. I don't notice it doesn't get in the way and I use it on 95% of my dives. It gets more use than my PDC that often stays in my car. During the past 30 dives I deployed my SMB once, never used my signal mirror not once, my lift bag once during AWO. Any of these things I could leave at home and have a safe and enjoyable dive. I know I'd miss my snorkel. The two weeks I went without one because I lost it trying out a fancy new plastic snorkel holder, piece of junk, I missed it, even reached for it a couple of times; back to the rubber tab!

I'd rather swim with my head down in rough water. The snorkel doesn't fill up with water just breath thru the small amount that gets in and blow it out on the exhale what's the big deal? When I'm on my back in rough water I'm taking in and spitting out water like bilge pump on a ship. With the snorkel the water doesn't go in my mouth.

I don't dive in anything over 6' waves. Any more than that I'll sit it out snorkel or not. 15' - 20' !??!

 

[DivemasterDennis]

I have a folding snorkel I carry in a pocket on every dive. I wear a snorkel if training, as I am more likely to surface swim alone or with another diver during those activities. My wife and dive buddy Debbie will wear and use a snorkel on shore dives, pus in a pocket otherwise. The snorkel. use is primarily to preserve air in the tank by offering an alternative during surface swimming. Is it a necessity? NO, unless you are teaching or assisting and the standards mandate it as part of your equipment. Personal choice otherwise.
DivemasterDennis