Snorkel or no snorkel and why

[fishb0y]

Please do not think I am callous to these accidents, but to say a snorkel would have helped either of these three would be a mis-justice to those who are new to our hobby.

I just got done reading about the 3 deaths in San Diego this year, and I don't think having a snorkel would help in either of them...
1) About 5 months ago an instructor died after getting trapped in a wreck.
2) About a week ago a diver was found @ 90', out of air
3) A diver was seperated from his buddies while diving at night in a strong current and his body was found 100 yards from the shore with his regulator out of his mouth.

IMHO, a snorkel is only for comfort. Poor planning would be the biggest culprit to all three of these accidents.

Although I do not know all of the facts, a snorkel may have helped in the third accident, but there were a lot of other factors that lead to his demise.

 

[Aquatic Eagle]

I am an instructor and I have always used a snorkel. If you have a long wait on the surface while waiting for others to get back on the boat or a long swim, it's better to have the snorkel. This is especially true if the long swim is before the dive begins, as to save air in your tank. Snorkels should not be a snag issue if you practice your skills with it and it's not really enough drag to matter unless you're doing some speed diving. Dry snorkels with the little valves on the top are a waste of time in my opinion, all you need is a basic snorkel with maybe a one-way drain valve in the bottom of the mouthpiece. Just my opinion, everyone's gear setup is different.

 

[Diver Dennis]

True NatureDiver, each person has their own way of setting up their gear. I myself sometimes wear my mask on my forehead.

 

[sunnyboy]

I personally like those masks that have the two snorkels coming out of the top. Redundancy and all that...



-S

 

[wra]

... Still use one...

First year of diving, was in Key Largo on the Ocean Diver. Weather was bad, only six divers on the boat. When the dive was through, we came up about 20 yards behind the boat. The current was so swift we weren't able to get to the boat, which had to wait for the other divers to board before leaving the mooring.

So the DM floated the bouy on deck reel back to us, about 75-100 yards behind the boat by the time we got to it.

With the 3-4 seas, was glad to have the snorkel.

If the water's calm, I may leave it on the boat, but it's always in my dive bag.
Jon

 

[Zeeman]

It's always in my dive bag, but only attached to my mask if it looks rough ont he water. I have long hair, and I find it tangle with the snorkel clip (only when snorkel is attached) and it get painful and annoying underwater. Taking the mask off with a snorkel attached, with long hair, is also a pain... but still it's easy enough to clip to a BC if you really have to take it. the only reason I do like having a snorkel is for staring at the bottom while waiting for a boat to pick me up.

Z...

Z...

 

[MDTzak]

if you dive from the beach you should have snorkel. with entries, exits and surface swims you can save alot of air. especially in bad condition surface swims.

 

[fishb0y]

if you dive from the beach you should have snorkel. with entries, exits and surface swims you can save alot of air. especially in bad condition surface swims.

Then why not just kick out on your back?

It's kinda like NASA's logic when they spent millions of dollars trying to make a pen that wrote in space, when all the Soviet space agency did was use a pencil.

If the conditions are so rough, One, don't go in... Two, use your regulator on your way back in...(you did plan on surfacing with a reserve for conditions like that, right?)

 

[Jorbar1551]

i dive in monterey where the kelp beds thick, and the surface swims long. I took off the snorkel while in mexico during last xmas, and havent put it back on yet. It drags to much, and always swim on back while surface swimming anyway.

Jordan
www.calidivers.org