Snorkel: Required or dangerous?
- Thread starter bvbellomo
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AfterDark
Contributor
The type of diving I do requires one. I have a large bore flex end bare boned snorkel no purges, no top blocks, for long surface swims to the dive site. It is attached to my mask with a velco strap.
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@BurhanMuntasser I think an important thing to distinguish though is what kind of snorkel to use. One of the monstrous things with a dry cap and long flappy hose to the mouthpiece with a huge purge valve? Debatably dangerous, needlessly expensive, and just plain annoying. Simple J or pocket snorkel? very different discussion.
@bvbellomo divers that get that hell bent about certain things like that are not the types of divers you should pay much attention to. I don't use a snorkel for 99.999% of my diving, but that's because it's nearly all cave and lakes/quarries where they serve quite literally 0 benefit. If I'm ocean diving though, I will usually bring a pocket snorkel because they are quite useful if you are stuck at the surface for any length of time. I don't really like having it on my mask in general, but I'm also diving a long hose where it is a problem if you are donating gas, or I'm diving a double hose regulator and it's just obnoxious with the double hose, hence in the pocket.
@bvbellomo divers that get that hell bent about certain things like that are not the types of divers you should pay much attention to. I don't use a snorkel for 99.999% of my diving, but that's because it's nearly all cave and lakes/quarries where they serve quite literally 0 benefit. If I'm ocean diving though, I will usually bring a pocket snorkel because they are quite useful if you are stuck at the surface for any length of time. I don't really like having it on my mask in general, but I'm also diving a long hose where it is a problem if you are donating gas, or I'm diving a double hose regulator and it's just obnoxious with the double hose, hence in the pocket.
They get in the way when donating the primary on a long hose. I always have one packed and have never taken it out. Perhaps if I get back to Palau some day and visit Jellyfish Lake I'll need it.
2airishuman
Contributor
Why Should I Care What Color the Bikeshed Is?
Law of triviality - Wikipedia
Bottom line is it doesn't matter much but lots of people feel qualified to have an opinion.
I almost always have a snorkel in my dive bag but don't ordinarily take it on dives. I use it for, well, snorkeling, in the many serendipitous situations where I have the opportunity/need to do so despite having planned a trip around scuba diving.
A fact to consider is that, the more you scuba dive, the more you realize just how much you can see snorkeling and freediving.
Safety wise it's a good thing to have if you're waiting a long time for a boat in heavy swell and it's a nuisance (albeit one that can be overcome with experience) when donating a long hose.
While a snorkel is a hindrance to long hose deployment—I think we are all forgetting one critical aspect:
planning the dive correctly. One should have enough gas before, during, and after the dive. Moreover, they should arrive at the surface with enough gas to inflate the BC to place the head above water and a regulator in their mouth to swim to the end destination or wait for pickup.
If divers are arriving at the surface with empty tanks, we have a failure of standards
issue—not a snorkel one.
planning the dive correctly. One should have enough gas before, during, and after the dive. Moreover, they should arrive at the surface with enough gas to inflate the BC to place the head above water and a regulator in their mouth to swim to the end destination or wait for pickup.
If divers are arriving at the surface with empty tanks, we have a failure of standards
issue—not a snorkel one.
lamarpaulski
Contributor
If boat leaves you or current takes you, a snorkel makes your subsequent surface actions, esp if choppy, a lot easier.
Could carry one in a pocket and have best of both worlds.
Could carry one in a pocket and have best of both worlds.
Bob DBF
Contributor
They are good for surface swims, and I do surface swims, including when I boat dive. I like to watch for anything interesting under me, and have been rewarded on occasion.
When I plan on penetrating a wreck, or other extenuating circumstance I keep the snorkel under my BFK straps.
Although I recommend divers I buddy with use one, it really makes little difference to me what other divers use. Ones experience will help with the proper decision, over time.
It’s not like I’m selling snorkels for a living.
When I plan on penetrating a wreck, or other extenuating circumstance I keep the snorkel under my BFK straps.
Although I recommend divers I buddy with use one, it really makes little difference to me what other divers use. Ones experience will help with the proper decision, over time.
It’s not like I’m selling snorkels for a living.
Mine is rolled up in my pocket just in case I need it..... so far I haven't.
So one shouldn't plan for the worst? Do you use an alternate air source or a pony or an octo just because you are planning your dive "correctly" and won't have any need for contingency scuba on you?
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