Snorkel tube in scuba diving

[RyanT]

@JamesBon92007, if you find snorkels useful, by all means dive one. If we all dove the same it would be a pretty boring place! Andy Davis pretty much sums up my view above in post #52. I've made swims on the surface in flat calm and nearly 2m seas, either face down with regulator in or on my back works just fine.

 

[KevinG58]

After years of diving without a snorkel I realized it is better to have one and not need it, than need it and not have it. It could be another diver that needs it. So I carry a fold-able in my pocket.

 

[tarponchik]

I have one because 2/3 of my dives are shore dives and I like to see what's going on below. If I swam on my back I could have get killed on lava or wouldn't have noticed that frogfish in 10 ft or a moray eel hunting in 6 ft. On boat dives, I like to be aware who is still below me and where the rope lines are (if any), etc. So the snorkel adds to my awareness. However, I keep it simple: no "accordion", no valves, no other bells and whistles that were added to snorkels by creative marketing geniuses worldwide. Just the plain basic snorkel, as they were 30 years ago (fortunately, they still make these).

 

[chrisch]

...
I see only one legitimate reason to not wear a snorkel, ....

That's an absurd position - it suggests you should wear a snorkel unless you have a long hose. Firstly let's split up the issue of wearing a snorkel (and where you wear it) and just carrying one. The general agreement is that carrying one with you is a good idea if you think you might need it - for whatever personal reason you might need it. No one needs a snorkel cave diving for example and a sidemount rig will often not have a long hose. A snorkel is about as much use in a cave dive as a wheelbarrow.

The second part of this is the wearing of a snorkel for those people that feel the need to take one. The silly unthinking habit of wearing it on the mask strap so when you catch the snorkel it pulls the mask off is all too common. Since this is the correct place to wear it when snorkelling a lot of people think it is a sensible place when scuba diving. Last I looked a snorkel is about a foot long, not much use on a 30 foot dive. I am curious where else to wear it?

 

[Bob DBF]

The silly unthinking habit of wearing it on the mask strap so when you catch the snorkel it pulls the mask off is all too common.

So far that has not happened to me, I've been SCUBA diving for decades and snorkeling / freediving longer. The problem I had was my younger brother used it as a handle to remove my mask at in opportune moments. It may be the way I keep the snorkel or just great luck, but I've been snagged lots of other places, usually from the shoulders down.

I have removed and carried my snorkel on dives I have felt the snorkel would be an issue, but most of the time I wear it.

Don't get me wrong, I don't care how any diver sets up his kit, unless I'm buddied with them, and then I just need to hear a rational reason for his unconventional choices.


Bob

 

[Chavodel8en]

Yep, it's stupid argument to make. I don't need a seat belt unless I get in an accident... I don't need a motorcycle helmet until I wreck... I don't need a snorkel until... And it's odd to me that the argument comes from many of the same people who will tell you must carry a backup mask and three lights.
I see only one legitimate reason to not wear a snorkel, it interferes with deploying a long hose wrapped around the neck.

One legit reason not to wear it all the time - its annoying. And yes that's a legit reason. Others have said its an entanglement hazard - that's maybe overstating it IMO. For me, it's an inconvenience (it pulls my mask, occasionally snags on kelp), with maybe a remote chance at elevating to an entanglement hazard.

On the other hand, there is a chance (very small chance for my shore dives, bigger chance for boat dives) that you will really need it if you unexpectedly face a long surface swim with chop/waves.

Different folks (also facing different dives) will weigh the benefits/drawbacks and risks on both sides and make their decision. I don't think anyone's decision is wrong.

For me, a pocket snorkel is the best solution. Other folks I dive with chose to wear one all the time. That would annoy me to no end, but I wouldn't question their choice. And other folks Im sure dont even own a snorkel.

 

[TMHeimer]

Agree. Nobody's decision is wrong. And as mentioned by many, it depends on what kind of diving you do. Another silly one is what I've seen students do (and myself early on after just getting OW)--grab it by mistake and try to inflate the BC. I wonder how many views in this thread have been stated in all the others?

 

[JamesBon92007]

Yep, it's stupid argument to make. I don't need a seat belt unless I get in an accident... I don't need a motorcycle helmet until I wreck... I don't need a snorkel until... And it's odd to me that the argument comes from many of the same people who will tell you must carry a backup mask and three lights.
I see only one legitimate reason to not wear a snorkel, it interferes with deploying a long hose wrapped around the neck.

By "long hose" I assume you are referring to a long, second stage hose? I admit that I have not kept up with trends but that is one that I don't get.

 

[Diver-Drex]

Ok, cave diving, ice diving and probably some other non-OW situations. My statement was too broad.
For open water or advanced open water diving I do not see a reason, an issue caused by wearing a snorkel, that constitute a legitimate argument to not wear one. Someone can not wear one if they think it's uncomfortable, or they won't need it or most likely because 'it's not tec'. That's fine, it's your choice. But the argument to not take a snorkel because you won't need it unless you need is illogical. Just as that same argument would not hold in regards to an octo, or for some a backup mask, its not a good reason to not have snorkel.

 

[JamesBon92007]

I have one because 2/3 of my dives are shore dives and I like to see what's going on below. If I swam on my back I could have get killed on lava or wouldn't have noticed that frogfish in 10 ft or a moray eel hunting in 6 ft. On boat dives, I like to be aware who is still below me and where the rope lines are (if any), etc. So the snorkel adds to my awareness. However, I keep it simple: no "accordion", no valves, no other bells and whistles that were added to snorkels by creative marketing geniuses worldwide. Just the plain basic snorkel, as they were 30 years ago (fortunately, they still make these).

I was a free-diver long before I got certified for scuba (you had to be 16 back then) and I suppose I would feel naked without a snorkel and we've been together for nearly 50 years. The only time I can remember scuba diving without a snorkel was on the manta ray night dive from Kona, HI. The mantas swim within an inch of the top of your head and they could be injured by a snorkel. When beach diving I always snorkel out and then switch to scuba once I get past the waves. I would much rather save my air and extend my time underwater than use up my tank just going through the waves. And I fully agree with traponchik and I'm happy to say that Cressi still makes a free-diving snorkel and it's available from LeisurePro. I'm going to get one for my grandson for his birthday to go with the low volume, free-diving mask I just gave him. I'd always thought that those snorkels with purge valves etc were just something waiting to go wrong and recently I've read accounts of people "aspirating" water because the valve failed. Plus if you are spearfishing etc those corrugations just add resistance and make it require more effort and energy to clear the snorkel which could wear you out quicker. Whenever I surface from a boat dive I immediately switch to my snorkel. I save my last 500 psi just in case I need it. It has not happened yet, but I can see how it could. And once again agreeing with tarponchik I like to see what's going on below me. I have a nice video from the surface of a shark swimming along the bottom that I probably would not even have seen if I had not been using my snorkeling and looking down.

As for my original comment in this thread, in 47 1/2 years of scuba diving I have never needed an octopus so it can be construed as an unnecessary piece of equipment which adds an additional possible failure point and requires maintenance. If someone is out of air they can buddy breathe with me. What's that you say? They don't teach buddy breathing any more? Do they also teach that there are some old geezers out there that don't have an octopus? There was one incident where I was standing by to share my regulator with the DM on a dive because he was investigating a leak on his regulator and had shut of his tank but it turned out that he was part sea turtle and could hold his breath for about two hours so he didn't need my air. If someone has an account of an incident where they actually used an octopus (either giver or receiver) I'd like to hear about it and the circumstances that led up to it in addition to why it was necessary to share air and why buddy breathing would not have worked. Please note that I don't cave dive and if I did I probably would not share my air anyway if it meant I might not make it out of the cave.

So, who want's to go diving with me?