Snorkeling Equipment Info (Newbie)

[David Wilson]

As a lifelong snorkeller I love bucking the trend when it comes to gear. One of my favourite masks is a Mexican-made Escualo Ixtapa with blue rubber skirts:

If you look closely at the right-hand edge of the skirt you'll see the double feathered seal edges that provide enough thin, flexible surface for the mask to make a watertight join between the skirt and the face. Personally, I find that masks without this double seal lack the surface area to effect an adequate seal.

I always choose masks with rubber skirt material because that's the way masks were constructed when I began snorkelling back in the early 1960s. I couldn't see any point in changing to more expensive silicone when I didn't suffer from allergies and my rubber masks have given me sterling service over several decades.

Masks won't leak so long as precautions are taken to ensure a proper fit, i.e. seeing if the mask, without its strap, remains in place against the face when lightly inhaling. It's wise to check again in the pool whether the mask fits properly underwater with a snorkel attached to it. Never fasten the mask strap either too loosely or too tightly.

 

[Scubadam]

When I snorkel, yes little water will enter my mask, however your mask should never "flood". meaning your mask should never have so much water in it you can't see or breath clearly. If you take a diving course ever, they will show you methods for clearing your mask if it should "flood". The first step is to make sure the strap of the mask fit snug, but not painfully snug around your head. A loose mask never helps. Now, with the snorkel itself, if you bought it at a department store, it may not be a so called "scuba snorkel", so it may not drain the water that enters the snorkel as quickly, but regardless, department store or not you should be able to breathe with it, and clear it if needed.

 

[rsnfunky]

Thanks a lot guys. I am now planning to take a proferssional scuba diving course to learn the nitty gritties of diving...