Snorkles

[Thalassamania]

I've used a snorkel on every dive I've ever made with the exception of some that had physical ceilings and that involved saturation. I enter the water with my snorkel in my mouth and I exit the same way. I have no interest in having boat captains trying to teach me to dive since I rarely try and teach them how to drive the boat.

 

[pidgiepoo]

I don't care whether anyone ever uses one or not. I don't care whether you use it on the left or right. I don't even care if you chew a piece of kelp when you get back on the boat.

Just one thing: Please SPELL it correctly from now on.

If ya don't use it, ya lose it.......must include spelling,too.

 

[Buoyant1]

Buy a roll up (or fold up) snorkel....keep it in a pocket....if you need it, it's there!

 

[D_B]

I think the points made for not wearing one are valid ... but so are the ones made for taking one.
.. I eventually am going to get a folding/rollup one to put in a pocket

having your reg in your mouth while climbing the boat ladder or on a surf exit while still deep enough to have a wave knock you down, is just good sense about safety and doesnt cost you anything

 

[Garrobo]

Snorkle, snorkel, snorekell, snorkell, snorrkell, snorckel, snorckle, regulator, regulater, regulatre. Anyone not know what I am talking about? Do you understand the definition of ANAL? This is a test.

 

[OCDinNC]

Captains observe divers climbing up the ladder and see their mistakes. They try to pass on their wisdom.

Too many folks end up plunging their heads more than a few inches under when they look down to remove their fins, and end up syphoning in the sea.

Either use your reg, or close your mouth and hold your breath when removing your fins at the ladder.

I really don't think that merely observing divers' mistakes is the only reason that captains want the reg in your mouth until you're on the boat. Off the NC coast, for example, at Morehead, the sea can be smooth (theoretically), but rarely is. When you're trying to get up the ladder and it's doing its mechanical bull imitation and very seasoned divers are being tossed around like matchsticks, and lurching in and out of the water..., well, I think it's good to have a reg in your mouth, and the fact that the ocean is stronger than a mere human is does not equate to a mistake on the diver's part.

As for the snorkel, (sp??) I "lost" my hard one a few months after I started diving a lot, and bought a wimpy roll-up model, which I carried for a good while. Only thing is, it's so un-rigid, if you actually do have to use it, and you're used to a rigid one, you might need to adjust. I haven't carried one for quite awhile now, which works out fine. Occasionally I find myself in some Caribbean location where I could have snorkeled and think, dang, I have one somewhere at home...

 

[Thalassamania]

Having a regulator in your mouth at a time when you run the risk of falling into the water is an invitation to an embolism. Yes ... we both those sorts of incidents have occurred. As to trouble siphoning the sea ... sounds to me like an equipment solution to a skills problem.

 

[Roko]

Having a regulator in your mouth at a time when you run the risk of falling into the water is an invitation to an embolism. Yes ... we both those sorts of incidents have occurred. As to trouble siphoning the sea ... sounds to me like an equipment solution to a skills problem.

What about giant stride entries? That's akin to falling into the water with a reg in your mouth, though it's more expected by the diver.

How often has it actually happened that someone gets a gas embolism from falling into the water with their reg in their mouth?

 

[Thalassamania]

What about giant stride entries? That's akin to falling into the water with a reg in your mouth, though it's more expected by the diver.

How often has it actually happened that someone gets a gas embolism from falling into the water with their reg in their mouth?

If a giant stride entry is performed properly the diver's head will not go underwater so, frankly, it really does not matter, snorkel, regulator or nothing. I still prefer snorkel.

Not a common problem. If I recall properly there were two such cases during the time I worked at the National Underwater Data Center, one was an entry and the other an exit. In both cases a diver fell (or jumped) into rough water from some significant height whilst breathing off his or her regulator. The diver penetrated the water, took in a quick breath and for some reason held it as he or she popped back to the surface. An embolism resulted in both cases. There were a few similar cases where divers swam under large breaking waves.

This is not to say that people who entered the water with their snorkel in their mouth did not have problems ... PADI changed from regulator to snorkel as a result of several drowning incidents where divers entered with their snorkel, had no air in their BC and were unable to get their regulator in their mouth as the sunk, overweighted of course, to the bottom and drowned.

It's my view that the real motivation in making this change was to hack time off the course, since entering with a snorkel requires that you actually have developed the requisite skills to use it.

 

[Roko]

Ah, I see what you're getting at. Thanks for the clarification!