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A better Snorkel for UK spearo?

Thread Status: Hello , There was no answer in this thread for more than 60 days.
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That orange band will definitely be of help if you happen to loose your snorkel. I did it twice and always found it thanks to the orange band.
 
Dobs said:
That orange band will definitely be of help if you happen to loose your snorkel. I did it twice and always found it thanks to the orange band.
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Yes, clear snorkels are just about invisible in the water.
 
Huan said:
Activair is nice and soft.
Colour don't matter, keep the orange bit on top , helps people see you.
Spora samurai is good too, large bore.
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Well, I planned to order an Omer Zoom clear, flex or camo but they are all 3 breath-takingly expensive in the UK currently (esp. flex & camo) & I bought an Omer Alien which went up about 30% in price (inc. shipping) this year. So I bought the much cheaper Beauchat Activa Tubair -- recommended my several contributors on this thread -- which seems just as good as the camo-Zoom for about half the price.


The tip-tape was hanging off it when it arrived :hmm - but otherwise it looks & feels very promising. Very soft & pliable. Will let you know how I get on with it.

Like most snorkels, I don't like the mask clip this one comes with, so I will replace it with a bungee-cord figure-8. The clip on this Seacsub snorkel is one of the most promising I have seen:


I am thinking of camo'ing the snorkel, either like Firefox's snorkel paint job (see: Guernsey 2006 thread) or Huan's speargun tape job.
 
Thats my patented Camo method! I will have to start charging royalties for that!
I doubt that anything will stick for long on to the activair, the material is so soft and flexible that I think it would be hard to find anything that would stick including paint, a lot of my stuff is camo but I didn't even try with the snorkel.
 
Huan said:
Thats my patented Camo method! I will have to start charging royalties for that!
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Start with Omer -- they have psychedelic mimetec tape in their latest catalogue. Weird looking stuff -- like a gold/orange ripple interference pattern on a plain background.

Huan said:
I doubt that anything will stick for long on to the activair, the material is so soft and flexible that I think it would be hard to find anything that would stick including paint, a lot of my stuff is camo but I didn't even try with the snorkel.
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:hmm Makes sense - it's pretty shiney too. [Even sticking the tip tape back on is turning out to be a problem -- the shiney tape is offering little for superglue to bind to.]
 
My Impulse two does not have the flex tube. I get obsessed with the little rattly bit of water that allways gets caught in corrugated tubes. I've had my Impulse II for at least 5 years. I'm alot in open water with wind and chop. I also have a little omer zoom and have tried the Riffe Stable. The riffe is more streamlined than the Imuplse - and works quite well if you don't mind the inevitable corrugation rattle.

I like the zoom for chop-free situations.
 
Hi Fondueset,
The new snorkel doesn't have a corrugated tube - the whole thing is flexible (see the knot picture above). I am told this is a useful feature around weed, lines & caves/gulleys; I'll let you know if that turns out to be the case.

I do have 2 snorkels with corrugated tubes though -- one is just broken beach salvage, the other my main snorkel last year. Although both have flexible bends that are corrugated on the outside, it turns out that both have a completely smooth bore inside. I wonder if yours might be the same? (Could your valve be causing the rattle? Mine usually seemed to leave a little water in the bend. The plain J works much better in this regard - as you'd know from your Zoom).
 
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The usual method to camouflage equipment IE sprayed acrylic paint, as you point out would not adhere for long before cracking & falling off:head If you simply want to break up the outline? Try over wrapping some rings of electrical insulation tape, maybe blue or White or both. Seal the ends with epoxy or supper glue. A more ambitious project would be to glue small individual pieces of coloured PVC or camo tape in place with polyurethane thixotropic glue. Polyurethane will stick to virtually any surface but because it expands while curing can end up looking a mess:vangry
 
Reactions: Mr. X
Excellent answer, thanks. Seems like camo has been a pet project of yours for some time Foxfish. Yours recent batch look quite professional.

Unfortunately it seems pretty clear that my new snorkel is not a good candidate for camo. Thinking of your tape suggestion though, I wonder if few coloured rubber bands of different sizes & colors might work? Don't want to look too Heath Robinson though :

 
Reactions: foxfish
Re: A better camo Snorkel for UK spearo?

Quick update on the snorkel front. I am enjoying the new Beuchat tubair. The flexible design works well for me. I have also managed to camo it with artist acrylic paints -- have yet to see if they stay on in the sea tho.

Couple of minor peeves. I usually seem to get a little bit of water remaining in the patented mouth piece area - which rattles annoyingly. This is not something I noticed with the 99p Procella - so not inevitable. Not really conducive to silent hunting (although perhaps rattling like a Rapala is not all bad). The snorkel-clip is tough work too (although better than many, including my old snorkel -- at least I use this one); wouldn't want it too accidently cut through my Omer's neat but rather lightweight strap.

A friend has just become a dealer for Seacsub & gave me their catalogue. They just came out with their "combat" range. I have ordered the new new camo Seatil snorkel to try out (see earlier in the thread for Seatil image - a snorkel I liked the look of). It is very reasonably priced (from my friend anyway) - same price as the regular black one (unlike Omer). I think it should be a big hit. Will let you know how I get on with it.

The "Seatil Combat" snorkel (Item code: 487C) is green camo with black mouth piece, clip & the "orange tip" is black, not orange! Prominant logos look trendy -- hope the fish can't read & think it's seaweed.


ref. http://www.subprof.com/tienda/product_info.php?products_id=4787

[Also see the UK Spearo Mask thread for info on new Seacsub combat mask & other apnea products]
 
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I just received the Seatil Combat snorkel ("Seatil Tubo Mimetico Art. 487C"): We all agreed, it is an exceptionally nice snorkel. The black & clear one would be probably be a good bet too.

It doesn't have the ribs shown above (good) & the writing on the side is Silver rather than black but is otherwise just as shown. The snorkel-clip is a different to what I had expected but it looks a cut above the norm being soft & pliable.

The snorkel itself is flexible (good) but a little stiffer than the Beauchat Tubulair (which I lost in the house -- serves me right for camo'ing it! rofl) - again, good. The mouthpiece is small, soft and pleasant - no uncomfortable ridges. A good product. There is a little matt-texturing on the bottom of the J & around the joint -- which seem like a good way to reduce obvious highlights. Not sure what the point of the black tip tape is though. Will post more once I have got it wet!
 
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You must have a big house, or a big skill in camo'ing ;-) I'm camo'ing my old Viper 75 in these days: hope i'll find it there when I need it...
Back to your snorkel bought: Is it the Seatil Combat? Looks nice, but the name almost drives me to laughter: Combat! :martial
 
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The previous owner put Axminster carpets in:


-- don't ever drop anything ...you'll never find it. The ultimate camoflage!


[ref.: www.crabtreelooms.co.uk/]
(Good if you like to wear your wellies in the house or the gun dogs break through though!).

Yes it is a Seatil Combat -- made in Italy! As spearos wear a rubber Ninja suit already, carry a calf knife & a silent gun -- this completes the look! (a sort of Rambo - teenage mutant ninja turtle? )

Its funny, when I started off, I marked everything brightly for fear of loosing it. Now I am getting camo. Perhaps the happy medium of doing nothing is the "true path"!

I have not been tempted to camo the speargun though, even though it is always attached to the floatline, I would hate to loose it.
 
Seatil Combat Snorkel - result

Finally got to try out the Seatil combat snorkel yesterday. I would say it is as good as the Beuchat Tubair but on balance I prefer the latter.

Pros: excellent mask clip, oval holes in tip would allow a semi-dry or dry tip to be added, camo, soft mouth piece & J.

Cons: the down tube is noticeably stiffer than the beuchat, so line tangles lasted longer & were noisier (to me) as the tube did not yield as the beuchat does. Like the Beuchat, water often remained in the tube &, on one occassion the tube proved hard to clear, I think ,perhaps, the J is a little too soft ... it looses shape a little too easily. They could easily remedy these 2 problems by making the J a little firmer & the main tube a little softer.

So, although close, I am surprised to say, the Beuchat Tubair wins for me -- only by a short head though. Both are above average snorkels.

[Also see the mask review - the camo seems effective].
 
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I came across the Beaver Reflex snorkel a couple of years ago but saw it again this week. I believe it is intended to be a small, easily stored safety snorkel for SCUBA divers, however it has some features that might make it useful for spearo -- I wondered if anybody uses or has tried it:



Specifically:

- it is very flexible, more than even the Beuchat Tubair, which is useful if it snags rock/weeds/floatline.

- it has an unusual semi-dry top. Instead of the usual open top & opposing slits, this has a hooded top with the opening to the rear of the snorkel. This should be easier to clear than a normal semi-dry top & provide more protection from waves/swells coming from the front.

Possible draw backs:
- might be a tad shorter & smaller diameter than normal
- might be too flexible
 
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