Bore size of snorkels

[unirdna]

Per request, here's the 'what and why' breakdown of my snorkel collection...

First of all, my frankensnorkel. Mouthpiece: US Divers. This is basically the same kind of mouthpiece found on Impulse snorkels. I love this mouthpiece! You don't have to continally bite down to keep it in your mouth. This makes for a more relaxed breathup and less jaw fatigue (a life-saver for those looong days in the water :inlove). And the air-hole is large (small ones create a bottleneck effect).

Bendy silicon piece: not sure which snorkel this is from....maybe an Impulse . Anyway, it had the perfect amount of 'return spring' to it. Most divers don't like this 'bendy' piece, but I am not most divers . I spit my snorkel like everyone else, but don't like to 'spit' the snorkel. Rather, I prefer to simply relax my loose bite, and let the snorkel get out of the way by itself. I also prefer the snorkel to be well out of the way when I'm looking for a fish. I could never manage to keep the 'solid' snorkels from bumping into my face after I spit it out......probably because I can't stand snorkel keepers, and consequently fix my snorkel underneath my mask strap, thus taking away it's flexibility needed to get out of the way.

Tube: This is what's left of a Mohave Genesis 'dry' snorkel. The 'dry' piece on the end of the tube was completely unreliable. It would seal up at times during inhales.....:head . Even if I did like dry snorkels (which I don't), I still would not use a Mohave. But the tube works out nicely .

I think my next snorkel will be a tweaked Impulse II (with the flexible silicon piece). I'm sure I'll get out the hotknife or my dremmel and make it the way I want it.

Other snorkels (left to right) and what I did/didn't like about em.

Surf genesis:
good - eh...nothing specatular
bad - silcon bend piece too floppy; airhole in mouthpiece too narrow

TUSA Imprex II:
good - comfortable, small, angled mouthpiece; compact, effective purge.
bad - no bending piece, and tube was too narrow to fit a piece from a different snorkel. Narrow tube also restricted airflow a bit. Also, small, oval airhole in mouthpiece.

Picasso Nodo.
good - fits very comfortably under the mask strap. Angle fit well into my mouth (after I hacked off 1.5 inches with a razor and refitted the mouthpiece). Very large airhole in mouthpiece.
bad - mouthpiece fatigues my jaw after prolonged use. It is comfortable, but requires a bite to get a good seal. Tube was a bit narrow - restricted airflow.

Mares Profi
good - descent mouthpiece...wide bore...comfortable (slightly flexible) tube.
bad - never cleared well - always left a drip in the bottom. No bending piece.

Mares Streamflex (cut off and original)
good - very similar to profi, and has the bending piece. This was suppose to be the magic bullet :hmm.
bad - still could not get it to clear 100%. I think the sharp angle was the reason....or maybe I just dont have the wind.

Ted

 

[Pezman]

Ted,

Your franken-snorkel is almost identical to what I'm using, except that mine has a solid tube where you'rs is flexy (the purge valve and the top of the tube are identical, including the absence of the useless plastic thingy). Since I normally don't attach my snorkel to the mask in any way, the solid tube is not a drawback for me.

Always interesting when someone independently comes up with a similar solution.

 

[icarus pacific]

Originally posted by unirdna
I spit like everyone else.
Ted

I thought we had such a future ahead... :waterwork

 

[Jon]

Following Ted's lead, I decided to take a shot of my snorkel collection- digital cameras rock!

Starting on the top row they are:
1-Aqualung "Snap"
2-Aqualung "Air2"
3-Ocean Master "Dry"
4- Aqualung "Impulse II"
5 Finis "front mounted" snorkel

Second row:
1- Sporasub "Samurai"- my favorite
2- H20 "Purge"- My favorite for hockey
3- H20 "no purge"
4- Mares "Profi"
5- Picasso "??"

There are reasons for all of them- honest!

The "Snap" snorkel rolls up into a little hockey puck size case. It's great for Tec diving because you can carry a snorkel in you thigh pocket, on your dry suit, but it doesn’t get in the way of all your tanks and long hose. It isn't that great for actually snorkeling.

The Air2 snorkel was something I dug out of the rental bin of a friend's dive shop when I bit the tabs off my trusted Picasso during hockey. It has a nice purge on the bottom and I cut it down for hockey. The main problem is that the base is made out of hard plastic. One night during a hockey game I got my face slammed into the bottom and thought that I chipped my teeth and the hard plastic, and I didn't even get the point!:duh I stopped using it after that.

The Ocean Master Dry belongs to my wife. She won't snorkel without it and thinks it's the best thing in the world- next to the baby.; and me) Ifind it too bulky and the tounge "hicky" thing at depth is just plain painful.

The Impulse II is a good snorkel and I will use it if I can tie it off to the surface float. If I dove in high waves all of the time I might use it more. One day I may actually get a pair of fluid goggles and use it all the time.

The front mounted snorkel is for swimming laps with my monofin. I have tried it in open water, but then you go cross-eyed staring at the darn thing. I thought that a clear tube would help with this, but it didn't.

The Sporasub is my favorite one of all. I do most of my diving with that one and it works great. I wish it had a stiffer mouthpiece and I though that you could order them this way but I’m not sure, and I am not dropping any more cash on snorkels for a looong time. You'll notice that the sticker came off the top and I replaced it with yellow duct tape.

the eH20 snorkel with a purge is great for hockey. It has a soft mouth piece so it doesn't chip teeth when you get your head slammed into the bottom.:blackeye The natural rubber does have a bit of a taste compared to black silicone and is the only reason I don't use it for everything.

The H20 no-purge pretty much just sits on the shelf. Although it looks a lot like the purge, there is a difference in the mouthpiece and air doesn't flow through it as well.

The Profi just plain sucks. It has such a simple tube, but they ruined it with the mouthpiece that acts like a cistern and traps every drop of water in the lake!:head IT had such great potential from the looks of it.

The last was my favorite Picasso. I really liked it and tried to brig it back to life, that's actually a mouthpiece off another Mares snorkel. It didn't work- R.I.P.

I had a chance to see the OMER Zoom snorkels yesterday. They look almost identical to my Sporasub so I didn't bother throwing down any more cash for one of those.

Somewhat of a long post, where's IYA?, but I hope it helps you spend your money better than I spent some of mine.

I am open to suggestions on a basic snorkel. I actually found one of those Farallon’s a couple of years ago while wreck diving. I should have soaked it in bleach overnight instead of just tossing it.:duh

Jon

 

[icarus pacific]

Originally posted by Jon
I actually found one of those Farallon’s a couple of years ago. I should have soaked it in bleach overnight instead of just tossing it.:duh

Jon

AAARRRGGGHHH!!! :head

 

[Jon]

Can you remold those bite tabs by boiling them? This one had certainly been used and custom fitted.

jon

 

[ash]

Jon and Ted

You two are seriously worrying me.

Am I also doomed to fall victim to this strange obsession with my snorkel?

Ash

 

[icarus pacific]

bite tabs

I'd certainly try. I know that after some oral work :hmm I was able to heat them up and make do.

 

[defofthecrown]

Hope you flossed first...

 

[OceanSwimmer]

Bleach and plastic...

I might be preaching to the wrong crowd here, but bleach is very damaging to plastic, and will stain silicone, eventually breaking it down...about 15 min soak in very dilute bleach will kill 'most anything. [Dilute being about 1Tbs. to a quart] Besides, unless the bitepiece has been chewed up(!?!) all any plastic needs is a nice wash (w/a sponge or soft washcloth) in dial, or anykind of soap. Think 'dilution to remove pollution' and you've got the idea. A piece of cloth on a wire will clean out the inside of the tube, if you must.

 

[Roan]

Yeah, I too was deceived by the Mares Profi. No matter how hard I blow (wisecracks expected), it simply will not clear! It sits in my garage and has actually scared me away from ordering any more valveless snorkels. But I'm hearing good things about the Sporasub Samurai, maybe I'll try one. Do they clear easily (or at least completely)?

Like many of us ocean going freedivers I'm searching for the Holy Grail of snorkels: med-large bore for inhale, easy to purge (valves), at least some wave-splash protection, hydrodynamics, comfortable & replacable mouthpiece and perhaps most of all: when I grow to love it and it wears out will I be able to buy another one? I continue to nurse along and return to my not-so-old Oceanus (can't find it in any store on catalog) that has it all except a splash guard. Is it possible to add one?

Nice to see I'm not alone in my quest.

 

[Hooch]

You may want to try the Zeagle Ranger snorkel. I normally avoid snorkels with purge valves, but this one works well. BTW, I'm curious about something: Is it correct to keep the snorkel in or out of your mouth during your descent?

 

[Erik]

Hooch it is recommended that you spit your snorkel out when under the water for safety reasons, and proper equalising is also easier without the snorkel in.
Cheers,
Erik Y.

 

[Hooch]

Thanks Erik, I'll try doing that. Out of curiosity, what is the safety issue with keeping the snorkel in one's mouth when descending?

 

[tuomo]

the snorkel in your mouth provides straith tunnel for water to flow into your mouth and your lungs incase you happen to pass out. Incase you dont have the snorkel in your mouth and pass out your mouth should stay closed and the water out of your lungs.
I too am guilty of diving often with snorkel in my mouth.. :duh
Should develope a habit of spitting the snorkel out when starting to descend.

dive safe,
Tuomo

 

[unirdna]

Originally posted by tuomo
Should develope a habit of spitting the snorkel out when starting to descend.

This habit is now so strong for me that I frequently spit my snorkel while playing hockey :blackeye .

 

[Hooch]

Great info! Thanks!

 

[uvjagt]

spitting snorkels

Also when hunting it is inportant to remove the snorkel before ascent, so small bubles don´t scare of the fish.
It dos not always scare the fish but sometimes the big ones are big beacuse they are scary...
johan denmark

 

[Jon]

When swimming laps with my monofin I really prefer to use my front-mounted snorkel, rather than swim on my side. This works great in the pool, but is a pain in the lake. :head


I have used it while swiming out to deeper spots, but end up carrying an extra snorkel on my float to switch out once I get there. While I was swimming this morning I started to play around with my maks and found a way to attach the snorkel right to it without using the headgear that came with it.

I just slipped a snorkel keeper through the bridge on my OMER Abyss, which is the same mask as a number of others out there, and attached the tube to the mask frame with it.

When I tried it out in the pool it worked better than i had imagined it would. I hope to give it an openwater test this weekend. My hope is to be able to swim distances with it attached to the maks, and then just slip it out and hold it wiht my hand when I get ready to dive. Since many people hold their snorkel, or stuff it into their weightbelt, already i think it just might work.

Here's a shot of it. I know the snorkel keeper is reto 80's but all of my other ones are hard palstic clips that come standard on the Omer's and the Sporasubs. I plan on switching it ou next time I get to a dive shop.

Jon

 

[Jon]

As long as the mouthpiece is in my mouth the whole sytem is fairly stable. As soon as I release it I can slip it out and dive with in a couple of seconds. The snorkel keep stays in place out of friction and doesn't interfere with my vision.

Here's a better shot of the attachment point. Once I get a silicone keeper on there it will be even smaller, and more stable. I think a better front-mounted snorkel might work better as well. I just have the basici Finis modle, but I see that the monofin websites offer many different versions. What version are others using??

jon