Difficult to breath lightly in a snorkel

[FreeRestriction]

I have trouble breathing a normal resting breath type inhale/exhale. I find myself breathing deeper then id like. Can this be caused by a short breath not clearing the snorkel of the previous exhale enough to get fresh air on the inhale? Or am i just an idiot? Any chance doing my predive breathing with my face out of the water would reduce dive reflex?

-Kenny

 

[Simos]

I have trouble breathing a normal resting breath type inhale/exhale. I find myself breathing deeper then id like. Can this be caused by a short breath not clearing the snorkel of the previous exhale enough to get fresh air on the inhale? Or am i just an idiot? Any chance doing my predive breathing with my face out of the water would reduce dive reflex?

-Kenny

I don't like breathing through a snorkel either but unless you have a useless snorkel, it should just be a question of getting used to it. Most top freelancers breathe up using a snorkel...

Don't think your DR would be significantly affected if you breathe with your face out of the water - Do you mean lying on your back or being upright?

I guess the downside of being on your back is that you might not be able to relax if it's choppy and being upright might not be as relaxing as lying...

Personally I like lying on my back until I relax and then for the last minute I hold on to the rope and I'm upright. I don't think it's what most people do though...

 

[FreeRestriction]

I don't like breathing through a snorkel either but unless you have a useless snorkel, it should just be a question of getting used to it. Most top freelancers breathe up using a snorkel...

Don't think your DR would be significantly affected if you breathe with your face out of the water - Do you mean lying on your back or being upright?

I guess the downside of being on your back is that you might not be able to relax if it's choppy and being upright might not be as relaxing as lying...

Personally I like lying on my back until I relax and then for the last minute I hold on to the rope and I'm upright. I don't think it's what most people do though...

Yeah its hard to explain the feeling but i just cant reduce my breathing. My HR is normal but if i shorten my breaths i just feel like im lacking oxygen.

As far as the above water part i suppose it would depend on the conditions wether or not i can lay on my back.

 

[Simos]

Yeah its hard to explain the feeling but i just cant reduce my breathing. My HR is normal but if i shorten my breaths i just feel like im lacking oxygen.

As far as the above water part i suppose it would depend on the conditions wether or not i can lay on my back.

I know exactly what feeling you mean... What snorkel do you use?

 

[growingupninja]

I have trouble breathing a normal resting breath type inhale/exhale. I find myself breathing deeper then id like. Can this be caused by a short breath not clearing the snorkel of the previous exhale enough to get fresh air on the inhale? Or am i just an idiot? Any chance doing my predive breathing with my face out of the water would reduce dive reflex?

-Kenny

I don't use a snorkel although perhaps if I was active safety on line divers perhaps I would use one. I have had experienced spearos tell me the snorkel is better safety in the case you are incapacitated but to me this contigency isn't worth breathing through the thing, plus added drag and yet another piece of gear to get tangled in the kelp. I have tried to use them in tropical conditions as well but didn't care for it there either. Some authorities claim a sorkel in the mouth is extremely dangerous if blackout occurs while others (Terry Maas for one) claim there is no added danger.

I think some guys do stuff like run on a treadmill while wearing a snorkel to get used to them.

Breathing up head out should not reduce dive response, if anything it might improve it since the temperature differential would be greater when you submerge... Although wearing a mask in typical conditions I doubt it would make a measurable difference. You could argue that the snorkel is an energy savings but in my 5mm wetsuit I float like a cork at the surface, and I like to know what is going on out there as well.

On an energy/efficiency level I suppose it is like seals and dolphins.. Seals don't cover much lateral distance on the surface. They surface, catch their breath, then dive/move again. Dolphins seem to have no problem covering lateral distance very near the surface but they have blowholes up top (snorkel).

 

[Simos]

I don't use a snorkel although perhaps if I was active safety on line divers perhaps I would use one. I have had experienced spearos tell me the snorkel is better safety in the case you are incapacitated but to me this contigency isn't worth breathing through the thing, plus added drag and yet another piece of gear to get tangled in the kelp. I have tried to use them in tropical conditions as well but didn't care for it there either. Some authorities claim a sorkel in the mouth is extremely dangerous if blackout occurs while others (Terry Maas for one) claim there is no added danger.

I think some guys do stuff like run on a treadmill while wearing a snorkel to get used to them.

Breathing up head out should not reduce dive response, if anything it might improve it since the temperature differential would be greater when you submerge... Although wearing a mask in typical conditions I doubt it would make a measurable difference. You could argue that the snorkel is an energy savings but in my 5mm wetsuit I float like a cork at the surface, and I like to know what is going on out there as well.

On an energy/efficiency level I suppose it is like seals and dolphins.. Seals don't cover much lateral distance on the surface. They surface, catch their breath, then dive/move again. Dolphins seem to have no problem covering lateral distance very near the surface but they have blowholes up top (snorkel).

I never got how leaving the snorkel in the mouth can be safer... Apart from the usual arguments on lariyngospasm etc, surely it must be dangerous to blast clear when you are on the surface (otherwise what's the point in leaving in the mouth)

 

[FreeRestriction]

I know exactly what feeling you mean... What snorkel do you use?

I use a sherwood edge. The opening at the tops quite small so maybe there is a reduced venting of static air?

 

[FreeRestriction]

I don't use a snorkel although perhaps if I was active safety on line divers perhaps I would use one. I have had experienced spearos tell me the snorkel is better safety in the case you are incapacitated but to me this contigency isn't worth breathing through the thing, plus added drag and yet another piece of gear to get tangled in the kelp. I have tried to use them in tropical conditions as well but didn't care for it there either. Some authorities claim a sorkel in the mouth is extremely dangerous if blackout occurs while others (Terry Maas for one) claim there is no added danger.

I think some guys do stuff like run on a treadmill while wearing a snorkel to get used to them.

Breathing up head out should not reduce dive response, if anything it might improve it since the temperature differential would be greater when you submerge... Although wearing a mask in typical conditions I doubt it would make a measurable difference. You could argue that the snorkel is an energy savings but in my 5mm wetsuit I float like a cork at the surface, and I like to know what is going on out there as well.

On an energy/efficiency level I suppose it is like seals and dolphins.. Seals don't cover much lateral distance on the surface. They surface, catch their breath, then dive/move again. Dolphins seem to have no problem covering lateral distance very near the surface but they have blowholes up top (snorkel).

I may have to try out going no snorkel to see if its doable for me in open water.

 

[Apneaddict]

I have an impulse III that I will be using for CW that's wrapped in a pool noodle so that it floats. I'll leave it at the surface when I dive.

I too like to be vertical the minute or so before I dive (for PB-type dives) as well, so the snorkel is for non strenuous dives and for relaxing on the surface to slow heart rate for deep dives.

The Impulse III is super-low in terms of breathing restriction. Very natural breathing and comfortable mouthpiece.

For me it's too clunky to attach to a mask.

 

[growingupninja]

I never got how leaving the snorkel in the mouth can be safer... Apart from the usual arguments on lariyngospasm etc, surely it must be dangerous to blast clear when you are on the surface (otherwise what's the point in leaving in the mouth)

Many spearos out here don't do the big forced purge--too much effort and very noisy; some common gamefish out here (white sea bass being a primary example) are extremely sensitive to noise and will hear bubbles and blasting snorkels, and swim away, long before you see them. A lot of guys do a small well timed exhale just before surfacing and the expanding air clears the snorkel with little effort. I just came to diving from swimming so having something in my mouth feels alien to me, and surfacing into the air is something that I love. At the surface I don't feel like I spend much extra energy; my suit is very bouyant and while resting when my mouth needs to clear the surface for a breath it is just a twitch of a fin.