do you use a snorkel?

[tauchen]

I am a scuba diver, and I have not used a snorkel in years. I really see no use in them what's so ever.
Now, I am a beginner freediver (no spearfishing), and the topic of a snorkel comes back to haunt me. I can see the benefits of a snorkel for spearfishing, but since I am not doing that, why do I need a snorkel?

there are several major drawbacks that I can think of:
CO2 buildup on the surface by re-breathing dead air space and unnecessary drag in the water. Also, if I swim on the back, (just like I do in scuba), then I have no use for snorkel what's so ever.. (now, I can see why spear-fishermen need it - to put their face down and work on the fish that they just speared, I get that).

any thoughts?

 

[Fondueset]

Yes.

Best way to rest on the surface if there are waves.
I use a Riffe Stable. It has very low drag and I dive always with a monofin or no fins.

Many freedivers I know who use monofins prefer to carry their snorkel in their hands - but this one is so low drag that it does not bother me.

I've gone with no snorkel on calm days - but it is really necessary to have one if there is any chop at all - otherwise it is not possible to completely relax.

In Dean's Blue hole I often forgot to take off my snorkel - and have gone past 40m with it on many occasions.

 

[Mr. X]

I use a snorkel for spearing and keep it in pretty much all the time but I rarely go down more than 10m, often much less. I get the impression most freedivers and many deep-diving spearos remove their snorkel, either as they descend (Georgio Daparin does this in one of his videos) or as they ascend - supposed to be less chance of blacking out when reaching the surface.

The main benefit is for resting, & exploring at the surface. You can rest face-down for extended periods with virtually no effort. You can also fin for extended distances, face down with relatively little effort - and stop & rest as required. I believe that is why SCUBA divers are/were expected to carry them.

I'm surprised you haven't already determined whether or not a snorkel is helpful to you. If you have boat support nearby, perhaps you don't need it? I've speared far from the beach and in rips and swells, and have happy to have my snorkel firmly in my mouth .

 

[Fondueset]

On that note. Unless it is a very brief dive - like a few seconds - I always spit my snorkel out.

there are a number of reasons I've read, but I discovered one day that it helped me relax and feel the water on my face.

 

[tauchen]

I'm surprised you haven't already determined whether or not a snorkel is helpful to you. If you have boat support nearby, perhaps you don't need it? I've speared far from the beach and in rips and swells, and have happy to have my snorkel firmly in my mouth .

I guess I always had some sort of float to hold on too when resting or I just swim on my back.. never had a need to explore from the surface.. I guess I was always afraid of that nasty CO2 buildup by breathing through the snorkel for a prolonged period of time.

As far as scuba diving.. carrying a snorkel on is an entanglement hazard and it’s not needed.. I never bothered to “save” gas by using a snorkel before the dive.. and after the dive, gas management rules would warrant plenty of gas in the tanks, so when the seas are rough, I would just keep the regulator in my mouth.

 

[Fondueset]

there is no significant co2 buildup. numerous world records have been set with snorkel breathe-ups.

 

[efattah]

I use a huge impulse 2 (or 3) snorkel while diving, and I also use this during static apnea in the pool (up to 8 minutes). When breathing through a snorkel, the ideal breathing pattern is 1-4 very deep breaths, followed by a 'hold' at the top of the next breath for 5-10 seconds. This ventilates the lungs just as efficiently as without a snorkel, without any issue of CO2 dead space. As a further example of the lack of CO2 issues, it is very easy to hyperventilate yourself into total hypocapnia (tingling fingers), through a snorkel. If the snorkel provided insurmountable CO2 buildup, that would be impossible.

As a further note, in 2000 I did a series of experiments, breathing up vertically, on my back, and through a snorkel, diving to the same depth over and over, style A,B,C,A,B,C,A,B,C.... and the snorkel always provided the easiest dive -- against my expectations.

FYI my snorkel is never attached to my mask. I hold it in my hand during the dive, in my left hand, and I use a wrist-mounted 1200 lumen dive light on my left wrist (SOLA 1200), which leaves my left hand available to hold the snorkel. Holding the snorkel is useful underwater, it allows you to flip crabs over on to their back without risking your fingers, etc...

The impulse 2 and impulse 3 snorkels are so 'dry' that even in huge waves I don't even notice. In the rare case I get water in the snorkel, I remove it from my mouth, let it flood completely, then purge it in one breathe back to total dryness.

 

[tauchen]

interesting... thanks for the feedback!

 

[Fondueset]

I agree with Eric and have no less that four of those snorkels. I think they are the best for line diving and hands down the best if you hold your snork. I often dive with a camera so I prefer my streamlined Stable - however this snorkel does not breathe as easily as the impulse. I also have one of the original Farallon snorkels - with the molded bite pieces and large diameter. Very nice if you prefer no purge valves.

It should be noted that one of those world records was set by Eric - as well as a national record

(FYI - the original 'Big Barrel Wrap Around' Snorkel was developed by the founder of Dacor and had a transparent Barrel - still looking for one of those)

 

[deepergreen]

I once agreed with you.... Found snorkels hard to breath through, and impractical....but then I found a nice one and used it to calm down, face down in the water... It allows you to get calmer faster... Or so I noticed...try it out! You might like it...but give it a decent chance (buy a big enough one to be able to breath properly) (big wide...not big long) and make sure it one of the "dry" ones

 

[ReefTroll]

Well besides competetive reasons, or spearing, just oceanic sight-seeing makes a snorkel a wonderful tool. Face down, watching the underwater world, heaven.

 

[Simos]

I don't use one either. Mainly because I don't like the feel of rubber in my mouth and find it a bit tiring using a snorkel for too long. Also if I prefer to swim without one so if you need/like to cover significant distance swimming before diving, then it's worth bearing in mind.

Most top freedivers seem to use one so must be a good tool to use but if you can't relax with it or don't find it useful, I'd say there is no reason to force yourself to use one.

If you do decide to use one remember to remove it from your mouth when you dive (there were many valid reasons mentioned in other threads) and don't blast clear on the surface after a dive...

 

[Andrew the fish]

tauchen, if you completely relax, your body will roll into face-down position, and that is how I rest between dives. Dead space, like already mentioned, is not big of an issue, even if you take last breath before the dive, and definitely not an issue for breathe up. I find it much harder to pack through snorkel though, but then, I never pack anymore. Removing snorkel for the dive maybe have some points, but for me it works better if I displace water from it on the ascent and then just gently break through surface and start breathing. I wish we had blowholes like dolphins, but meanwhile snorkel is a good compromise.

 

[Mr. X]

I use a huge impulse 2 (or 3) snorkel while diving, ...

Impulse 2:

Impulse3:

Aqua Lung - Professional Diving Equipment
Buy Aqua Lung Impulse 3 Snorkel Black/Yellow from Leisure Pro

 

[Mr. X]

I use a huge impulse 2 (or 3) snorkel while diving, ...

Impulse2:

Impulse3:

Aqua Lung - Professional Diving Equipment

 

[tauchen]

I see.. thanks for your input. I will defintelly give it a try.

tauchen, if you completely relax, your body will roll into face-down position, and that is how I rest between dives. Dead space, like already mentioned, is not big of an issue, even if you take last breath before the dive, and definitely not an issue for breathe up. I find it much harder to pack through snorkel though, but then, I never pack anymore. Removing snorkel for the dive maybe have some points, but for me it works better if I displace water from it on the ascent and then just gently break through surface and start breathing. I wish we had blowholes like dolphins, but meanwhile snorkel is a good compromise.

 

[Fondueset]

The impulse snorkels absolutely rock for diving in chop. Best dry snorkel I've ever used.
But with a monofin the impulse 2 top valve acts like a drag chute - pulling the snork into a more streamlined configuration - but also massive enough to be felt. The Impulse three, on the other hand, is really irritating. the cross-section shape creates a kind of foil and oscillates against the side of your head like a small hammer.

Again though, if you are using bifins you might not even have these problems.

 

[Poida]

As a fitness trainer, you may be interested to know of the latest research done on breathing.

Most of the research is done on aththletes but some may rub over in`to freedivers.

CO2 build up in snorkles. I would be interested to know where the extra CO2 is coming from. Snorkles these days are bottom purged, meaning your exhilation is going out the bottom not up the snorkle. There should be air in the snorkle.

CO2 fallacy, there is only around .03% CO2 in the atmosphere when you breathe in you don't breathe in much CO2.

Most of the CO2 is in your exhilation and people think they need to breathe out heavily to remove as much CO2 as possible. And they are correct, except your blood PH is regulated by the level of CO2 in your blood stream.

How does your blood know where to drop the oxygen into the muscles that require it?

Well, your blood holds on to oxygen when it hasd a high PH. When it reaches the muscles that are working, the CO2 enters the bloodstream and drops the PH. As the blood can't hold oxygen at a low PH it releases the oxygen into the muscles.

If you exhale too much CO2 the PH of the blood is so high that the oxygen will not be released. This will cause muscle fatigue.

Slow gentle breathing using the diaphram to breathe is now recommended for athletes.

I realise that we are also talking breath holding here which is not what athletes do, but that information may be of interest to you.

Poida

 

[efattah]

CO2 build up in snorkles. I would be interested to know where the extra CO2 is coming from. Snorkles these days are bottom purged, meaning your exhilation is going out the bottom not up the snorkle.
Poida

This is totally wrong, have you ever used a snorkel before?

The purge valve is on the bottom, that is where water is purged from, not air. All air exits via the top of the snorkel in all snorkels. This creates dead space, which is not really a big problem.

 

[ReefTroll]

In terms of freediving it seems from another thread that was on here that most prefer not to use a purge valve as well.