Riffe Stable Snorkel?

[iceaxe]

I'm looking ditch my Impulse II as it pretty much pulls my mask off on ascents and in strong currents. Is anyone using the Riffe stable for free diving? I would like to have purge valve as I tend to do long surface swims in choppy waters, but I'm looking for a snorkel that is literally flexible enough to fold up and stuff in a pocket if I wanted to (I scuba too). If this isn't I'm going to get an activa. Any thoughts are sincerely appreciated.

 

[jimqpublic]

I went through a long period of indecision between the Impulse III and the Stable. I decided on the Stable and after ten days use I'm very happy with it. Even in choppy water with a following sea it is very dry.

If you slide the snorkel keeper almost to the end and position it right on the back of your head the snorkel will nicely trail behind when you spit it out. The purge reservoir is large which helps to make it very dry- even when I hear water coming in it always gives me time to react and keep it out of my mouth. The same purge reservoir might cause more drag than others, but to me it's a good tradeoff to get a relaxed breathe up.

I still suspect that the Impulse III might be a little drier in whitecaps, but the Stable has proven to be plenty good for the ten days I've used it, including three rather rough days. Before getting the Stable I was discouraged by not getting good breath ups.

I admit it's a crutch vs. a J-tube, but I have so many areas to work on improving that I appreciate not worrying about sucking salt water.

 

[Fondueset]

The Impulse 3 is low profile compaired with the 2. The only thing I don't like about it is the mask clip - it doesn't allow as much movement as the one on the 2. I like the snork to be able to shift freely when I spit it out during dives and the Impulse 2 trails better with my monofin - whereas the flat shape of the III makes it remain vertical and oscillate. I keep the clip on the 2 loose so it can slide easily on the mask strap.

The riffe stable is a very nice snorkel. It is not as good in chop as the impulse II and III but rates a close second. The III is nicely curved and may be comparable to the stable ergonomically. I'd give the stable a big thumbs up for sure.

 

[bgill]

I know you guys will probably laugh - but I have an "ARID" dry snorkle from BodyGlove. Never have any problems - It does have a large purge valve resevoir and does wobble a little bit on a fast ascent or decent. But It stays VERYdry. Mine was about $19.00 U.S.

I've tried several other snorkels - and even some in the $50.00 - $60.00 range!!!! I can't find a reason to upgrade -
My honest opinion is that my 'el cheapo Body Glove snorkel does the trick...And as nicely as any Cressi, Omer, Mares, Etc....

Check it out in the pic below...The fish are Perch from Lake Michigan. I only speared the big one...A buddy got the other four.

 

[iceaxe]

Thanks for the replies. For those of you using the Riffe, how flexible is it? Is it as "foldable" as advertised? I also plan to use it with my scuba rig.

 

[cummje]

I just found this thread. I use the Stable (It's actually a rebranded product from Gull in Japan) here in southern Okinawa. I like it for snorkeling and whatnot, but I find that it tends to wobble on ascents. I'm going to go with a standard J-valve snorkel that is super flexy. The Stable can be folded up, but I wonder how much folding it can actually take. It's also really long. If it weren't so expensive I'd probably cut off two or three inches. And--due to the clasp mechanism, it can't be suck inside the mask strap unless you use a cheapo loop attacher (sorry...no idea what that thing is called). It is very comfortable and I haven't found one that I like much better, but I'm still going to go with a super-flexi for freediving days. Tusa also makes one (believe it's the Imprex) that is similar in design and should be quite a bit cheaper. It's a nice snorkel and the divers here use that one too.

Ah, final thought, I'd get a flexi one (like the Cressi or Omer's) for scuba diving. They are cheap and are more flexible than the Riffe. Shorter, too, so they are easier to store in a pocket. The Riffe is simply too expensive to lose when scuba diving.