Question Snorkel in or out of mouth

[Mr. X]

Wow Bill, I would have thought Terry Maas would be a strong snorkel-out advocate! So surprised to read that he is a snorkel-in guy. Will have to try and find out more on his perspective. I consider him the world authority on SWB.

Im a very novice diver so I'm ready for the appeal to authority from those more experienced advocating for snorkel in.

Take your snorkel out of your mouth. It acts as a funnel for water to enter your airways upon black out and if consciousness should be regained during rescue as somebody else has already stated. Additionally, upon surfacing with snorkel in you will first have to remove or clear it before you commence recovery breathing. In the event of a samba your safety will first have to remove it before beginning to sort you out.

Put your snorkel under your mask strap. It streamlines it to your head much more than having it attached via the keeper and it doesnt move around near as much. If you're just fun diving around a reef or something you can just hold your snorkel in your hand. I've never heard anyone worth taking advice from advocating for diving snorkel in. There are no upsides to it.

I found myself nodding agreement with your first 2 paragraphs but not the last one. And not only because I lost my favourite irreplaceable 1970s snorkel by, unusually for me, using my mask strap instead of the snorkel's retainer; never again.

I think dive hacker is right, you should go back and re-read this thread and follow the key link mentioned in several posts, as you clearly missed that. Also, see Bill's post on Terry Mass above. I'm not saying change your mind or practice, nor that you are wrong, just make sure that you review the information, so that you can make an informed decision.

I suspect for many, this is a "religious"/dogmatic choice and habit. It would take a lot to for them to change their mind and practice.

 

[cdavis]

"Im a very novice diver "
" I've never heard anyone worth taking advice from advocating for diving snorkel in. There are no upsides to it."

The definition of what happens when someone is overcome by dogma. New divers are particularly at risk.

kwebster, Read all the above posts and links and think about all the situations that exist for which you have no experience. There are many, very knowledgable, experienced divers who dive snorkel in.

I dive snorkel out. I also dive in clear water with a tight buddy system. Diving alone or in poor vis, not sure what I would do. Its certainly debatable. For sure I'd be wearing my FRV.