Snorkel In Technique

[DiveHacker]

I was excited to try this based on some things I read on here, but I have a terrible time equalizing while trying to maintain the snorkel in my mouth.

Is there some trick to this I may be overlooking?

 

[Mr. X]

Is "snorkel in" back in fashion? . Yes there some Italian research/ paper to support it, in the context of spearfishing.

When I started snorkeling as a child it took me a while to get used to diving snorkel in and blowing the snorkel clear on surfacing but once learnt it becomes second nature and I have stuck with it for decades now. There is no special trick. I did try snorkel-out briefly but it seemed very inconvenient to me.

That said, I had some problems with my usually good Omer Zoom snorkel yesterday. Like most modern snorkels it is about an inch too short IMHO. The sea had a low level, high frequency, chop - and every now and then it would fill my snorkel after I'd cleared it or interfere with the clearing.

It is also possible that I am a bit rusty, as it was my first dive for sometime and I was mainly getting re- acquainted with my gear as Viz was poor (did manage to briefly glimpse 2 mullet and a small Pollock though, through the haze). I had to switch from my usual 90cm speargun, mid-dive - as I couldn't see the end of the spear - to my 60cm "last resort" speargun.

 

[Mr. X]

BTW I wear my snorkel on the right of my head (some consider that unusual) and, when equalising by pinching my nose ( is that valsalva or fresnel or... ) I use my left hand, as my speargun is in my right hand.

I prefer to equalise by subtler means but it is not always possible. I seemed to be producing an ungodly amount of mucus from my sinuses yesterday, so had to be particularly careful to clear them out and not clog up my eustachian tubes with gunk.

 

[Mr. X]

No problems with the Zoom snorkel today, the sea was much flatter . Saw quite a few small bass, Inc a school of very small bass, and some tiny Pollock but nothing worth taking.

Visibility varied from zero to fair, I stuck with my 75cm Omer XXV throughout but considered switching to the 90 as visibility improved towards the end of my dive but most fish I saw were very close so opted to stick with the shorter speargun. Was feeling quite rusty to start with but much smoother towards the end of my dive session.

 

[Andrew the fish]

I have a terrible time equalizing while trying to maintain the snorkel in my mouth.

Is there some trick to this I may be overlooking?

try blocking air by tongue against the palate. Kind of natural intuitive way, but maybe not for some. I am sure you are natural at something else You can try now, in front of computer. Keep your mouth open, as if snorkel is in, pinch nose, and blow your roof with monster Valsalva.

 

[Andrew the fish]

if you can say "Khh", then you can do valsava with mouth open.

 

[Andrew the fish]

my eardrums hurt from trying to explain, I just did two dozens of ear pops

 

[Michael-AT]

Not sure if it is Valsalva, I thought it was Frenzel, but I totally agree - you can do this with your mouth open, so having a snorkel in should not hinder you in equalizing. I dive snorkel in since I was a kid, that's what my dad taught me, so it is really natural for me to equalize this way. Just practice it and you will see it's easy. However you might want to revisit your diving technique and consider diving snorkel out ... unless you are intentionally ignoring the best practice way. Especially if it helps you with equalizing as well.

 

[Mr. X]

I dived quite a lot last week. By end of week the excess mucus problems had cleared up and equalising became almost effortless. But mid- week I was still pinching my nose and being careful to blow to hard.