Snorkel keeper?

[Cabezoni~hunter]

what is the best kind snorkel keeper?

Thanks

 

[crusty]

I find the soft plastic loops are best like a fugure 8.
Lost a new snorkle a few weeks ago with the open hard plastic keeper, dissapered of the boat somewhere so i have gone back to the loop type, you can even double them up to be certain.


Crusty

 

[Alison]

I like to leave mine loose so that it flops around, that way it doesnt keep filling up with water, I tied a short length of bungee cord to it and the mask, works for me. I used to use one like crusty is on about, very cheap but if you cant find one, you can make them out of a bit of car tyre inner tube

 

[island_sands]

I like to leave mine loose so that it flops around, that way it doesnt keep filling up with water, I tied a short length of bungee cord to it and the mask, works for me. I used to use one like crusty is on about, very cheap but if you cant find one, you can make them out of a bit of car tyre inner tube

Seems that car inner tube / bicycle inner tubes have had loads of uses for freediving... (Adrian's neck weight belt)

My snorkel (Sp.sub) has one of those plastic clips and i clip to the back of my mask strap.. hasn't falled off yet, only problem is the hair entanglement :vangry

 

[Huan]

Best way is to not have a keeper and just tuck the snorkel under the mask strap.

 

[DeepThought]

Same as Huan, under the mask strap, I like the looseness. I do have a figure 8 holder at the end of it, acts as a stopper so the snorkel can't slide out of the strap.

 

[Alison]

I wear my mask strap under my hood because it leaks otherwise no room for tucking in but on the bright side I dont get any hood squeeze

 

[Groupermadness]

If i ever one day find "THE" Snorkel that doesnt break of at the clip, hurt my Gums, smack me around the head on fast Ascents or generaly get up my nose then i will give advice on it so PLEEEEEEEEEEEase any one Know of one ( i have a collection of aprox 15 now and still not got it right.am using at the moment a cressi with a flexy u bend and a BROKEN plastic clip LOL.as for the keeping problem i hold it with my free hand at the moment otherwise it goes streight and i start sucking salt.. .

 

[sturgeon]

I 2nd the figure 8 holders. I've lost snorkels using the hard plastic clip holders. The figure 8s seem to be foolproof. If I tuck my snorkel under my mask strap it causes my mask to leak.

Alison,

If your mask strap is under your hood, where/how on earth do you keep your snorkel?

Scott

 

[donmoore]

Now and then I put my hood on over the mask and strap. Especially when I keep getting a leak and want to rule out the mask skirt on the hood somewhere. The side of the hood where the snorkel is pushed up some by the snorkel. Sometimes my hair (yes I still have enough for this) gets stuck where the hood and snorkel conflict.

An upcoming project will be to put a mirror, somewhere on the stern of my boat so I can straighten everything out while sitting geared up on the dive platform. :hmm
don

 

[Cabezoni~hunter]

I am probably the only one that has lost a snorkel when using a figure 8 keeper. But I found the snorkel at the bottom latter. I think that the only problem with the figure 8 soft plastic ones are that when they get wet they slide very easily. But now I still use a figure 8 style keeper but it is made of neopream wet suit rubber, it seams to grip the snorkel even when wet. So far I have had zero problems, also it is very comfortable to wear.

 

[Alison]

Alison,

If your mask strap is under your hood, where/how on earth do you keep your snorkel?

Scott

Its tied on very loosely with bungee elastic, so it doesnt get lost other than that it just flops around, never fills up, it just floats

 

[Bill]

After trying every keeper over the years, I use a simple method now. At the beach, people with long hair, use a loop of elastic material to keep their hair out of the way in a 'pony tail'. These loops, different sizes and thickness, are all over the place. If you take a large one, cut it and tie it over the mask strap so that it holds the snorkel tight, you'll have the best keeper of all. We also tie a few on the floats to hang the snorkel on for the serious dives. On warm-ups I spit it out and let it dangle.
If you do all your breath-up through a snorkel you can avoid over ventilating and watch what is going on with the other divers. When it's my turn for a target dive, I reset my D3 (old model with a program of its own), pull my snorkel, fasten it to the float and roll on my back for a few minutes. Good signal for the safety diver too.
In the spearfishing days, the figure eight keeper and the molded mouthpiece worked great, but it used to stay in place comfortably for hours.
Aloha
Bill

 

[immerlustig]

@ groupermadness:

omer zoom

my most precious piece of gear!

if you don´t want it to flap on fast ascents leave it on the surface or ascend slowly

cheers,

roland

 

[Groupermadness]

Hi immerlustig.(are you "always funny"?)
To be honest i have never tried Omer Gear, dont know why its not a prejudice , but the problem with snorkkels is the shop owners dont like you trying them out before buying LOL. as for the clip i am now going to strip the innertube out of someones bicycle and make a fig8 loop and see how it goes from there. Thanks for the Omer Tip i may just try one when i find one .

 

[Murat]

I spent cosiderable amount of money to gear but still using my first snorkel which i bought when i was 8 years old. It was the first model which came with silicon mouth piece. Its tube is clear colorless. I think i should get one for spare.Mine has plastic clip. My problem is spit my snrkel just before the dive but when i ascent it cause serious drag and friction so i had to keep it straight with the help of my hand. Thats annoying.. Probably the best way is to just keep it in place with a mask strap and take it to the hand after your last breath on the surface, just like Dapiran. The thing is my left hand is already busy with handling considerable sized omer torch :hmm

 

[Absolute]

I bought the black snorkel with Riffe's name one it. I think it says stable on the purge valve. So far I like it. Super light, kinda pointy and streamlined, dry as a bone, you can suck a ton of air through it and if you exhale really hard the purge valves open and out goes the air. Pretty cool when you are getting ready and want that last breath to be all air.

 

[Groupermadness]

Hi Murat.
i still have my first snorkel , it has a rubber mouthpiece solid u bend and a mushroom shaped top with a blue float that sealed the holes when you submerged, i used to spear bass of the haslar sea wall in Portsmouth (about 1977) using it, i wouldnt recomend it anymore LOL. Just a Quick one Murat , im going to stay with my wife in Mimoza, Famagusta for a couple of days on the 1st of Sept(not allowed to Fish) :waterwork :waterwork :waterwork . if you have time maybe a beer or 10? let me Know.

 

[Mr. X]

I like the sound of the bungee cord & elastic hair band suggestions & will try them both.

I don't like the hard plastic clips -- they cut into silicone mask straps; I keep my mask in a mask box -- so the snorkel must be removed frequently. I have found simple generally works best & stick the snorkel in the mask strap -- which also seals the mask nice & tight. However, being more fully equipped recently, I find that I need to attach the snorkel to the mask to free up my hands to carry other gear to the sea.

I have seen two snorkel clips that stay attached to the mask allowing the snorkel to be removed easily. These seem like a great idea. My guest snorkel set has a slide out snorkel. The other one I saw had a key-hole & a button connection (can't recall which was located where tho'). -- another advantage of this design is that the button allowed the snorkel angle to pivot (disadvantage: no length slide adjustment).

Update...
Looks like you can buy the first type of separately, "the Ocean Master Snorkel Keeper"): [ame]http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B0002CT92Q/sr=1-8/qid=1126336491/ref=sr_1_8/103-9113841-6685446?%5Fencoding=UTF8&n=3407261&s=sporting-goods&v=glance[/ame]

Although for half the price, you might prefer to buy a complete spearo snorkel : [ame="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B0007U2A7E/sr=1-3/qid=1126336569/ref=sr_1_3/103-9113841-6685446?%5Fencoding=UTF8&n=3407261&s=sporting-goods&v=glance"]Amazon.com: Orca Snorkel (EA): Sports & Outdoors[/ame]

 

[Mr. X]

By the way, is it common to spit out the snorkel before diving? I never do.

I currently using a valved snorkel with a semi-dry top. It works great on the surface but usually does not completely clear with a single blast after diving -- presumably because much of the air is blowing out the bottom valve and/or the semi-dry top is impeding egress. I plan to return to using a cheap, simple, plain tube snorkel (are those flexible ones, that can be knotted, of any benefit...or is that just a gimmick?).

A couple more thoughts on snorkels from recent personal experience:
1. clear snorkels are almost invisible if dropped in even ankle-deep water (good camoflage for spearos but difficult to retrieve if dropped)
2. orange snorkel tips really do make the diver far more visible to nearby boats, divers & spearos
[Suggestion to solve both problems: mark tip with a big section of orange tape -- or buy a simple black snorkel that is already so marked].