Snorkels for spearfishing - models / short /medium / long /camo / soft /...

[William Freeman]

Well done that man, thanks for finding that

Pinneped, have you seen this yet:
https://www.scubastore.com/tauchen/ameo-powerbreather-wave/136028346/p

 

[William Freeman]

Here, this is better:
http://www.powerbreather.com/en/index.html

 

[DRW]

Yes, I think it would probably be OK to lengthen a snorkel by maybe an inch or two, but I read somewhere that a snorkel shouldn't exceed 14 inches. Something about the recurrence of CO2, which is heavier than the air we breathe in. Especially for freedivers/spearos who use a snorkel for their breathe up.

Over the winter months I've been researching the history and development of basic gear. I found several national and international standards relating to snorkels. They do have plenty to say about the amount of allowable "dead space" inside of snorkels. Here is a table I compiled with their respective requirements for tube length/bore/volume:

Observations:

• Maximum tube length has almost halved (from 600 to 380 mm) over the years.
• Maximum bore (inner diameter) has increased (from 18 to 25 mm) over the years.
• Capacity (or inner volume) has replaced inner diameter when dimensioning snorkels over the years.
• Different snorkel dimensions have evolved for different users over the years (first adults/children; then heights >150 cm and <150 cm; then individual lung capacities).
• Mouthpiece parameters are specified in earliest standards but not in later ones.

 

[Pinniped72]

Many thanks for the heads up on the Power Breather William, it looks good, quite pricey though. If it works as well as the manufacturer suggests, it could be really good and worth a go if anyone ever gets one please let me know how it goes, if I get one first I will do likewise

 

[prospector]

First of all my condolences on the loss of your typhoon Mr X, all of us I'm sure have worn out or lost some favorite piece of gear, snorkels are fairly basic and one would hope easily replaced. I love the availability of all the fabulous free diving suits, gloves and booties that have come on the market in the last few years, but I just can't bring myself to buy a new snorkel. So I've adopted a strategy of quanity rather than quality. In Canada, when you go to a thrift store, if you look carefully under all the hockey gear you will find a treasure trove of masks and snorkels, granted many will have Puerto Vallarta or some other tourist designation on them, and they will be red or yellow or purple or orange but the price is always right, one buck, one snorkel. You get a variety of lengths, bores and mouthpieces, if needed you can mix and match, most mouthpieces are interchangeable, so for thirty dollars you get thirty snorkels. Every winter I drive down to baja and camp for several months, I always carry extra stuff, masks are available too, for folks who show interest, reckon I've gotten a few more folks into the underwater world. Cheers

 

[Andrew Fogarty]

Hello, I have always used Tusa snorkels, first the Imprex hyperdry and now the Platina II. Both have a semi dry top and valve, I have Corsica's to but for me the clear flow and no surface chop issues are the big difference. I think the advantage for me is the fact I don't drop the mouth piece when submerged and often make short repeated dives with only a few breaths. This is the best way to find crayfish in reef and rock and when I surface its easy to blowout and clear fully. The Riffe looks very similar in design but check out the Platina it is sweet. I never have a gurgle in my snorkel and its large ovoid tube absolutely eliminates any wobble. By the time I break the surface and push out half by lung capacity I can breath deeply without even considering if water will be a problem it just clears totally every time.