Snorkels: What's the difference?

[Mr. X]

half joking half serious, I was giving a new member of our club trouble for keeping the snorkel in on Dyn's. Every lap I would recite good reasons, numbered. She finally hung the snorkel up at the end of the pool and carried on without. Victory! Here was my list. Some of the latter "reasons" are probably made up:

1. In a blackout scenario the larygospasm reflex (closing airway to prevent water inhalation) won't do its job with a snorkel in.
2. Facial tension (the jaw is a powerful muscle) resulting in faster O2 burn
3. a snorkel in mouth lets out a stream of bubbles (spearing or photography concern)
4. Frights under water, suck in h20
5. Streamlining terrible with snorkel (especially in Dyns!)
6. Changes face/mouth shape making critical equalizing harder
7. The large forced water clearing exhalation will drop O2 pressure fast and may cause BO
8. shows lack of aquacity (getting flakey here)

any I missed?

Interesting. I've heard #1 before and that seems to be the main reason. Is it true though -- is there some evidence/report on this? I only ask because it is unclear to me how/why having a snorkel in your mouth would affect the automatic response of larynx.

Re. 2, your learn to relax, so while probably true, I doubt if it is significant.

3, yes true but in the scheme of things, there is quite of lot of other things going on at the same time. I haven't found it to be troubling so far but perhaps the bass have

4. I don't think so. Maybe if you are not used to it. Appropriate breathing & non-breathing becomes subconscious after a while -- I found I had that problem when I tried to dive without keeping my snorkel in!

5. Would be surprised if streamlining was much different than holding the snorkel or sticking it in your belt. For long, deep apnea dives probably more of an issue - streamlining is probably super critical & I would think you might just leave your snorkel at the surface. Don't apneaist sometimes float on their backs to breath up prior to diving? For spearing, I like to look down and around while catching my breath, in case some fish swim by.

6. Really?

7. Like #1, probably the critical factors.

8. Never been to Aquacity!

 

[Lazuli]

I use an Omer Zoom. I tend to leave it in as it has a habit of falling off just when you need it most. I've had numerous detachments and have lost one. I'm going to reinforce the attachment and try leaving it out of my mouth to see how it feels. It would be nice to do aspettos without it attached to the mask.

 

[azapa]

Guys, don't leave it in. break the habit. It's the first thing you'll be taught on any freediving course

 

[greendiver]

I prefer the Beuchat flexible, Btw..(the only beuchat thing I like).
In the med, it is virtually IMPOSSIBLE to keep your snorkel in and catch a decent fish!
Half your fish would be gone before you reach the bottom.Blub...blubbb...krrrr..blll...whilst going down.:naughty
I uses to take it out and put it below my weightbelt, for the vibrations it causes when moving through the water ( which sometimes attracts fish).
However, I dont anymore, cause I would lose my snorkel every other session.:vangry

 

[felipe felop]

i gotta agree with mr.x on most of it,but there again i am old school though,i do understand what your saying as well though azapa,breathing out on the ascent slows you down which i like that way you don't beat your bubbles to the surface,and with about 2 metres to go until i reach the surface i blow out through the snorkel then as soon as i get there i breathe straight in again without having to lift my head out completely then having to empty the snorkel,not only that i don't have to taste the salt,call me old fashioned but i've got a purge valve as well,i can't be doing with that water rattling in the j tube either, if you tilt your head slightly due to chop i get a mouthful of seawater,i wonder how people carry a bottle of water with them

 

[badlander]

I always kept it in,untill Sam at saltfree taught me not to.Now it's second nature and feels considerably more natural.I always just tuck my snorkel under my mask strap and have never had any loss issues.I also now find it easier to relax without the snorkel.It does take a fair while to get used to but you'll never go back.

 

[Salehthefish]

I have bad experience with cressi delta (with Valve) drops of water will be accumulating after blowing air when i come out. I have simple beauchat J shape snorkle working excellent...

 

[chrismar]

I always dive with the snorkel out of my mouth and tube tucked under the mask strap now. Under the strap, vibrations are lessened noticably (V important in underwater hockey!). I'm quite enamoured with the Cressi Corsica snorkel now. It fits my mouth well and is soft without overdoing it. Worth a look, IMO.

 

[cdavis]

I do so love a middle ground, apologies to the purists.

Its pretty clear that "snorkel out" is basically safer than "snorkel in". However, spearfishing has always been a balance between ability, caution, doing what's needed to get the fish, and performance. Focus too much on getting the fish, exceed your ability and a B0 is on the horizon no matter in or out. Stay in the caution zone and you are highly unlikely to experience a B0. So, how "in" or "out" affects your spearing is a valid thing to consider. Sometimes it may not matter or I've been told that keeping it in for white sea bass destroys any chance of a fish. Fine, keep it out. In my case, snorkel out would severely hurt my harvest. Where I dive, the water is very clear, fish are far away and well camouflaged, taking your eyes off the fish as you surface almost guarantees that one will get away. Mine stays in while I'm hunting. However, if I'm coming up hurting for air, I spit it. Other types of diving, I've gotten used to snorkel out.

What is the objection to exhaling to clear the snorkel as you surface? Mechanically, its almost identical to what PFI teaches, except they teach snorkel out, of course.

Connor

 

[Fondueset]

The best snorkel ever was the Dacor Big- Barrel wrap-around. It was transparent, had huge volume and wrapped around your head (just like Connor's precious Farallon). Exhaling the last meter or so is pretty much standard these days - to grab that first breath at the surface in case of black out. I always dive with my snork out though.

 

[cdavis]

Second best!!!!!

Connor

 

[azapa]

What is the objection to exhaling to clear the snorkel as you surface? Mechanically, its almost identical to what PFI teaches, except they teach snorkel out, of course.

Connor

I am sure the force required to clear the snorkel, and subsequent fast reduction in partial O2 pressure, in already the danger zone of a dive, is the reason instead to teach a natural, no snorkel in, non forced, exhale just pre-surface. This then preps for the first real breath.

The big problem I see though, in anything other than 100% supervised dives, is that anything going wrong, like a BO at or very close to the surface, will result in the victim sinking (less buoyant with less air in lungs). Amphibious's story showed he probably self-saved himself by re-inserting (or not having removed) his snorkel on a bad, unsupervised surface BO, resulting in him ending up face down.

Too late for such ramblings I'm sure. Please correct.

 

[Adrian]

There's always a possibility that not all the water gets cleared and you swallow some on the inhale?

 

[Fondueset]

Like I said, I always dive snork out these day. But when I was just a sprite, building bad karma with the carp people, I cleared my snork by simply putting my head back and letting some air expand into it - zero force required.

 

[Jon]

My current favorite is the new Cressi Comanche snorkel. It's thin and flexible, but has a more comfortable mouthpiece than either my Omer Zoom or Sporasub Samurai.

My back-up snorkel is an old Farallon snorkel with the orange bite tabs. It's a good solid snorkel that's great for underwater hockey and spearfishing, but a bit larger than my Cressi. I also had a couple of the old Dacor snorkels that fonduset talked about, but stopped using them once I bought the Farallon.

I also have a Finis front-mount snorkel for monofin swimming.

I spit my snorkel out for everything but underwater hockey and monofin swimming with the front-mount snorkel. Hockey moves to fast to keep spitting the snorkel out and the front-mount snorkel is just too large for quick dips underwater. If i were going for a bit of depth I would take it off and hold it in my hand.

The worst snorkel I've ever used was one of those Kapitol Reef snorkels- the ones that cost $90. I've let other divers use it at Freedive-a-palooza and the feeling was pretty much unanimous.

Jon

 

[Fondueset]

I use a Riffe Stable mostly. The thing is incredibly streamlined - it gives me no problem monofinning while attached to my sphera - and I like to wear my masks loose.

For dedicated line diving or chop I still really like the impulse two. there've been some problems with the top valve on them leaking though - the impulse 3 seems to have fixed that. The nice thing about those is sheer air volume and minimal interruptions from chop - good for long, relaxed surface intervals.

For swimming the impulse two sort of lays back lengthwise - the top cone acting like a drag chute - the impulse three tends to oscillate and slam against your head.. Neither is really ideal for finswimming.

 

[Erik]

My snorkel sucks. Think about that.

 

[Fondueset]

But in a good way...right?

 

[Erik]

Could be..... I'm feeling saucy today.

 

[slingshaft]

Erik, do you have to tip her?