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Scuba Forum / General / October 2005Snorkels. Why?
Are snorkels really necessary? (Other than if you're going snorkelling, that is.) Swimming on the surface to point B, it seems a lot easier just to inflate my BC and swim with my head out of the water. I've racked my brain to think of an emergency situation where I might need one, and came up blank. The snorkel seems to be just one more damn thing hanging over my left shoulder... > Are snorkels really necessary? Not for diving. (Other than if you're going snorkelling, > that is.) Swimming on the surface to point B, it seems a lot easier just to > inflate my BC and swim with my head out of the water. Better yet, flop over onto your back, and chat with your dive bud while you fin out at your leisure. That way your airway is never in the water. > I've racked my brain > to think of an emergency situation where I might need one, and came up > blank. The snorkel seems to be just one more damn thing hanging over my > left shoulder... Use the patented Jammer Six snorkel hanger; Take a 10p nail, drive it through the snorkel into a stud in your garage and leave it there. > Use the patented Jammer Six snorkel hanger; > > Take a 10p nail, drive it through the snorkel into a stud in your garage and > leave it there. Being careful to miss you foot with the nail... > > Use the patented Jammer Six snorkel hanger; > > [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > > Being careful to miss you foot with the nail... Unless you first want to practice nailing something to the wall. If you feel intense pain and can no longer remove the foot from the wall, you've done it correctly, and are now ready to try the same with the snorkel. Dennis > > Are snorkels really necessary? > > Not for diving. > Better yet, flop over onto your back, and chat with your dive bud while you > fin out at your leisure. So said by someone who's obviously never had to surface swim over kelp beds. That's what you get when your diving is narrowly restricted to certain provincial locations. > So said by someone who's obviously never had to surface swim over kelp > beds. That's what you get when your diving is narrowly restricted to > certain provincial locations. Yeah, we don't have kelp up here. *duh* Snorkles are usefull for skin diving. They are a dangerous contraption for SCUBA. >> So said by someone who's obviously never had to surface swim over kelp >> beds. That's what you get when your diving is narrowly restricted to >> certain provincial locations. > > Yeah, we don't have kelp up here. *duh* Not everyone dives up there. *duh* Far more dives on the U.S. west coast are done in kelp beds because (a) it's infinitely superior, and (b) we sunny tanned Californians far outnumber the pale hairy rain forest tribesmen of the PNW. > Snorkles are usefull for skin diving. They are a dangerous contraption > for SCUBA. Yeah, yeah, yeah. How many deaths are attributable to divers wearing snorkels? If they were so dangerous, I'm certain the risk management folks at PADI and the rest of the big agencies (and the wealthy city of Laguna Beach, CA)would have considered banning them, not requiring them. I'm not afraid to wear my snorkel. I just leave it in the gear bag (when I remember to take one on the boat at all) because I find it inconvenient. >> So said by someone who's obviously never had to surface swim over kelp >> beds. That's what you get when your diving is narrowly restricted to >> certain provincial locations. > > Yeah, we don't have kelp up here. *duh* Sorry, coffee hadn't set in yet so I took your *duh* in a different sense. I guess I meant you don't have Macrocystis. Our sh.t grows a foot a day. Does Nereocystis canopy as extensively as Macrocystis? If so, I stand corrected on the kelp issue, but still wonder how one can possibly "Better yet, flop over onto your back, and chat with your dive bud while you fin out at your leisure" through a kelp bed without getting very tangled up. >I guess I meant you don't have Macrocystis. Our sh.t grows a foot a day. > Does Nereocystis canopy as extensively as Macrocystis? Probably not. Kelp beds up here grow to the top like they do down there, but they generally aren't as dense or as large. Typically, if I 'm snarled in kelp. I'll just submerge and swim out of it. We have kelp beds up here, we just don't go swimming in them. :) > > So said by someone who's obviously never had to surface swim over kelp > > beds. That's what you get when your diving is narrowly restricted to [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > Snorkles are usefull for skin diving. They are a dangerous contraption > for SCUBA. Unless you like having sometting slapping you in the head while you dive... >> Snorkles are usefull for skin diving. They are a dangerous contraption >> for SCUBA. > > Unless you like having sometting slapping you in the head while you > dive... You obviously don't dive with my wife. I get used to it. > Are snorkels really necessary? (Other than if you're going snorkelling, > that is.) Swimming on the surface to point B, it seems a lot easier just to > inflate my BC and swim with my head out of the water. I've racked my brain > to think of an emergency situation where I might need one, and came up > blank. The snorkel seems to be just one more damn thing hanging over my > left shoulder... I rarely wear one while diving. I may take it on the boat with me, though. You know, just in case you see dolphins or whale sharks or something, whilst not on SCUBA. > I rarely wear one while diving. I may take it on the boat with me, though. > You know, just in case you see dolphins or whale sharks or something, whilst > not on SCUBA. Maybe. Just today, on the way back from the dive site, we encountered a huge pod of spinner dolphins and the captain told us to jump in "right now" if we wanted a chance to snorkel with them. Me, having no snorkel, jumped in anyway and swam out to try and encounter the awful beasts. I held my own in the water with the snorkelers, the only difference being that I had to lift my head out the water to take an occasional breath. It didn't matter: no one got close enough to see them underwater. > > I rarely wear one while diving. I may take it on the boat with me, though. > > You know, just in case you see dolphins or whale sharks or something, whilst [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] > occasional breath. It didn't matter: no one got close enough to see > them underwater. I had a similar circumstance occur in Roatan. I didn't have my snorkel with me on board that day. Like you, I jumped into the water and held my own, lifting my head for a breath now and then. The problem with seeing the dolphins that day, was the angle of the sun. As the dolphins would pass beneath us, starburst rays of the sun through the water, made it difficult to see them well. But two days later, I was better prepared and had my snorkel on board. That day, the dolphins came over to look at me! I think you've seen the pictures that I took. It was a wonderful experience. > Are snorkels really necessary? (Other than if you're going snorkelling, > that is.) Swimming on the surface to point B, it seems a lot easier just to > inflate my BC and swim with my head out of the water. I've racked my brain > to think of an emergency situation where I might need one, and came up > blank. The snorkel seems to be just one more damn thing hanging over my > left shoulder... Hang it on a hook in your garage where it belongs...  Signature“The darkest places in hell are reserved for those who maintain their neutrality in times of moral crisis.” You can do a dead mans float with a snorkel forever if you get really tired or if your BC bursts. Also can come in handy if there are big swells. I enjoy swimming back to shore with my head under the water. Can see lots of stuff from the surface if the water is clear enough. > Are snorkels really necessary? (Other than if you're going snorkelling, > that is.) Swimming on the surface to point B, it seems a lot easier just to > inflate my BC and swim with my head out of the water. I've racked my brain > to think of an emergency situation where I might need one, and came up > blank. The snorkel seems to be just one more damn thing hanging over my > left shoulder... > Also can come in handy if there are big swells. > > I enjoy swimming back to shore with my head under the water. Can see lots > of > stuff from the surface if the water is clear enough. I never use one when I boat dive, but if I shore dive....You really do need it....just in case. > > Also can come in handy if there are big swells. Especially breaking seas, such as you may find near cliffs on a drift dive. > > I enjoy swimming back to shore with my head under the water. This can also help with navigation - you can easily use your compass, as well as watch for UW landmarks, either on the way out or back ... Of course, this does assume relatively god viz water. > I never use one when I boat dive,... When boat diving, there is the occassional dive with a group, where you'll meet up on the surface and descend as a group. Invariably, there will be a delay of someone getting in the water, so being on snorkel during the wait conserves some air. Depending on the nature of the delay, the air saved can become more than trivial. Finally, if you're diving with a wing and a heavier UW camera, doing a back float isn't necessarily a good option, especially in rougher seas. -hh > Especially breaking seas, such as you may find near cliffs on a drift > dive. If there are breaking seas, I'd rather be underwater thank you. > This can also help with navigation - you can easily use your compass, > as well as watch for UW landmarks, either on the way out or back ... Of > course, this does assume relatively god viz water. God viz is hard to come by. I'm happy with good viz. > When boat diving, there is the occassional dive with a group, where > you'll meet up on the surface and descend as a group. Invariably, > there will be a delay of someone getting in the water, so being on > snorkel during the wait conserves some air. Depending on the nature of > the delay, the air saved can become more than trivial. Sure, but why not breath air through the mouth instead of the snorkel. Or, for that matter, why dive with a group where everyone has to meet on the surface for a pre-dive tea party? > Finally, if you're diving with a wing and a heavier UW camera, doing a > back float isn't necessarily a good option, especially in rougher seas. Get a wing that can handle the extra weight and sit the camera on your chest like a sea otter would if sea otters had cameras. > > Especially breaking seas, such as you may find near cliffs on a drift > > dive. > > If there are breaking seas, I'd rather be underwater thank you. True, but its hard to do that when its the end of a dive and you're waiting for the boat to spot you and come pick you up. > > When boat diving, there is the occassional dive with a group... > > Sure, but why not breath air through the mouth instead of the snorkel. It simply depends on which one you're more compfortable with. Personally, I use such free time to open up and 'calibrate' my strobes & strobe arms. > Or, for that matter, why dive with a group where everyone has to meet > on the surface for a pre-dive tea party? A I said, "occasional". Perhaps its to organize search zones for seahorses or something important. > > Finally, if you're diving with a wing and a heavier UW camera, doing a > > back float isn't necessarily a good option, especially in rougher seas. > > Get a wing that can handle the extra weight... Its usually not an inflation rating issue as much as a buoyancy centriod vs mass imbalance: adding more lift actually makes the overturning torque problem worse, not better. > and sit the camera on your > chest like a sea otter would if sea otters had cameras. Works ok in calmer waters...like where you find otters in kelp. Does not work at all in a short chop with breaking seas that are breaking over your heads and in general are beating you up. AFAIC, wings are "Fair Weather" dive gear when it comes to post-dive surface conditions. I saw a woman with a wing and without a snorkel literally almost drown on the surface post-dive when I was in Bequia a few years ago (its probably in the archives). It seems pretty silly to drown because you chose to leave behind a $20 piece of standard dive gear. -hh >> If there are breaking seas, I'd rather be underwater thank you. > > True, but its hard to do that when its the end of a dive and you're > waiting for the boat to spot you and come pick you up. DSMB? > Works ok in calmer waters...like where you find otters in kelp. Does > not work at all in a short chop with breaking seas that are breaking > over your heads and in general are beating you up. If the breaking seas are breaking over your head, aren't you gonna suck in a little water through your J-tube? Or do you recommend one of the fancy $60 snorkels? > I saw a woman with a wing and without a snorkel literally almost drown > on the surface post-dive when I was in Bequia a few years ago (its > probably in the archives). It seems pretty silly to drown because you > chose to leave behind a $20 piece of standard dive gear. It seems pretty silly to drown because you can't swim, either. She obviously had no business being out there in the first place. In any case, there's always air left in the tank for emergency use, isn't there? If there's a chance of not getting picked up right away and really rough surface conditions, a wise diver wouldn't suck her tank down to 200 psi before ascending. > >> If there are breaking seas, I'd rather be underwater thank you. > > > > True, but its hard to do that when its the end of a dive and you're > > waiting for the boat to spot you and come pick you up. > > DSMB? Works fine in some areas, but not so well in others. There is never going to be a "one size fits all" solution...including snorkels too. > > Works ok in calmer waters...like where you find otters in kelp. Does > > not work at all in a short chop with breaking seas that are breaking [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > in a little water through your J-tube? Or do you recommend one of the > fancy $60 snorkels? My general rule of thumb is that "the cheaper the better" for a snorkel to carry while diving...they're smaller and get in the way less; YMMV. The main benefit of 'any' snorkel in rough seas is that you don't need to lift your head/chin clear of the water to take each breath, which then requires less total exertion going into that part of the surface float. Keep in mind that an energy extertion level that's not particularly profound for conducting a ~1 minute float can easily become a make-or-break when the surface float extends to a half hour or longer. > > I saw a woman with a wing and without a snorkel literally almost drown > > on the surface post-dive when I was in Bequia a few years ago (its [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > surface conditions, a wise diver wouldn't suck her tank down to 200 psi > before ascending. In this particular circumstance, the chase boat lost us pretty bad (thought the current was running the opposite direction), so our surface float was around 35 minutes. Because conditions were rough, it would be highly unrealistic to assume a SAC as low as what one can pull at a safety stop, so if you assume a superior SAC of 0.4 and then double it for this stressor, a float of 35 minutes @ 0.8 = 28 ft^3 of air, which would have required roughly 1100 psi to stay on the regulator all the way through. The bottom line is that the diver wasn't a particularly weak swimmer, but because she was diving a wing with a floaty AL80, and the conditions prevented her from the "simply rolling onto her back" gambit, the absence of a deployed snorkel resulted in a higher level of extertion than she was able to sustain for the duration period that it was required. Had she not been with two other divers (me & her husband) who did actively assist her, I do firmly believe that she would have very likely drowned on the surface, post dive. -hh > The main benefit of 'any' snorkel in rough seas is that you don't need > to lift your head/chin clear of the water to take each breath, which > then requires less total exertion going into that part of the surface > float. There is also the advantage of seeing the shark that is about to mistake you for a tasty piece of marine mammal flesh... >> The main benefit of 'any' snorkel in rough seas is that you don't need >> to lift your head/chin clear of the water to take each breath, which >> then requires less total exertion going into that part of the surface >> float. > There is also the advantage of seeing the shark that is about to mistake > you > for a tasty piece of marine mammal flesh... One of my favorite reasons for taking one. I particularly like a snorkel when I'm swimming to the dive site from shore. It makes the swim out and back in almost as enjoyable as the diving portion. I've seen some very interesting things while snorkeling out that I would not have seen if I hadn't. Lee > If the breaking seas are breaking over your head, aren't you gonna suck in > a little water through your J-tube? Or do you recommend one of the fancy > $60 snorkels? Not as much as you would without one. While you're less likely to breathe water with the regulator in your mouth, gas supplies don't last forever. Sometimes it just might be a bit of a swim back to the boat or to the shore. Lee Oh, and one more thought. When i do decide to just swim in on the surface on my back (like on a beautifull sunny day with crappy vis), I take my mask off and put it on top of my head. This is a big no no because you stand a good chance of losing your mask, but because i have the snorkel, i can see and feel that my mask is firmly (safely) attached. Putting it around the neck is the worst for me. Around the arm is just nasty. Taking it off period is just asking for trouble. > You can do a dead mans float with a snorkel forever if you get really tired > or if your BC bursts. [quoted text clipped - 12 lines] > > blank. The snorkel seems to be just one more damn thing hanging over my > > left shoulder... > Are snorkels really necessary? <snip> We've discussed this one to death already... Learn to use Google Groups and read all the old posts... >Are snorkels really necessary? (Other than if you're going snorkelling, >that is.) Swimming on the surface to point B, it seems a lot easier just to >inflate my BC and swim with my head out of the water. I've racked my brain >to think of an emergency situation where I might need one, and came up >blank. The snorkel seems to be just one more damn thing hanging over my >left shoulder... alot of ppl tell me to toss it but My son dont dive with a snorkle anymore kept gettin in his way But feel the need to keep my snorkle , when we swim out to a location he uses his reg I use a snorkle why I use less air so i can keep up with him. also you never know when the seas are choppy waiting for your turn to exit the water I burn 600psi more than my son each dive so using the snorkle wadding in water is a better option for me > Are snorkels really necessary? (Other than if you're going snorkelling, > that is.) Swimming on the surface to point B, it seems a lot easier just to > inflate my BC and swim with my head out of the water. I've racked my brain > to think of an emergency situation where I might need one, and came up > blank. The snorkel seems to be just one more damn thing hanging over my > left shoulder... Swimming ashore from outside the reef through the small, if found at all, channels into the lagoon on any maldivian island, with no air left in your bottle because you exhausted it to get there where you thought would be a passage through the shallow reef top. Matthias |
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