Snorkels
Jill When I was learning to dive it was clearly taught that a scuba diver should always have a snorkel. Recently I have seen lots of divers without them. Do you think this is appropriate? Are snorkels a outdated idea?
Davey_Willo Hi Jill I feel that more and more people are realising that a snorkel hanging off the strap of the mask is a real danger, more often than not a snorkel is only used to conserve a small amount of air on a short surface swim, after that it just begs to hook onto something and dislodge the mask or maybe even pull it off completely, which is about the last thing a diver ever wants to happen. Someone once told me that the best place to store your snorkel was in your dive bag and I tend to agree, but remember that's only an opinion If I ever have to swim to a drop in point on the surface I tend to swim backwards which I'm more comfortable with anyway as I've tended to dip the end of the snorkel into the water before and choked myself, but that's down to my incorrect technique rather than a problem with the kit. IMHO the dangers of a snorkel on a mask strap massively outweigh any benefits you could gain by wearing it. If you feel that you're more comfortable having one along why not try one of those small folding ones that you can tuck away in your BC or something and then slide it under your mask strap as and when needed, although I think you'll find that you very rarely use it. Best Regards Dave.
Jill Thank you for your thorough explanation of your opinion on snorkels. In this case I will follow your lead and leave the snorkel in the dive bag for between dive, swims.
Davey_Willo
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Originally posted by Jill: Thank you for your thorough explanation of your opinion on snorkels..
Your very welcome
ian.wood0 You could always have a snorkel pocket fitted to your dry suit
divermole I'd like to put the opposite case forward. I've done 2700+ dives wearing a snorkel with no problems at all. I learnt in the days of 40 cuft tanks and twin hoses so the snorkel was invaluable as you wanted to save as much air as possible, also in those days you had to do snorkel training before you were allowed on a tank. I believe that you should always carry a snorkel on you on any dive even if its in a pocket. I get lots of strange looks for wearing one on the mask for every dive (including my rebreather ones, although I tend to use it less then) Lets look at a quite likely situation in the UK where you surface and the boat is missing. Its quite rough and youve got a hour or more on the rough surface. This happens to a LOT of people every year (not me yet). How you going to breath when your air runs out. Flopping on your back in rough water is not an option as the waves break over your face and the waves tip you face down. Pop on snorkel and end of problem. I look at it as a piece of safety kit. Choice is yours on whether to wear it or not, but I would strongly suggest you at least carry one in a pocket. Think of it as an infinite pony for the surface Its up to you of course, put do consider putting one in a pocket
darthmoll I do around 300 dives a year, and have never had a problem with a snorkel, i agree with Mr mole, it is a piece of safety equipment. DM Andys Law: The number of ascents must be exactly equal to the number of descents.
Davey_Willo Good comments both, and I agree a snorkel is another piece of safety kit, but.... I do not have a problem with taking along a snorkel, not at all... what I do disagree with is wearing one strapped to the mask. By all means carry a snorkel for those rare occasion where you might find your boat is missing or where you might need to do a long surface swim after you surface, although in both scenarios you shouldn't of surfaced with such little air that you would be required to move to a snorkel, 50bar on a single 12ltr (and we should be surfacing with about 50bar shouldn't we?) would give about half an hour of air on the surface. IMHO and remember its only an opinion but one based on experience, that a large hook shaped dangly thing attatched to one of the most important items of kit that a diver needs to survive The Mask is just an accident waiting to happen and I stand by my original comment which was.... The dangers of a snorkel on a mask strap massively outweigh any benefits you could gain by wearing it. If you feel that you're more comfortable having one along why not try one of those small folding ones that you can tuck away in your BC or something and then slide it under your mask strap as and when needed, although I think you'll find that you very rarely use it. Best regards Dave. p.s. I'm about to get some bellows pockets attached to the thighs of my drysuit, one will carry my DSMB and Reel while clipped off in the other pocket will be a spare mask, a spare fin strap, and a folding snorkel (for those unforseen circumstances) ;)
Dominic Humphries Like Dave I think that it's fine to take a snorkle, but not so good to attach it to your mask. In my case, it would be the dumbest thing I could do, because I use a long hose configuration - for those of you who don't know this one, my main reg is on a two meter hose, which is routed down my back on the right, up from my waist to my left shoulder, across the back of the neck and into my mouth. This reg is the one I breathe throughout the dive. It is ALSO the reg I would donate to an out-of-air buddy. The last thing I want to do in as stressful a situation as that is blind myself by snagging my long hose on the snorkle and ripping my mask off. There are 10 kinds of people in the world. Those who understand binary and Those who don't
gnomad Each to their own, It would appear that we have those who wear, those who don't & those who carry a snorkel. It's all a matter of preference based on your experiences. After having bobbed about on the surface,like a baby Humpback for 45 mins waiting for that elusive dive boat, I'll never even go to the shop without a snorkel now. I used to look at divers with snorkels & think "why?" .......damned if I didnt find out. Every man dies....not every man lives!
LittleGreyCat One more thing - I guess this highlights the differences in modern kit. When I trained with the BSAC in the early 1970s one option to get you out of serious trouble was to drop your weightbelt and tank then snorkel gently to safety with loads of bouyancy and minimum stress. Nobody has mentioned this so far. ABLJs were just coming in then so presumably loadsa spare buoyancy means never having to drop your kit anymore. Even so, using all your air or having a demand valve failure can leave you on the surface having to swim and breathe - which is what a snorkel was designed for. Easy to float face down and breathe - much less tiring than any other method I know. Ah, memories :-)
gnomad Well now I have it....the ultimate snorkel. While at home in Oz at Christmas I had to buy a new snorkel & I found the ultimate "toy" a Technisub "fold up" snorkel. Small clip on the side of the mask and a rolled up snorkel in the BCD pocket and I'll be damned but it works! So there ya go I'm now a happy man Every man dies....not every man lives!
Jamesy Experience is different for us all. Personally I've found having my snorkel on my mask and available to be inavaluable on at least 2 occaisions so far. Now I'm still learning and dont have the dive experience of some, but so far i've yet to encounter a situation where are having the snorkel on the mask (and ready) has proved a disadvantage or problem. What i would say is this, go with what you are taught until you have enough experience to make a judgement one way or another. It's all about enjoying the diving, not how we wear the kit. James Y
budgy I lost or damaged the last 4 snorkels I owned and don't have one at present. I find they can effect the mask sealing. My buddy Ed finds them real handy for dipping his mask without having to bend over at the beginning of a dive.
parahandy I agree a lot of the time they are redundant, however I wouldn't be without one. I've been on dives where making an energetic surface swim to a descent point ie shotline has left those using their regulators low on air. Sure in the ideal world the skipper just drops you off next to the buoy, doesn't always happen that way! As regards it snagging if you carry a knife on your leg( some of us old salts still do) you can tuck it in the straps the inside of your calf it tends not to snag as much. Its dam annoying hanging on the mask strap agreed. Take on board that if you prefer to swim on your back it's not much use, I prefer and feel more comfortable to fin on my front and see where i'm going. Very true we should all be surfacing with at least 50bar,although even this is sometimes insufficient if using a regulator for a longer than anticipated surface swim in a current. There used to be a little bit more justification for carrying one, those without the purge valve would allow you to use it as an device to assist in giving resuscitation in the water., the mouth piece made a good seal. Each to our own!!!! smile:) Good to see everyones opinions
Bren Tierney I can see some practical sense in a number of these arguements, but here's my t'u'penny worth. I've not done quite so many dives as Divermole (some where in the region of 1500 plus), and I began my diving career - as most 'PADI Puppies' do - unconsciously ensuring that my snorkel was attached to mask on every dive. Then, it just became an embuggerance and kept getting in the way, so I ditched it and it resided in the dive bag for years. Always took it to every dive sites (UK or abroad), but never got it out of the bag. Then, some years ago, I did my Rescue Diver Course and it opened my eyes - not just to becoming a Rescue Diver, but diving and its aspects in general. As Tony (Parahandy, how-do mate) rightly says, you will, on your Rescue Course (regardless of agency) be expected to de-kit tired divers at the surface, an unconscious diver at the surface etc. and surface swim with them a goodly distance to either the shore or back to the boat and safey or where a proper rescue can be effected. Now whilst there a number of options for the 'Tired Diver Tow', one of the key ones is you breathing for the tired diver whom your dragging. This involves you putting a snorkel in the 'victim's' mouth (mouth-piece end) whilst you take the 'exhaust-end' to breath down. You make a good seal over the victim's mouth so that the mouth-piece stays in and he/she gets air and can breath, then swim back to your safety point. Again, as Tony rightly says, the 'older' snorkels are best for this - the ones without a purge-valve in them (as you can't effectively breath for a diver whilst the snorkel is automatically venting on you). And as for carrying the snorkel, Tony would appear to be on form again with his advice that it can be fitted very neatly out of the way and ready for use (snag-free) parallel to your knife, between the straps of your divers knife strapped "to the INSIDE of your leg (calf) on the opposite calf to which hand you use", i.e. if you are right-handed, then the knife should be strapped to your inside left calf. The rationale behind this is that if you strap it to the outside fo the calf (especially on a wreck dive), then it it becomes a potential snag-hazzard. Ditto on a reef, where it can catch the reef and break something - coral. An please remember, a knife is there to cut or prize your way out of a spot of trouble (fishing nets etc.) - NOT for inflicting damage to wrecks or other fish life. Just my two cents. Dive safe. Bren. ** I thought Country & Western was the death of music......then I heard rap!!! [indeed, the only thing Rap 'music' is missing is the letter 'C'].
Dominic Humphries
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Now whilst there a number of options for the 'Tired Diver Tow'
Yeah, like "I'm tired too, so stop whinging and get on with it you lazy bugger!" ;) There are 10 kinds of people in the world. Those who understand binary and Those who don't
SteveW "Now whilst there a number of options for the 'Tired Diver Tow', one of the key ones is you breathing for the tired diver whom your dragging. This involves you putting a snorkel in the 'victim's' mouth (mouth-piece end) whilst you take the 'exhaust-end' to breath down. You make a good seal over the victim's mouth so that the mouth-piece stays in and he/she gets air and can breath, then swim back to your safety point." I guess this must be a PADI method as I'm not familiar with it. Am I right in thinking that you are talking about a conscious, breathing, but exhausted casualty ? If so, where's the advantage in giving him your exhaled air - with approx 16% O2 - rather than letting him breathe 21% himself? However, if this snorkel idea is to replace performing mouth-to-nose seals (a la BSAC) or (IIUC) mouth-to-mouth seals (which I have heard is the padi reccommendation) , then it sounds like an interesting idea. BTW I started diving with snorkel permanently attached then stopped for several years but am now back to always carrying one, for a couple of reasons: 1 suface swimming and conservation of air, and 2 a potentially fatal incident where I was stuck on the surface in quite rough seas - I didn't have my snorkel but was wishing like hell I did! Chee-az Steve
Frog I like to snorkel out to the drop off point on a shore dive, rather than going on my back. I just don't like swimming/finning on my back. Also, mine is clipped rather than strapped to my mask.
Phil Ennis In reply to Steves post, The PADI rescue diver course teaches a snorkel method for rescue breathing for a non breathing diver. This enables you to tow and give rescue breaths. In my opinion it is not a good method but is an option as long as your snorkel is not a modern one with a purge valve. Phil Ennis