Do you dive with a snorkel?

[etype]

...the snorkel alert panel is flashing code red.....the snorkel war is going critical...

bm9: “I never use it. The local charters by us don't require them, it gets in the way, and I would rather keep the reg in my mouth if the water is choppy.”

That’s what is referred to as exercising your right as an American to freedom of choice, notwithstanding any threats to good order and civil harmony...i see no likelyhood of the snorkel police swooping down to bust your local charter operation and other dens of inequity. So your safe for now....but be careful and keep your nose clean

SeaJay:

“The point was that I didn't need or even want one, given the exact scenario where people had quoted that having a snorkel nearly meant the difference between life and death.”

I and other casual snorkel users may not agree fully with you on all points, but dammit we’ll defend your right to state your opinion....even if it’s wrong.

“Now why in the world would anyone have "some sort of irrational gear nationalism?" That's one of the silliest things I've heard on this board.”

no, there’s sillier things on this board. Otherwise all lot of people would get bored.

“I don't dig snorkels, man. That's all.”

Why, what are you afraid of? What are you running from man? Chill out..we’re friends here.

“Look... Try wearing one while you are talking on the phone. Pretty pointless, eh? Silly? Yes... Annoying? Of course. And just as useful when diving as talking on the phone. It can be rationalized that it's a good idea to wear a snorkel while talking on the phone... You know, just in case there's a flood.
To me, wearing a snorkel while diving is exactly as irrational.”

Lets just say regarding snorkels your a Platonist and i’m an Aristotlian and when we argue the subject of telephones keep coming up, and no one knows why cuz it shouldn’t.

“If you're going to use a snorkel while you scuba dive, why not carry a secondary air source when you snorkel? Likewise, let's find real situations where secondary air sources have set fire to buildings and buggered innocent snorkelers.”


...i knew it. I knew pony bottles would get dragged into this mess. All hell is gonna break loose.... classic tactic seajay...trying to open the war on two fronts...

“I'm interested in finding out why you think this thread is about "gear fascism" instead of simply understanding that some of us don't like to use snorkels when scuba diving.”

A lot of snorkellers on this board see the statements of the anti-snorkellers as a cry for help. We are just here to help you.....now calmly go back to when you first found you had this fear of snorkels.....


“I wonder what Dr. Freud would have thought about you finding sexual references to a piece of plastic tubing.”


And i quote “ sometimes a snorkel, is merely a snorkel”

 

[SeaJay]

etype once bubbled...

SeaJay:

I and other casual snorkel users may not agree fully with you on all points, but dammit we’ll defend your right to state your opinion....even if it’s wrong.

Hahahahaaaa!!!

...there’s sillier things on this board. Otherwise all lot of people would get bored.

Hahahahaaaaa!!!!

Why, what are you afraid of? What are you running from man? Chill out..we’re friends here.

Thanks to you, I'm now going to have snorkel nightmares all night.

"I was running through the woods, and these tall knights crying, "Neet!" were throwing these snorkels at me... All I could remember was the thunk of all these empty tubes beating my cranium..."

Lets just say regarding snorkels your a Platonist and i’m an Aristotlian and when we argue the subject of telephones keep coming up, and no one knows why cuz it shouldn’t.

Hahahahaaaaa!!!

"To snorkel, or not to snorkel... That is the question..."

...i knew it. I knew pony bottles would get dragged into this mess. All hell is gonna break loose.... classic tactic seajay...trying to open the war on two fronts...

I'm not above three, you know... I prefer to snorkel in my backplate and wing, for example.

A lot of snorkellers on this board see the statements of the anti-snorkellers as a cry for help. We are just here to help you.....now calmly go back to when you first found you had this fear of snorkels.....

Aha! Now that makes sense!

Now, about that snorkel... This one time, at band camp...

 

[learn-scuba]

SeaJay once bubbled...

<snip> Now, about that snorkel... This one time, at band camp...

lmao

 

[etype]

Because there are a lot of beginning scuba types, and instructior types reading these posts...i’m going to do something i would not normally do...and tell my own tragic story, and what i since learned... about why mr. snorkel is my best friend.

I won’t go into much detail...i’ll spare you the sordid parts...let me just say that some time ago i was at the bottom, as low as you could go as a diver...lower even then with heliox...in a metaphorical sense.
I had lost my girl dive buddy to a freakin 15 yr.old skatepunk bisexual, i had been kicked out of my LDS..., someone had written “STROKE” in indelible ink on the back of tanks..., people sneered at my force fins...they like to come up from behind, on the boat or underwater...and slip lead into my farmer johns...when i did the ‘ok’ signal on a dive...they kept making these ‘i’m gonna cut your hoses’ signals back....i was as low as you could go as a diver.
I was a failure...my social life was like a endless hyperbaric chamber decompression session.

And then one day i found mr.snorkel. The bright translucent rubber hose just seemed to signal time for a fresh start. From the first breathe, sucked with a sound like through a straw of grape nihi like i used to have as a kid...i could taste freedom....i was breathing fresh air! Then suddenly, everything turned around...suddenly i was invited on all those weekend trips...i found a new heterosexual girl buddy...people asked about those funny fins with what seemed like respectful interest...my LDS called and asked where i’d been...when i was coming in, would i like to do this or that...
And it just kept getting better. Things are sweet now i can honestly say with relief.....

I used to be a failure, but since i got my snorkel...im a success.

[ARE YOU A LOSER? YOU CAN BE A SUCCESS TOO! Call now to order your copy of ‘SNORKELING. AN AMERICAN STORY’ and learn just a few of the simple steps you can take towards becoming a successful american snorkeller!]


and kids, don’t be like i was, and go diving without your snorkel...mr.snorkel is your best friend!

 

[SeaJay]

Hey, if DIR "N***s" drink Kool-Aid, does that mean that "s******s" drink Nehi?

 

[g8trdiver]

etype, you read me all wrong....

I recommended the post about the people abandoned 5 miles off Key Largo to give some precedence to learn-scuba's claim to have been abandoned by a dive operation in what I gather to be Roatan (?).

The debate continued on to question whether it's better, in such a situation, to swim face-down, using the BC as a floatation, or face up, and backward, wearing the BC.

So, I genuinely do wonder if, in the Key Largo case, the people involved had snorkels or not - and which position they found to be the most effective for swimming to - I believe - a light house buoy (?).... Not sure how far they had to go......

I personally use a snorkel when it makes sense, and I don't when it doesn't. My call. And yours.

 

[etype]

g8trdiver: sorry, i didn’t really ponder the question seriously. I didn’t intend to make light of your post...i agree absolutely use it when it makes sense. To snorkel or not isn’t a life/death issue. I use one when i shoredive...and it’s very handy...on a boatdive, unless there are shallows to snorkel...i agree a snorkel presents one more potential problem that could be avoided.
However, if i was on a charter and suspected the probability of a situation like that mentioned...i would take my snorkel, because if i had to cover two miles or so...i would want to be prone, streamlined and able to kick for hours with relative comfort. Swimming prone is just more efficient over distance than on your back.


Imagine two miles of open water, over there a group of divers swimming prone and huffing through snorkels...over there a group on their backs, kicking away while breaking urchins on their chest straps for substenance...suddenly they unknowingly collide...curses are hurled, threats ensue, masks slapped off and a fight breaks out. It’s like the Roman gladitorial games a few miles off Key largo. Who would win this fight? Well i say the snorkellers would win. Why? Because they could use the snorkel as a weapon. If the kickfinners try to use their spg’s or regs...they would break them and lose their air. And the snorkellers have spg’s also. Plus those on their backs and suceptible to submarine attacks. Plus, a snorkel can gouge out a mean eye. Sure there would be losses and many wounded on both sides. But at the end of the day the snorkeller would pull himself from the surf triumpant...I can see them holding their snorkel up in the last rays of the setting sun.
“ This is the good life....To destroy your enemies, raze their villages and hear the lamentations of their women,”

and of course.....

“By Crom give me victory over these kickfinners....or to hell with you”

and so on....snorkels rule.

 

[learn-scuba]

rlflmao etype -- that whole post was a work of art.

 

[SeaJay]

etype once bubbled...
Swimming prone is just more efficient over distance than on your back.

I don't agree. Whether it's your tank causing the drag or your body causing the drag, you still have drag. In fact, since an AL tank (most common) is heavy but buoyant, I would argue that you have MORE drag in the water on your belly than you do on your back.

Take an extreme example... Let's say you grabbed a pontoon off of a pontoon boat and strapped it to your back... It weighs several hundred pounds, but is buoyant. Which case would have more drag, you on top of it on your back or you underneath of it on your belly?

An empty AL tank is about four pounds buoyant... Making it ever so slightly more efficient to swim with it underneath you than over you.

Besides, those people who don't use snorkels don't have to huff through a tube (which is in most cases restrictive) and don't have the "dead air space" of a snorkel, which retards CO2 and O2 exchange.

Imagine two miles of open water, over there a group of divers swimming prone and huffing through snorkels...over there a group on their backs, kicking away while breaking urchins on their chest straps for substenance...suddenly they unknowingly collide...curses are hurled, threats ensue, masks slapped off and a fight breaks out. It’s like the Roman gladitorial games a few miles off Key largo.

Hahahahahaaaa!!!

Who would win this fight? Well i say the snorkellers would win.

I say the non-snokellers, since they've been fed on sea urchins.

Why? Because they could use the snorkel as a weapon.

Hahahahahaaaa!!! THUNK! THUNK! THUNK! THUNK! THUNK! THUNK! THUNK! THUNK! THUNK! THUNK! THUNK! THUNK! THUNK! THUNK! THUNK! THUNK! THUNK! THUNK! THUNK!

If the kickfinners try to use their spg’s or regs...they would break them and lose their air. And the snorkellers have spg’s also.

Yes, but theirs would be wrapped in a pretty, protective rubber boot.

Plus those on their backs and suceptible to submarine attacks.

Hahahahaaaaa! Yes, but those on their backs are susceptible to aircraft attacks. And there are more aircraft than submarines.

Plus, a snorkel can gouge out a mean eye.

LMAO!!! Yes, but only if you stick it to your opponent's face and then put your mouth on the mouthpiece and suck real hard ("thwup!").

Sure there would be losses and many wounded on both sides. But at the end of the day the snorkeller would pull himself from the surf triumpant...I can see them holding their snorkel up in the last rays of the setting sun.

LMAO!!!

“ This is the good life....To destroy your enemies, raze their villages and hear the lamentations of their women,”

and of course.....

“By Crom give me victory over these kickfinners....or to hell with you”

and so on....snorkels rule.

Argh! Come to the dark side, Luke!

 

[etype]

seajay bubbled ....: <<LMAO!!! Yes, but only if you stick it to your opponent's face and then put your mouth on the mouthpiece and suck real hard ("thwup!").>>

The above, although a good source of protein, strikes me as completely barbaric and contrary to the DIR code of war. Kickfinners taken prisoner, will be treated humanly, and not have their eyes sucked from bleeding sockets with snorkels...assuming they roll into the prone position, lay down their spg’s, accept snorkels and surrender peacefully