Do you dive with a snorkel!??

[g1138]

I've done a 180 recently from my previous position of always dive with my snorkel. I no longer dive with my snorkel 24/7. I find that with my simple J-snorkel, the J likes to catch on my bungee backup.
It isn't a safety issue but rather an annoyance.

I only use the snorkel when I'm entering an overhead surf environment or when the weather might be questionable. If it's a clear sunny day with a low to no swell report, I'll go out without my snorkel. If I'm expecting a kelp crawl, I bring my snorkel.
In general I bring my snorkel when conditions dictate that I might have to use it.

When using my snorkel I push it all the way back on my mask strap, so the tube comes straight and clean into my mouth (no need to bend or twist it). I find that in this position, it stay completely out of the way, with the exception of the mouthpiece hooking my necklace. If I had a corrugated tube snorkel then this wouldn't be an issue at all, but I don't like those.

 

[CamG]

Greetings BLoaf and I use a snorkel when I am snorkeling or in a single tank.
That being said I have only dove a single tank once in two years just my choice.
I have nothing against snorkels they are valuable when just swimming at the surface.
Like afore mentioned if I am on a boat wreck diving I do not for several reasons entanglement and I carry a lot of extra gas when operating inside an overhead environment.

I have always enjoyed snorkeling with my son who is not yet a diver with a little free diving in there as well.
I am not a snorkel basher it is up to the personal diver to choose.

CamG Keep Diving....Keep Training....Keep Learning!

 

[ScubaCapers]

Not unless its a requirement for training.

 

[Scuba_Noob]

I like my snorkel. With shore dives, sometimes there's a little bit of a swim to the drop-in point OR I'm a little off my exit target . Then I find it easier and quicker to snorkel on the surface rather than fin on my back or using air from my tank. It's also useful with large waves or when waiting for my buddies.

At first, it was slightly annoying, with occasional minor confusion between the inflator on the BCD, but I'm used to it being there now. I might get a foldable one later, but I think there might be a problem hooking it on quickly if I actually need it.

 

[freewillie]

I don't like the drag the snorkel has on my mask when diving. After certification I took my snorkel off my mask and got a fold up one I put in my BC pocket. I only take it out on occasion to practice getting it out of my pocket but have never felt the need to use it. I find it easier on surface swims to lie on my back and kick.

 

[drdaddy]

I carry a snorkel in my BC pocket, but heavy gloves in our cold murky Pacific NW waters make it difficult to access. I carry it because I have heard stories of: Done with dive and all of a sudden there were ... rays ... turtles ... whales ... or whatever fantastic things in the shallow section of the deep ... right there in front of us and we jumped in with wetsuit and "surface dived" and watched them, but one guy did not have his snorkel and missed it all.

 

[agilis]

There's a reason cetaceans have a breathing hole on the back of their heads. On anchorline deep dives I may carry a fold up snorkel in my leg pocket. Otherwise, it's always there, unobtrusive, tucked neatly on the side of my head, instantly deployable. I've heard people say that snorkels break a streamlined profile. Sometines these people have incredible amounts of junk hanging off them, with clumsy BCs that look like winter overcoats and more hoses wrapped around them than the Michelin man.

I once swam more than a mile to a small boat that had drifted because the kid in it had fallen asleep. There were two of us, the Jamaican small shop operator and me. On the surface, looking at the faraway boat, we fully inflated our BCs, took them off, made small semi-buoyant rafts out of them, and slowly snorkeled, pushing our equipment, toward the boat, which happily was drifting shoreward. It was actually lots of fun, relaxing, got to see a lot of things as the bottom slowly rose and turned to turtle grass. I learned many new Jamaican words that afternoon.

 

[DivemasterDennis]

Do I dive with a snorkel? No I dive with a regulator. I snorkel with a snorkel. If my dive will follow a long surface swim, I use the snorkel to get to the point of descent. I "wear" a snorkel when I am teaching or assisting. When I am on a recreational dive without an anticipated lengthy surface swim I carry a snorkel in a bcd pocket, not on my mask strap. That is the simple truth of it.
DivemasterDennis

 

[GrumpyOldGuy]

I made up a special bungie cord on my bp to hold one just in case I need it, since it could interfere with long hose deployment. That was a few years ago. Other than drilling a few times to make sure I could deploy, it has never been used. I have not tossed them etirely as in theory there are times it could come in handy, but I just don't want it bothering me the other 99% of the time. If I have a long surface swim, I just roll on my back and enjoy it. If I want to look at the fish on a swim in, I normally have my safety reserve to breath off of anyway.

 

[rongoodman]

I've never worn or carried one outside of a PADI class.