Do you dive with or without your snorkel attached and why?

[wcl]

I see a lot of divers without their snorkels, new divers tend to have them attached, and was wondering if the more experienced divers were not using them becsuse they didn't want to look like a newbie, or just don't see the need for them. How anybody would not wear one doing a drift dive is puzzling

Hi,

So far, I take the snorkel every time. It has been annoying only a few times diving when it flapped around; I just pushed it back and it was fine.

Being a new diver, I don't like to waste my tank on the surface, and sometimes the chop makes the snorkel desirable. I have a good snorkel with a flapper valve at the top end (started snorkeling before diving), so it doesn't get flooded with waves.

For wreck diving (just took that class), I remove the snorkel before penetrating (I clip it to the reel tiedown point), though I will ditch it entirely for such dives if the surface is quiet.

Pocket snorkel is looking attractive as a "best overall solution" aproach ...

Cheers,
Walter

 

[Goose75]

I had an inflator on some rental gear that wanted to float for some reason. Regardless I found it wrapped itself around my snorkle. Of coarse, it seemed everything got entangled on that rig. I finished that week by putting it on the right side. I know it is on the left because the reg is on the right but I've never had a reg even contact it. Now I have my own gear, I will probably move it back to see what happens. I find the snorkle usefull when swimming in a surface current. It makes it easy to swim face down. I can keep a straight line better that way.

 

[simbrooks]

I can't believe how many people don't wear a snorkel. I would never dive without my snorkel. As far as I'm concerned, it's a part of my scuba equipment and goes with me on every dive.

As for the following post...



Sorry Jim, but to me, your post makes me think that you haven't got some extreme basics tied down. Whether you use a snorkel or not, the reasons you listed IMHO are pants (irish term for rubbish).

In my 5 years of diving, I have never dived without a snorkel, and in all those dives, my snorkel has never caused me a problem. My students will always wear snorkels. I've needed snorkels for when i'm :

Exiting a boat in tough conditions...
Waiting on the surface in tough conditions...
Duck diving...
Conserving air while surface swimming to a dive site

Pants - also English word for crap

Ok, so i have to agree the grabbing it, breathing it and such UW are not good signs, but it does:
1) get in the way of a long hose deployment
2) could get entangled in things
3) serves no purpose UW at all, hence if you are going to carry one, put it in a pocket

As for the points for a snorkel:
Exiting a boat in tough conditions... or even Waiting on the surface in tough conditions... I havent been in anything over 4-6ft seas (in fact boats mostly dont run in much bigger as its a hazard to re-enter the boat when the ladder can crash down on you from 6ft Even so, i have yet to have waves break on my head as i bob along with the waves. The only times i have had waves break on me is in 15ft rollers when i was changing a headsail of a yacht during a race - then i went UW and came back up quite a few times, but thats not diving
Duck diving... Just hold your breath as you arent diving on compressed air at that point.
Conserving air while surface swimming to a dive site... For surface swimming i just get on my back and kick away, the only time i have heard otherwise is through the kelp - that is the only time i have ever thought, "oh my snorkel might come in useful here" and even then i might well take it off and put it in a pocket when done. But of course i can just swim on my front head out of the water, or raising to get a breath if i have to swim on my front.

The other times i have used my snorkel have only been times when i am snorkeling around a site, not diving. I leave my snorkel at home.

Then i get further down the page i read:

Being a new diver, I don't like to waste my tank on the surface, and sometimes the chop makes the snorkel desirable. I have a good snorkel with a flapper valve at the top end (started snorkeling before diving), so it doesn't get flooded with waves.

For wreck diving (just took that class), I remove the snorkel before penetrating (I clip it to the reel tiedown point), though I will ditch it entirely for such dives if the surface is quiet.

Penetration wreck diving with only 16-50 dives???? Swim thrus are one thing, but tying off a line and attaching your snorkle too it does give me both an amusing visual as well as a bit of concern.

 

[PeaceDog]

Hate them. One more thing to get in my way, one more thing dangling annoyingly in my face.

I do, however, always take one on trips so that I can snorkel when not diving.

 

[Firebrand]

Having read numerous articles about the need for redundancy equipment, I have never dived without my snorkel. Maybe it's my military training kicking in, but to me it is better to have and not need than to need and not have. The whole point is to be prepared for whatever situation we may get caught up in. We learned in our OW class that only through planning and being prepared can we leave the confines of the terrestrial surface and take the plunge below the surface for more than one breath. A snorkel IS useless underwater, but at the surface, it is a practical piece of equipment which I don't ever see me ditching. Having grown up in Florida, I've seen conditions go from Hit to ***** in a matter of minutes. I may not need my snorkel before the descent, but it may be needed upon completion of the dive. Overall, it's a choice you must make for yourself and should be dependent on your dive plan, such as wreck penetration, or any other environment where a snorkel could get caught. Hopefully the comments provided by all will help you reach a decision that best suits your needs.

 

[matt_unique]

I see a lot of divers without their snorkels, new divers tend to have them attached, and was wondering if the more experienced divers were not using them becsuse they didn't want to look like a newbie, or just don't see the need for them. How anybody would not wear one doing a drift dive is puzzling

I dive without because it's unnecessary gear for me. It just get's in the way and can cause your mask to get knocked around. I do a fair amount of surface swimming. If the water is rough or if I am doing a shore exit I keep my reg in. I'm not concerned about how I look, just how I feel about my gear and it's uses/purpose.

--Matt

 

[jonnythan]

I don't wear a snorkel when I'm diving because I'm diving, not snorkeling.

I have no reason to put a snorkel onto my mask, so I don't.

It's not a matter of deciding what to take off.. it should be a matter of deciding what to put on. My snorkel didn't make the cut

 

[pasley]

I almost never use a snokel. I hate breathing through the restriction of a small tube like a snorkle. I have been questioning why I wear it at all.

For surface swims, I am on my back.
Since I mostly shore dive, I have on occasion used a snorkle on exit to help me navigate around the rocks just under the surface near the shore.

In choppy seas, I may use it if I find a lot of water getting splashed into my mouth on the surface but I can't think of a time I have actually done that.

 

[lamont]

For bad surface issues, I just breathe off the reg. I've got a big enough tank that I've usually got a 40 cu ft reserve on any given dive. Even if I'm coming up with only 500 psi in it, that'd be 20 cu ft and over 20 mins of time on the surface. The reg is much better than a snorkel on the surface since there's no question of it accidentally getting flooded. If the water is calmer, then I just swim on my back (there's nothing much to see around here from the surface).

Keep in mind that at the surface you burn through almost no air, typical SAC rates will be 200-300 psi per 10 mins. If you're that concerned about your air supply, you need a bigger tank.

So, I see no reason to use a snorkel at all. No added safety benefit for me, under any circumstances. All it adds is a long hose entanglement.

 

[Mark Vlahos]

How does the long hose configuration make a snorkel unnecessary? How do those folding snorkels work, are they as good etc?

Love your sig. So true.

With the long hose configuration, my main second stage is routed down my right side, under my canister light on my right hip, then up across my chest and over my left shoulder, around the back of my neck and to my mouth. My backup second stage is on a short hose and hanging below my chin on a bungee necklace. If I need to donate a regulator to an out of air diver he or she will get my primary (on the long hose) and I will switch to the neckalced short hose. In the process of donating the long hose regulator to this unfortunate diver I grab the hose just next to the second stage and take the regualtor out of my mouth and present the regulator to this diver. When I move the regulator toward the other diver I tilt my head forward slightly to allow the hose to come over the top of my head. If I were wearing a snorkel it could become entangled in the hose and possibly remove my mask. This would not be a disaster but it could serve to further complicate an already stressful situation. So, for me, no snorkel on my mask while under water.

The folding snorkel in my pocket is intended to be brought out only in situations where it would be of considerable value on the surface. I have been on dives in the ocean where the conditions on the surface were less than ideal and I was required by circumstance to wait for several minutes while the boat picked up other divers. If the surface is choppy and you are low on air in your tank, it can be really nice to have the option of breathing from a snorkel rather than consuming the air in your tank. The snorkel I have is small and the lower portion is scrunched into the upper portion like an acordion or a bendable straw. I pull on the mouth piece and the tube gets longer, I fold it into a "J" shape and put the mouthpiece in my mouth and I am good to go. The snorkel does not have any of the features intended to keep it "dry" so I do need to watch out for water in the tube, but I am willing to make this compromise. For me it is the best of both worlds. Although I did not get mine from Scubatoys, they do sell the type I use so follow the link and scroll down to the Avid Snorkel. There is actually a pretty good drawing of how it works on the right.

Mark Vlahos