Long Hose/Bungeed Back up/No Snorkel

[Thalassamania]

Impedimentia, be it in the form of extra mass underwater or extra weight on the shore is something that I try to avoid. A slippery boat ramp (say, at Pt. Lobos) or a big cliff, say three-two-five in Monterey, or South Point here on Hawaii, auger badly for those over encumbered. What would you rather haul up or down a big cliff, a heavier tank or perhaps an extra tank, or a snorkel weighing in at a few ounces?

 

[Bob DBF]

What snorkle? Oh, you mean that snorkle.

I've been wearing a snorkle since before I started SCUBA diving so I don't even notice it. With the right head twitch I can have it in my mouth. As for it causing issues, I can make quite a list of all my gear I've snagged on one thing or another over the years but the snorkle dosen't come up. It is pushed back out of the way and lets the kelp, rope, fishing line, and so on go by and grab something else further down the line if it really has to screw up my day.

When I went back to a backpack, I tried (am trying) the long hose and found, at first, the snorkle was an issue. After dealing with it for a bit, again it became a non issue when I found the right technique.

I just ordered some bits and peices to try a different hose setup. I'll probably go back to the old school bungied primary, and may be a long hose backup, but I know I'll still have my 30+ year old snorkle attached to the mask with two snorkle keepers.



Bob
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I may be old, but I’m not dead yet.

 

[farsidefan1]

Very interesting thread. Just before I began reading it I was considering to which posters I paid most attention. There are a bunch but I consolidated it to 3. Thal, TS and Jim Lapenta. Lo and behold here I had 2 of the 3 disagreeing (in a most polite reasonable manner) I loved it. Jim, you can be the tiebreaker. IT is instructive as I am going to a new configuration and I want to think about some things I've been doing a long time (well, as long as 5 yrs and a little over 200 dives is worth). Also thanks for a demonstration on how 2 well educated and experienced divers can disagree in a manner instructive to those "listening in".

 

[TSandM]

Well, I dive 130s at Lobos, despite the weight of them, because you need that much gas to do a nice dive to Beto's Reef and keep your rock bottom reserve

I totally agree that avoiding heavy equipment for difficult entries makes tons of sense -- there are sites here I will NOT dive in doubles for that reason, no matter what. (I match the dive to the equipment I'm willing to carry, rather than the reverse.) But, if you follow the "minimum gas" guidelines and you do NOT have to bring an out of gas diver to the surface on your gas supply (which I have, thank goodness, not yet had to do) then you've got lots of gas in your tank for a bit of a kelp crawl or resubmergence to avoid the canopy.

Different ways to solve problems. I don't have ANY issues with someone wanting to carry a snorkel; I will just continue to maintain that, as snorkel deployment is never going to be an emergency activity, it is quite reasonable to store it somewhere other than your mask strap.

 

[lv2dive]

Different ways to solve problems. I don't have ANY issues with someone wanting to carry a snorkel; I will just continue to maintain that, as snorkel deployment is never going to be an emergency activity, it is quite reasonable to store it somewhere other than your mask strap.

Lynne that is what I was thinking. I tend to carry a snorkel* in my pocket when I dive in the ocean bc I've had occasion to want a snorkel and not had it in the past. Prior to aforementioned occasion, my pretty pink snorkel ** mostly stayed in my gear bag bc it annoyed me on my mask. I decided I'd rather have a slightly-less-than-optimal fold up snorkel in my pocket than a optimal snorkel that gets left in the gear bag .




*I haven't talked about a snorkel in so long I kept spelling it snorkle instead of snorkel. And they both look wrong but I checked out how the rest of you spelled it and i'm not getting red squiggles with snorkel so I'm guessing that is correct <G>.

**no offense Jax <G>

 

[g1138]

I use the Riffe J snorkel. Before it was a Nike J-snorkel with a purge. As long as you have it pushed all the way back on the mask strap so the snorkel comes clean and straight into your mouth it should only catch on 1 thing: your bungee necklace.

I found that if I want to take off my bungee necklace with mask still on I have to tuck the snorkel mouthpiece/curve into the necklace loop. If I just want to dive I have to be sure to tuck the snorkel curve under the loop. Otherwise I have a snorkel pushed up into my jaw when I deploy my backup; it doesn't impede deploying my backup however. With corrugated hose snorkels this isn't an issue at all.

I have a friend who dives GUE. He recently dove with a snorkel and long hose for a class and said that the snorkel pushed all the way back doesn't impede long hose deployment at all.

 

[Thalassamania]

I use the Riffe J snorkel. Before it was a Nike J-snorkel with a purge. As long as you have it pushed all the way back on the mask strap so the snorkel comes clean and straight into your mouth it should only catch on 1 thing: your bungee necklace.

I found that if I want to take off my bungee necklace with mask still on I have to tuck the snorkel mouthpiece/curve into the necklace loop. If I just want to dive I have to be sure to tuck the snorkel curve under the loop. Otherwise I have a snorkel pushed up into my jaw when I deploy my backup; it doesn't impede deploying my backup however. With corrugated hose snorkels this isn't an issue at all.

I have a friend who dives GUE. He recently dove with a snorkel and long hose for a class and said that the snorkel pushed all the way back doesn't impede long hose deployment at all.

That is the key:

Lynne: Given your approach for a dive, should you not consider in your gas planning enough gas to take you out to your descent position from your entry point at, stay, 10 feet as well as return yourself and your buddy to your entry point from your safety stop?

Storing the snorkel elsewhere is fine, a lot of old time divers put it behind the huge knife they wore on their calf, but secure attachment is still an issue, shoving it under the mask strap doesn't cut it.

 

[Peter Guy]

Thal --

Given your approach for a dive, should you not consider in your gas planning enough gas to take you out to your descent position from your entry point at, stay, 10 feet as well as return yourself and your buddy to your entry point from your safety stop?

That, of course, depends on the dive. If there is no reason not to go directly to the surface in case of emergency, then there is no reason to reserve enough gas to do so. If there IS a reason to require returning to a point certain, then yes, gas would be reserved to do so. It is all about being a thinking diver and taking what you need but not what you don't need (like a snorkel!).

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Off topic but -- Texas, as well as all other US jurisdictions, do "execute" corporate entites all the time for various reasons such as the failure to pay the yearly licensing fee. In addition a corporation can also be convicted of a crime that "executes" it through the mechanism of withdrawing its corporate charter. Just thought I'd let you know since you appear to be so interested in that. Oh, btw, at no time has anyone on any Court (to my knowledge) declared a corporation to be a "person" -- merely that corporations (as well as all other entities) have rights under the Constitution.

 

[mk706]

I've been doing tons of research into DIR and DIR gear set-up and want to go that route.

Recommend finding the right instructor BEFORE buying any additional kit, or attempting to alter your configuration. One challenge with changing gear configuration is ensuring you buy kit only once. Find an instructor who dives the configuration you're interested in growing into. Buying and configuring kit isn't too hard, diving it for the first few outings may be another story. IMHO, the real objective is having an instructor teach the skills and gear configuration you intend to dive. Working with a like minded instructor is easier than expecting another instructor to adapt to you.

 

[Thalassamania]

Thal --

That, of course, depends on the dive. If there is no reason not to go directly to the surface in case of emergency, then there is no reason to reserve enough gas to do so. If there IS a reason to require returning to a point certain, then yes, gas would be reserved to do so. It is all about being a thinking diver and taking what you need but not what you don't need (like a snorkel!).

You are missing the point. Anywhere that you dive on the California Coast there is the issue of being faced with a somewhat unpredictable kelp crawl, what with shifting winds, currents, tides, or what-not. We have determined that there are two rational ways to deal with this, sufficient reserve gas to make the swim out, under the kelp, complete the dive, and make the swim back to the exit point while supply gas to your buddy; or carry a snorkel. If one selects the former, then the risk adverse amongst us would insist on planning for the under the kelp contingencies in our air consumption plan ... or perhaps we might deign to carry something that we might not need against the exigency of the moment. What it comes down to, in my mind, is which emergency item is easier (and of less risk) to carry, the extra gas or the snorkel? I'd vote for the snorkel, but then I'm becoming a lazy kind of diver in my dotage.