Snorkel: Left or right?

[g1138]

Scubaboard:
"Get a Bp/W! It's simple and minimal. You don't need all those bells and whistles #@%#$$!#"
"Stock BC's with all the bells and whistles are terrible! #%#$$#@%$"
"Equipment Solution to a skill problem! @$#%#$#@$"
"You should learn to be skillfull and practice your scuba skill! $#%#@$%$#@"

"Wait Snorkel!?!?! I paid $40 for a dry snorkel with a corrugate hose, splash guard, and it gets in the way, it tangles my hair and that thing just sucks!"

Well if you just got a simple J-type and pushed it back on your mask strap and learned to tongue-block, you might just-

Scubaboard: "$%$#%#@%$@#%$@ Down with the snorkel!!!!!!!!"

I love you guys! Really I do.
And to answer the OP Question, I might make mention if they seem receptive to suggestions.
Left side, keeps tangling with the reg hose to a minimum. And it doesn't hook onto your Long Hose if you're wondering.
That is, say if you have to use it for a Class, and you were to slide it back on your mask strap like you're suppose to. That is if you are skillful with your snorkel. Learn to be skillful with your snorkel guys.

 

[TMHeimer]

Maybe one out of 8 or so OW students put it on the right--to be expected, I guess. I don't know--When I was a kid and began 40 years of snorkeling I must've instinctively put it on the left (perhaps being right handed?). Maybe just dumb luck?

 

[DogDiver]

It is important when using a snorkel on the left side....only use a metric snorkel. [emoji23]


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

People tell me all the time, "I can't scuba, because I hate snorkeling; water always chokes me".

I say, me too, scuba does not have much in common with snorkeling. They look at me like I am stupid, try scuba, and love it.

to He** with a snorkel. almost useless, and turns many people off to scuba.

When they say "I can't scuba because I hate snorkelling, water always chokes me",
You say "Yeah me too, I tried to scuba with a snorkel once. All I got was a mouthful of water and I choked"!

When I did my rescue class, my buddy and I had to do a required air share. It was his turn to be the donor so I gave him the signal and he gave me his primary. Then as he went to fetch his Air2, he grabbed his snorkel instead and got a throat full of water, which sent him bolting to the surface, which in turn ripped his reg out of my mouth and left me sitting there (hypothetically) with no air. I calmly recovered my own reg then went up to see what all the fuss was about. He was on the surface coughing and sputtering. The next words out of his mouth were "Snorkels don't work under water very well!"
We agreed it was probably not a good idea to be wearing a snorkel and have an air 2 on the same side, or to have a snorkel on while scuba diving period.
One less thing to get confused about, but hey, we were green too.

I do wear a snorkel on occasion now on some beach dives when there is thick kelp to contend with. I find it easier to crawl over it and maneuver through and around it face down so my tank valve is out of the water. I wear it on the left. I only use a simple straight J tube freediving snorkel if I use one at all.

Some of the best scuba divers I know were freedivers first. Freediving/skindiving is excellent pre scuba training.

 

[rongoodman]

Neither.

 

[tridacna]

Whoo. I started this almost nine years ago. Have the snorkel 'rules' changed since then? Does anyone really care?

 

[tursiops]

Some of the best scuba divers I know were freedivers first.

The best scuba divers I know were never free-divers.

So what have we both proven?

 

[Basking Ridge Diver]

So what have we both proven?

Both of you know some of the best scuba divers?

 

[MaxBottomtime]

Eric's post reminded me of a diver I saw on a boat once. He put the snorkel in his mouth and made a giant stride. He popped up quickly sputtering something about how snorkels make lousy regulators.

 

[CT-Rich]

Well put Cannga.

Although.....
My personal opinion is this:
If you're too dumb to figure out the snorkel thing,
you are too dumb to dive.
Again, this is my personal opinion.

Always on a shore dive.
Always on an anchored boat dive.
Rarely on a drift dive.
Sometimes in caverns and caves.

Chug
Loves the sound of muffled screams of cave divers echoing off of the walls of caverns.

Harsh but true....

I love when I read tech guys bemoan the insidious dangers of the snorkel.... and then explain how they how must only calculate their deco while in the water from memory... but, the proper application of snorkel technology is beyond them. Snorkel on the left ( I believe that was all that was being asked). g1138, you forgot to mention the computers make divers stupid....