Snorkel question & Confined water completed, now to open water

[MacIllini]

Hey everyone. First I want to say thanks to all the Instructors, Dive masters, etc that give some awesome advice to newbees on this forum. I have only posted in the welcome section but have been reading/looking around here for the past 6 months.

My girlfriend and I started scuba this weekend and have made it through the class work and confined water.

Prior to this weekend I was a little nervous about the mask clearing skill, breathing without the mask and than replacing and clearing. I think I surprised myself when I did it the first time for the 1 min skill( just kept thinking breathing through a straw). With the mask clearing my problem was that I had two hands on the mask and tried to not only compress the top but lift the bottom also, so I would clear and re-flood everytime. I guess I got a lot of practice. Looking back at it I am kind of glad I did it wrong so I wont develop a bad habit. With a little instructor tip, got it now. Did the no mask swim today, replaced and cleared mask, and was like holly crap I did it without struggling. practice.practice.practice.

My girlfriend struggled with the breathing without mask one and the mask clear thing but by the end of today got the skill down. I told her about the straw thing and to practice in the sink this morning before class with the snorkel (insert: Mike from underseas scuba in villa park was awesome with her on individual instruction).

????Question/advice needed on Snorkel mouth piece/using????????
My own problem is with my new snorkel. I can't seem to get a good seal with the mouth piece it has. After about 3 normal breaths after clearing I am sucking in a lot of water. I am getting one awesome breath after the clear and than I can tell that water is coming in one the next 2 so try breathing control and clear but can't clear completely. (the snorkel swim was a pain in the rear and lot of extra work because of this). I asked the shop if there was a mouth piece that was similar to the regulator because that was perfect. He said we can but will have to see if can do it with current snorkel or need to upgrade. Anybody have any other advice? I had my instructor look at and told him I wasn't getting a good a seal and he said that could happen with a bad fit, and that maybe the mouth piece may be a little big. As of now I hate (well hate it harsh, dislike) snorkeling and am having a blast learning scuba, especially since I understand and can do the mask thing.

Later
Lance

 

[don Francisco]

Are you sure it's the mouthpiece seal? If you have a snorkel with a purge valve, the valve is probably leaky, which is common and easily fixed. Or you may have the snorkel badly positioned on your head and be dunking the intake it without knowing it.

Try this test on land. Try inhaling with the end of the tube blocked. It should be like sucking on an empty soda bottle, If you can get air you have a leak someplace. BTW- this won't apply to so called dry snorklels, or any with water deflectors since with the end blocked air can still flow around the baffle. On those types, remove the mouthpiece and test the mouthseal by inhaling with your thumb over the end.

I'd be greatly surprised if you're problem is with lips sealing on the mouthpiece itself, regardless of it's shape. If that were true you'd draw water from the first breath. Also, the fit would have to be extremely bad, since we humans have pretty adaptable lips which can manage to make a seal on just about anything. I'm not saying it's impossible, or that a different snorkel wouldn't be more comfortable, I'm just saying to check all posibilities before spending dough needlessly.

 

[spectrum]

I suppose it could be fit but I agree that you look elsewhere.

The purge valve is a supple flap somewhere down near the mouthpiece (assuming your's has a purge valve) Some grit or a manufacturing defect could be preventing a good seal. Some can have the seal broken if you are thrashing your head.

If you have a flex hose some of those fits are none too tight to the bottom body and tube, actually same deal on the mouthpiece. I have added small tie wraps to each of these 3 soft connections for this very reason and the fact that my wife's mouthpiece got knocked off on a gentle entry one time.

Be sure to get this worked out. Skindiving alone is a great activity to augment your diving many consider the snorkel to be a valuable piece of gear.

You will get advice to get a simple J-tube snorkel and that is fine too . You may have to clear more often especially choppy water but that's OK for some.

Pete

 

[rjpv]

Also possible that the mouthpiece is less forgiving (cheaper). Is it pulling to the side in your mouth? Are your teeth clamped down (bad) on it?

 

[MacIllini]

Thanks for the responses. We tried to hold the top and breath, couldn't get a good closure of the end just because of the design, but seemed like the value was shut. Its a cressi Cressi Sub Reversable Semi-Dry Purge Scuba Diving Snorkel. I am thinking it might be a leaky purge valve now too. I am going to try at the pool again tonight and pay attention to if I was clamping down on it. I do hate the cheap mouth piece. If it is the purge valve the shop is going to send back for repair/replacement.
Anyway since I got my govt check I just decided to upgrade to the aqua lung 3 snorkel. I think this one is going to work great and the mouth piece is a lot more comfortable.

 

[Thalassamania]

Get a plain ordinary "J" type snorkel, no valves, no flaps, no balls, no BS. Spend a little time to learn how to use it (it's good practice for a wet breathing reg or a failed exhaust valve anyway). It's much less expensive and it lasts ... I still use one that I bought over thirty years ago.

 

[driftwood]

Even if you don't get the problem fixed, keep your tongue close to the mouth piece so that you can plug in if you start sucking water in. Also look at the mouth piece an see if the is a tear in the silicon. 90% of all regs that breath "wet" are due to a tear in the mouth piece.

 

[friscuba]

Is someone watching you to see if the snorkel top stays above water? If it's not the mouthpiece or the valve, it could be that you are just dipping your head. A lot of people look straight down and dip the tube underwater. If this is what's happening, looking forward at a 45 degree angle will fix things. Doesn't happen often, but I do get students who swear their snorkel doesn't work and it turns out they're just looking straight down after a few breaths.