Why does everyone say the snorkel is useless?

[lamont]

I did my first 2 non-training dives today and am ready to ditch it. My inflator hose and snorkel are about the same diameter and are both the corrugated texture. I know I looked like a complete idiot this afternoon as I placed my reg in my mouth, raised the mouthpiece of my snorkel over my head and proceeded to float in place. Later on during the dive I learned why we practice mask clearing. It is for when you try to dump air (supposedly) using your shoulder dump and pull the mask off of your face. As I was spending a lot of time trying to find and stay neutral I grabbed that blasted snorkel first about 10 times at least. Whose freaking idea was it to put it on the same side as your inflator hose anyway?

Joe

I did exactly the same thing in my open water class! I couldn't find the button on the snorkel!

Now I've switched to a long hose and my snorkel sits upstairs in my storage area...

 

[garyfotodiver]

As John Wayne puts it in The Quiet Man when asked if he wanted a whiskey and water,
"When I drink water, I drink water. When I drink whiskey, I drink whiskey".

When I dive, I dive. When I snorkel, I snorkel. Simple as that.

It wasn't John Wayne, rather Barry Fitzgerald said that to Maureen O'Hara.

When you quote, DIR.

 

[garyfotodiver]

OK, so I'm a, what was it? Noob?

On a surface swim, long or short, I’d rather have my face in the water. Better than a sunburn, and who knows? Maybe a really cool fish will pass by... Or I’ll spot that surfacing diver before he bonks me.

And I’ve never felt it got in the way while under the surface.

But that’s just my humble opinion. And I don’t care what others think of me. I’m not diving to impress the old timers.

The first thing I learned on this board is that with a 3 minute search you can find 30 people adamantly against your favorite piece of gear, no matter what it is.

I'm an "old-timer" and carry a snorkel. Bravo! What does one do if one must ditch one's BC while still in the water? Bob?

 

[annie]

Someone said something about choppy surfaces earlier. I really like having my snorkel along for those choppy surfaces where you're just waiting in the water. Most of my diving is done off ribs that come and pick me up after the dive so I can do a fair amount of bobbing around in waves . . . I find a snorkel invaluable as I don't like swallowing seawater, or using my reg unless I'm u/w.

 

[miketsp]

As was already commented by a few posters, I really like having my snorkel along for those choppy surfaces where you're just waiting in the water either at the start or the end of a dive.
Plus a few times I've been in a situation where the boat has been pounding up and down so much that there was no way it would be safe to try to board still wearing the BC. Add the fact that when this happens, on many boats you're trying to get to the rear ladder in the face of hot exhaust spit from the motors, I consider my snorkel important.
And I'm certainly not a newbie!

 

[SueMermaid]

It wasn't John Wayne, rather Barry Fitzgerald said that to Maureen O'Hara.

When you quote, DIR.

:rofl: Aye aye, sir.

 

[Rick Murchison]

Why does everyone seem to say that the snorkel, especially the dry snorkel, is a useless item?

Your question presupposes a falsehood - your experience must be extremely limited (to those who "seem to say that the snorkel... is a useless item.")
Last time I checked it was the policy and the teaching of every open water training agency that the snorkel was not only useful but a required piece of equipment. The question as to why a vocal minority preaches otherwise has already been answered.
Me? Sometimes I use one, sometimes I don't. Depends on the dive (no snorkel in caves and wreck penetrations, for example) and my mood for the day. Sometimes I carry one only because it is the policy of the agency under which I'm teaching to do so, sometimes I carry one because I want to. Anyone who wants to characterize me as a "noob" is welcome to do so; I've only been at this since the 60's.
I find a snorkel useful on the surface; haven't found much use for one under water yet.
Rick

 

[ba_hiker]

I have used a snorkle for long surface swims in and around kelp. The kelp makes swimming on your back a no-go (as in kelp around your regulator and youn are not going anywhere). Also in really clear waters where i swam on the surface looking for something really neat to dive on.

So i keep one in my dive bag, and leave it there unless it will useful.

 

[Iruka]

It's pretty much optional with me, depending on the circumstances...about the only times I use one are 1) when teaching and 2) when I have a long surface swim AND I want to see the bottom along the way. I sometimes do a surface swim out to a wreck, which takes 20+ minutes, but you can't see the bottom, so I just swim on my back w/out snorkel. On another beach dive, when I want to go really deep, I don't want to submerge until I hit the "wall" so I don't waste air, but there's nice coral & such along the way, so I'll use the snorkel in that situation....once saw a manta (not common here in Guam) while doing that surface swim. Anyhow, MOST of the time I don't bother with a snorkel, but I certainly don't look down on people who DO...it's not hurting anybody, so it's none of my business.

Chris
www.letsdiveguam.com

 

[Turtleguy9]

As was already commented by a few posters, I really like having my snorkel along for those choppy surfaces where you're just waiting in the water either at the start or the end of a dive.
Plus a few times I've been in a situation where the boat has been pounding up and down so much that there was no way it would be safe to try to board still wearing the BC. Add the fact that when this happens, on many boats you're trying to get to the rear ladder in the face of hot exhaust spit from the motors, I consider my snorkel important.
And I'm certainly not a newbie!

I agree, I see so many divers wasting air at the surface prior to the dive.
Aloha Turtleguy