Anyone use a foldable snorkel?

[alexoki]

I was wondering if anyone has used a foldable snorkel. I find a snorkel useful to get to my descent point but it can be annoying underwater. I have seen foldable snorkels that can fit into a bc pocket when not in use. Anyone tried one?

[BigJetDriver]

I use a collapsable snork and keep it in a pocket for those times when it can be extremely handy!

[ABQdiver]

I ask the similar question on this thread a few days back.
The Avid was what I had been looking at, but acutally found a folding ScubaPro snorkel on Ebay and got it. I just want something if needed that can be carried without to much space or fuss.

[wrongkey]

The Sherwood Avid has a collapsable tube. When it's extended, there are large ridges on the inside; it's not a smooth bore. Water traps in the ridges, and it doesn't clear well. I think it's a terrible design, but I bet they sold a lot of them to suckers like me who wanted to be able to put one in a pocket.

[DivePartner1]

I like the Sherwood's small size. I can live the inconvenience of a less than perfect collapsable. When snorkeling, I bring a full sized one but like diving with the small backup that takes up little of my one pocket.

[dc4bs]

I carry a "rollup" snorkle in a pocket for the rare occation when someone insists that I wear one but I never use one other than that (except for actualy snorkeling that is )

My buddy bought 2 and gave me one as he knew I would never have spent(wasted) my money on it...

[GQMedic]

Only to show the dive coppers in Laguna (Lifeguards) that I do in fact have one! Those guys actually give you a ticket for not having one.

[Charlie99]

Since I prefer to do most surface swims on my back, I need a snorkel for 2 reasons: Florida Keys boats that require them, and the (hopefully-never-to-happen) situation where I need to hang out on the surface in high seas after a dive.

While checking in with a Florida Keys boat operator he asked to see my snorkel. I went over to the wall of his shop and grabbed a tiny pink kids snorkel with purge valve that fit into my BC. After trying it out, I realized that it actually was pretty good solution although about 3" shorter than a normal snorkel. I later added about 8" of tube from a 2nd snorkel which clips onto the first using a chopped up chunk of the 2nd snorkel mouthpiece tube. A rubber band from an old disposable underwater camera holds the snorkel in place on my head ( I tried the "slip it under the mask strap" method, but that tends to break the seal on my mask.)

The small bore offsets the increase in dead air space created by the extra long length.

Worked well snorkeling in 6+' seas off of Marathon a few months ago.

The tiny pink snorkel is good for a laugh when someone asks if I have a snorkel.


Clearly, YMMV in this case.