Do you dive with or without your snorkel attached and why?

[pilot fish]

I see a lot of divers without their snorkels, new divers tend to have them attached, and was wondering if the more experienced divers were not using them becsuse they didn't want to look like a newbie, or just don't see the need for them. How anybody would not wear one doing a drift dive is puzzling

 

[Mark Vlahos]

Don't dive with a snorkel on my mask because I dive with the long hose configuration. I do however keep a folding snorkel in my pocket.

Mark Vlahos

 

[Kim]

I don't possess a snorkel. Why would you need one for a drift dive? (unless you are drifting on the surface looking down)

 

[pilot fish]

Don't dive with a snorkel on my mask because I dive with the long hose configuration. I do however keep a folding snorkel in my pocket.

Mark Vlahos

How does the long hose configuration make a snorkel unnecessary? How do those folding snorkels work, are they as good etc?

Love your sig. So true.

 

[Hoyden]

I see a lot of divers without their snorkels, new divers tend to have them attached, and was wondering if the more experienced divers were not using them becsuse they didn't want to look like a newbie, or just don't see the need for them. How anybody would not wear one doing a drift dive is puzzling

Pretty much anyone wearing a long hose won't be wearing a snorkel - it can complicate air sharing. This topic comes up frequently - here is January's snorkel thread

Jackie

 

[pilot fish]

I don't possess a snorkel. Why would you need one for a drift dive? (unless you are drifting on the surface looking down)

Why? Wouldn't you wear one on a drift dive?

 

[Kim]

Well, if I'm drifting along a reef or a wall at 15 or 20 meters or whatever - what use would a snorkel be to me? At the surface I just find it easier to breath through my mouth - rather than a tube.

 

[pilot fish]

Well, if I'm drifting along a reef or a wall at 15 or 20 meters or whatever - what use would a snorkel be to me? At the surface I just find it easier to breath through my mouth - rather than a tube.

I'm really torn between wearing it and not wearing it. It seems the pocket snorkel is the answer, if they are any good.

 

[Kim]

It's probably a case of what is more comfortable for you personally. I have never liked swimming with a snorkel. Especially at sea I generally end up with water getting into the tube and then I have to surface anyway, choking, to get a breath (and believe me - I know about blowing out first!!!). In any event, if it's a bit choppy then it's just too easy to get water in the tube and it becomes more of a hindrance than a help. I suppose if I did shore dives everyday where I had to swim 300 meters to the drop point I might consider it - but I don't. The rare occasions where something like that is involved I just pump up my BCD and swim on my back.
Underwater I hate them.

 

[Tassie_Rohan]

Hi there Pilot Fish -

I normally don't use one as most dives I do are boat dives - so surface activity is usually limited to floating around over relatively deep water, with nothing to see below, while waiting for a pick up. There’s not a lot of surface swimming involved - and indeed if I have to swim a long distance on the surface I use a fairly relaxed backstroke to save energy. Snorkels just plain suck while poking around in wreaks and can even become a bit of a entanglement hazard, and the drag they produce in ripping currents, such as on drift dives, can get annoying.

If I'm doing a shore dive and swimming out over shallow water I'll wear one though...

Cheers,
Rohan.