Snorkel for wavy conditions

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Location
Australia
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Hi, so I got certified a couple of months ago, and I'm slowly starting to buy my own gear, starting with mask/fin/snorkel. I recently went and bought an Oceanic Ultra Dry snorkel because I get a little anxious when it's pretty wavy on the surface, hoping that it'll make me a little more assured while waiting to go down or during the swim from shore. I haven't had a chance to test it in open seas yet, but I gave it a go in the pool and was a little disappointed by how difficult it was to purge after I purposely letting some water in. I noticed that when I did try to purge it, the water was more likely to try and shoot back up the tube rather than through the purge valve.

Is this common with snorkels with purge valves, or is it maybe the model? I've previously only used rental gear from dive shops and purging on those snorkels haven't been the greatest either, but I usually put that down to rental gear always being a little beat up. Could someone perhaps recommend a better option that would work well in wavy conditions too. The Oceanic doesn't seem like it'll give much protection to splash either which is a little annoying.
 
You might want to try a simple snorkel without a purge valve. When you are trying to clear a simple snorkel the water has only one way to go so your exhale is not divided between two outlets.
 
Hi, so I got certified a couple of months ago, and I'm slowly starting to buy my own gear, starting with mask/fin/snorkel. I recently went and bought an Oceanic Ultra Dry snorkel because I get a little anxious when it's pretty wavy on the surface, hoping that it'll make me a little more assured while waiting to go down or during the swim from shore. I haven't had a chance to test it in open seas yet, but I gave it a go in the pool and was a little disappointed by how difficult it was to purge after I purposely letting some water in. I noticed that when I did try to purge it, the water was more likely to try and shoot back up the tube rather than through the purge valve.

Is this common with snorkels with purge valves, or is it maybe the model? I've previously only used rental gear from dive shops and purging on those snorkels haven't been the greatest either, but I usually put that down to rental gear always being a little beat up. Could someone perhaps recommend a better option that would work well in wavy conditions too. The Oceanic doesn't seem like it'll give much protection to splash either which is a little annoying.

I think your post brings up an excellent point.....Most Dive Instructors today don't really know how to snorkel or freedive, and they have no functional skills to pass on to their students in this. This does not mean they can't "demonstrate" what they "think" is snorkeling.....It just means that if a Freedive instructor was watching this demonstration, they would likely become apoplectic that this was passing for "instruction"... :) So with the normal scuba instruction, you end up with a rudimentary idea of how to snorkel ( like your scuba instructor), but in practice, without really knowing what you are doing, it just does not work out well for you.

First point I would make, is if you had gotten your "instruction" in snorkeling from a Freedive Instructor, the skills and your ability in the water after 2 days of this would be unrecognizable when compared to what you got from the scuba instructor....you would not look like the same diver/snorkeler, in any way.

They would NOT have you using the lame DRY snorkel, which was developed, more than likely, so scuba instructors would not have to TEACH a person how to use a snorkel....sort of a time saving issue, where an important skill would be omitted. In actual fact, it is VERY EASY to breath through a wide bore, j shaped freedive snorkel ( without a purge), and to breathe easily even in 6 to 8 foot seas...Or 2 to 4's as you would be more likely to reach.
It is a coordination you discover, and once you have it, it is easier than riding a bike...it is as easy as "breathing" :)
Also, in the beginning, you may put your hand up to your snorkel when you are face down in the water, and let your hand tell you if the top of your snorkel is pointing straight up or near this, or, if it is lying almost flat in the water, which will mean you are going to be sucking in lots of water, lots of the time....Once you get used to feeling the snorkel orientation, and knowing how to adjust it on your head, this is like breathing...a non-issue.

There ARE scuba instructors good at this....The problem is, for every ONE that you can find at a dive shop or a boat, that IS good at snorkeling and freediving, there is likely to be 1000 that are pitiful at it, and they will NOT admit this...what they will do, is DOWNPLAY the significance of snorkeling. This is bad, you should NOT accept this, and you SHOULD find a good freedive instructor. Ultimately, just a few days with them will also get you much better propulsive technique--you will kick much better for your scuba diving...and you will gain a far better buoyancy and trim Skill set--it will be amazingly clear to you about how you should be horizontal with low drag, and not too heavy or too light--something many divers don't get even at the point of being Rescue or DM level....

I see you are from Australia....there must be plenty of Freedive shops you can find access to....If you don't know where to start, visit Dive R Freediving ( best freediving fins I know of) --they are in Australia and should KNOW all the major Freedive Shops and instructors...

Ray Powell <raypowelldiver@hotmail.com> is the creator of these fins, and I think they use this facebook page, meaning this is a great place to get plugged in to a community that understands snorkeling...https://www.facebook.com/pages/20Fathoms/115618205180131?sk=timeline
 
What poster #2 said. I've used a simple flex end, big bore tube snorkel for years. It's light, delivers plenty of air due to big bore , large ID of the tube and flex end keeps out of the way, resting on my left shoulder when I'm ready to use it.

Always plan your gas supply for your dive but you can't plan for what you don't know is going to happen. I found myself stuck on the surface after a very long and successful Quahog dive, swimming against an unexpected current at night for more than 6 hours! We had walked out to the dive area on a sand bar that was covered at high tide when we came up. It was the 1st time this site had been ever opened for Quahoging and none of us knew much about it. We learned, the hard way.


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I replaced the plastic holder with a silicone snorkel keeper.
 
I use a simple j tube and it's what I recommend for students. I find it easier to clear than any dive snorkel commonly sold to unsuspecting new divers. Dry, semi dry, are fine for piddling around. But I use the basic j tube to teach my 6 yr old and up snorkeling students. Easier for them to master. In our scuba classes for sei snorkeling, skin diving is taught before students are put on scuba. But I also tell them if there is a lot of chop or waves and you have air, forget the snorkel and keep the the reg in.
 
If by purging you mean blowing to clear then it isn't surprising that your snorkel isn't clearing.

Snorkels with drains, valves and other fancy appurtenances never clear well with traditional clearing techniques because the very valves etc. that supposedly make them better actually divert any air you blow into them away from the task of expelling the water.

By blowing out all your doing is pushing the water a little bit up the snorkel, preventing it from draining through the valve, whilst most of your air bubbles out of the drain without giving the water enough of a push to be expelled out of the top of the snorkel. When you stop blowing out you then start breathing in just as the water you forced partially up the tube drops back down and you end up inhaling it.

Either let the valves on the snorkel do their job i.e. when you surface from a snorkel dive simply raise your head clear of the water then start breathing normally (the water will have drained as designed) or buy a simply J tube snorkel with no valves or gee-whizzery and clear it by the traditional methods. At the moment your purging technique is actively working against the snorkel's design.
 
I used a simple J-tube for more years than I care to say. I eventually switched to a semi-dry. Finally I got tired of water slopping into the semi-dry and got a really streamlined dry. BTW, all snide comments aside - I'd put my snorkeling skills up against almost anyone.

Try blowing more softly to purge - no need to lift your head out of the water. If you blow hard (as posted) you will blow water up the tube but not out and may even be closing the valve.

This is the snorkel I've come to like (and it's far from lame - unlike the people who disparage the equipment others use) - Cressi Supernova Dry Snorkel
 
Ease of clearing is good, but one of the things you're looking for in a "dry" snorkel is for it not to let water in to begin with in splashy/choppy conditions. This is hard to judge in the pool. Obviously it will be full of water when you surface from a dive, but other than that hopefully you won't be clearing it much, and it will be mostly little bits of water which should exit out the valve more easily than a totally flooded snorkel. The water is going to take the path of least resistance, but either a purge valve or a dry top is probably going to create more resistance than an open tube.

Unlike many people on this board, I think snorkels "with features" have their place - but more for snorkeling (not so much for true freediving, or scuba.) I like to use a semi-dry snorkel when I'm just snorkeling, as constantly blowing bits of water out of a snorkel can get tiring. I keep a rollup in a pocket while diving, which actually does have a bottom purge and a top shaped to help prevent splash in but is still pretty minimalistic. Elaborate truly dry snorkels don't make much sense to me - if you need this when snorkeling the conditions are lousy for snorkeling and you should go lie on the beach and get a beer. If conditions are like that when diving, you should breathe from your reg and adjust your dive time to allow for the additional gas consumption.

Will you always be doing long surface swims, or was this mostly for your class dives you were spending alot of time on the surface? I'll allow there may be locations where frequently doing a long surface swim in choppy conditions with a snorkel makes sense, and some kind of dry snorkel is worth it. But really the place to be if it's that choppy is underwater, where it's also easier to swim too. You may find in real life you go underwater as soon as it's deep enough, and also swim back underwater for as long as possible. This may seem hard to imagine when you're a new diver and your air consumption is on the high side, but it will get better. And when you're shallow you're not using so much air anyway. Good chance you will soon get more comfortable with all this, and tire of lugging around a bulky snorkel when diving when you are diving. The bigger and heavier they are the more problems they cause on a mask, and the more difficult they are to stow if you don't want to wear it.
 
The original poster wants a snorkel that will be more wave tolerant. that's fine. Whether it's for skin diving, surface swimming while conserving back gas or as a contingency item in the event of coming up short on gas so be it. I have spent significant hours surface swimming on Maine coastal (salt) water with varying amounts of wave action. When skin-diving, especially with weighting to allow a nice visit below you are not that far above water and water down the J tube is inevitable. If you are out there for a while, like an hour or more clearing gets to be a nuisance though I agree being able to do so without skipping a beat is an essential skill. Meanwhile repeatedly douching you mouth with salt water gets to be desiccating and nauseating, especially if one is prone to motion sickness. All that being said, there are definite places and people for which the classic J tube is not the end all and be all.

In purchasing a "dry" snorkel you want to be aware of a few things that differentiate them.
1) Some have pendulum flapper valves, these can be a PITA since a good breeze will intermittently shut down your air intake, not fun at all!
2) The essential feature is a top baffle system. Construction varies but they are essentialy an array of louvers that make most wash overs flow over and off of the tube without going down the air tube. This is probably the essential feature.
3) A mushroom purge valve at the base is almost always included. this is unnecessary given the previously mentioned essential clearing skill. In fact these valves can sometimes be opened by waves and current making them a source of water entry. look for one that is in a baffled cavity. If it still leaks seal it with epoxy or silicone.
4) The flex tube at the base can add comfort on long excursions but they are also a big failure point since they come just barely slipped together. I have seen the tube or mouthpiece separate from the attached parts and get lost. Simply add a small zip tie at each end and do the mouthpiece while you are at it. This is the same common sense step you take to make sure your regulator mouthpiece stays put.

So if a J tube or reed works for you that's cool but snorkels with added features are not necessarily a solution searching for a problem. However if it has a bird cage and ping pong ball just say no. :)

Pete
 

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