The snorkel problem

[Eric Sedletzky]

Hogarth was a cave diver, am I right?
No need for a snorkel in a cave then.

I dive where it is beneficial to dive with a snorkel on shore dives. I have to navigate through kelp and feather boa on my surface swims out and back. It is easier to surface swim out face down with your mask in the water to see where you are going. As I surface swim I can pick a path through the kelp and push it to the sides to get through, something you cannot do finning out on your back. Finning out on your back is a great way to get hopelessly entangled in kelp.
I am not silly enough to waste precious air on a surface swim.

I am also not silly enough to wear a snorkel with a long hose, that's why I don't use a long hose.
Not only that, I mostly solo dive so there is no one to hand off the long hose to.

 

[tphelps]

Depends on what kind of diving you do. When I tech or CCR dive I do not bring a snorkel. One reason is for entanglement, I dont want the snorkeling getting caught on the loop or around my long hose. Then again, Im really comfortable in the water and dont mind doing surface swims on my back. But of course I always wear one when I teach.

I like your idea of stowing it on your back plate. I agree, pocket estate is a price market .

 

[spectrum]

On my mask, ready to use. It regularly serves me well as part of my scuba diving.

Pete

 

[ianr33]

Hogarth was a cave diver, am I right?

You are quite wrong. He was not a cave diver.

He IS a cave diver

William Hogarth Main - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[TSandM]

Diving requirements definitely can drive gear choices. For example, in no diving I have done, and certainly in no diving I do on any regular basis, is a snorkel of much use at all, so I don't carry one except when teaching standards require it.

If I dove solo off Northern California's coast, with the surface swims I saw when I was there this summer, I'd probably want to swim on my stomach and not use doubles or huge tanks, so a snorkel might well come in handy. It's kind of hard to justify a long hose when you dive alone in a place where the only other diver you're likely to run into is going to be free diving.

But again, the OP posted this in the Hogarthian subforum, and is clearly trying to work with that style of gear configuration, so telling him to put the snorkel on his mask simply isn't a very useful answer for the question he asked.

 

[DevonDiver]

On the 'Hogarthian' forum, I think it's fair to assume a long-hose is being used (neck looped). That particular diving configuration is quite incompatible with wearing a snorkel permanently affixed to the mask, primarily due to the issue of air-sharing.

I haven't worn a snorkel for more than 10 years. That leads me to question how 'indispensable' it actually is...

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

You are quite wrong. He was not a cave diver.

He IS a cave diver

William Hogarth Main - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

My bad.

 

[Peter_C]

Fixed it for you

but say for example, you get left by the boat. This doesn't happen as infrequently as would be ideal, and if it does and the seas pick up and you run out of gas waiting on the surface for hours, a PERSONAL LOCATOR BEACON OR A NAUTILUS LIFELINE WOULD GET YOU SAVED IN A REASONABLE AMOUNT OF TIME!

I never carry a snorkel, but do consider my scooter a good tool to bring along, and I never venture into the ocean without my Nautilus Lifeline, as we have Rescue 21 setup along our coast.

 

[mathauck0814]

A snorkel is a wholly unuseful piece of diving equipment. It's a very useful piece of snorkel equipment. I only bring dive gear diving and can't think of a single scenario where I'd wished I'd had a snorkel.

---------- Post added September 21st, 2013 at 10:01 AM ----------

I am also not silly enough to wear a snorkel with a long hose, that's why I don't use a long hose.
Not only that, I mostly solo dive so there is no one to hand off the long hose to.

Well, there's the QOTD for the Hogarthian Diving forum if I've ever seen it.

 

[cb5150]

Snorkels...feh.