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

[RP Diver]

I can't say I agree about your gas management, but I wasn't asking about that... if anything I was asking about your experience with donating a long hose while wearing a snorkle, and how it is you avoid entanglements while doing so. As far as I can tell, everyone who mentioned snorkels as an entanglement hazard is either doing wreck penetration or diving a long hose, and you said that despite what we all think, it isn't so. I'm curious how you come to that conclusion.

Perhaps, so long as nothing goes wrong. That's maybe not such a good thing to count on though. Suppose you buddy had an equipment failure late in the dive and it was he who needed you to share air? Suppose after you surfaced, you lost a fin? Sure, everything worked out okay, but with 100psi 1/4 mile from the boat, you didn't leave much of a safety margin... even if it was shallow water. I'm glad to hear you don't make a habit of it!

I don't use a long hose, have never even considered such a thing. I don't do wreck penetration, just doesn't really interest me. I'm more into critters than scrap metal, maybe comes from working with metal for 31 years (I'm a machinist by trade). I was in more danger of drowning from laughing so hard at the antics of those sea lions than I was of running out of air.

To respond to your other questions, at 15 feet, it's not really that difficult to do an OOA ascent, even on 100 psi. And my dive buddy is my wife, who is a former instructor and has been diving 5 years (and about 500 dives) longer than I have. 20 feet of water is normally just free diving for me anyway, so should I run out of air (which I never have), it's a simple ascent while exhaling. And as for as the 100 psi 1/4 mile from the boat... that is exactly why I wear the snorkel.

When I'm on a dive trip, which is the only way I dive any more, I practically live in the water, either diving or snorkeling during my SI, or snorkeling from shore after the boat dives. Thus, doing a surface swim with my snorkel just seems like a logical choice for me.

BTW, this is NOT something that I would do on a normal dive, where a safety stop might be indicated. I really am a pretty good diver under the conditions which I choose to dive. I would never question your snorkel decision in regard to a long hose, because I have never used one. Nor would I ever offer any negative comments toward any type of diving that I don't have previous experience with.

 

[MASS-Diver]

I never dive with a snorkle. Even if I didn't dive a long hose, I don't like the extra drag of a snorkle or the risk of having something get entangled that's attached to my mask. If you dive with a flag, or work with lines alone you can see why snorkles are a bad idea. On the surface, I swim on my back, in which case snorkles don't work.

In general, when I see someone with a snorkle, I assume they do not know what they are doing. It's the one piece of gear I will openly tease buddies about. I can deal with split fins, pink bcs, etc, but I draw the line at snorkels

 

[RiverRat]

I ditched mine as a newbie with 10 whole dives under my belt.
I was also diving a BP/W etc. Less is more in my book. Streamlining is key.
God I love being an "outlaw"

 

[Goose75]

I still haven't seen a good argument in favor of snorkels as a safety measure. They seem to be an answer for bad gas management and/or lack of redundant equipment.

I'm a strong swimmer so it is a stretch to think of times where it would be a needed item as safety gear but for those who like to plan for every evtuality, it has a purpose. I could think of one unlikely but possible event that it would improve your safety. If you were left at sea and had to make a long arduous swim against a tide or current to shore, having the flexiblilty to change swimming position helps prevent muscle cramps and exhaustion to push through the tide. Pausing to rest lets it sweep you back out. Not knowing how long you may be swimming, using your reg may be something you want to reserve. I've been caught in bad positions like this when swimming when I was a kid but never as a diver. It's unlikely, but posible.

 

[MASS-Diver]

I ditched mine as a newbie with 10 whole dives under my belt.
I was also diving a BP/W etc. Less is more in my book. Streamlining is key.
God I love being an "outlaw"

Now all you have to do is ditch that huge console *wink* just teasing....

EDIT - after taking a second look, I have to apologize - that may be just be a spg with the house still on - my bad.

 

[2 Bar]

If the water is calm I don't use my snorkel. If the sea is choppy I might. Sometimes the boat asks you leave your reg in until you're back on the boat in case you fall back in. In that case I may ditch the snorkel. It's a dive by dive decision.

Note - did not read thread. Sorry if I repeated anything.

 

[carlislere]

It depends on the dive whether I wear a snorkel or not. Of course, teaching students, yes, I have too. If it is a dive wear a surface swim is possible, yes, I will take one. If there is strong current, blue water or river, no I will not take one.

 

[CHSpaintballer2]

Whenever I'm skin diving I normally don't take a snorkel with me, I leave mine in my gearbag at the campsite or on the beach with my stuff. If I'm just going to float around on the water and occasionally dive down to look at fish, sea grass, or the bottom of the body of water I'm in, then I'll wear it.

 

[MASS-Diver]

It depends on the dive whether I wear a snorkel or not. Of course, teaching students, yes, I have too. If it is a dive wear a surface swim is possible, yes, I will take one. If there is strong current, blue water or river, no I will not take one.

FYI - for dives that start with a long surface swim it's best not use a snorkle for the kick out. Espically for students, who often have CO2 issues anyways (from shallow, nervous breathing), it's best to avoid any risk of CO2 buildup before the dive which can result from the dead-space in the snorkle.

 

[Azza]

I wear them when working with students but other than that...No.
When i was a great white hunter (me being the great white that is-not hunting THE great white) I found the snorkel got all tangled up in the kelp when trying to grab Crays and it used to pull my mask and twist it and generally be a pain in the butt so i tossed it.
Then when i started working with students again i had to buy another one *groan*
IMHO they are a waste of time. If you need to surface swim, swim on your back or use the reserve in you tank. If you find that you need to strip your gear off before entering a boat, turn your head side on into the chop or wave and you will have no problems.