Snorkel tube in scuba diving

[Mandrak]

Hello everybody. I'm new on this forum, and this is my first post, so please be gentle :-D
I became instructor (CEDIP/ CMAS) a few months ago, and although I have the knowledge, I like to learn more. I have a question about use of snorkel in scuba diving. I am sure this was probably debated somewhere here, but I can't find it. I got into an argument with one TDI instructor, and he convinces me that it is appsolutely necessary to have snorkel on every dive, because it has more purposes than just helping you on surface. I usually don't use it, because I swim on my back with BCD inflated, and not more than a 100 meters to dive site. So, my question is: Is it REALLY so important to have it, and is there any other use for it that I am not aware of.
And sorry if my English is not perfect, it is not my native language.

 

[RyanT]

Hi Mandrak: I'm sure you'll get lots of opinions here, but I agree with you on this. I find them useless and annoying.

 

[sealark]

Hey lets face it they get lost a lot and dive shops sell them. I have about 20 of them I have found. They could be helpful on a long swim in rough seas with no air left. I never use them unless I'm snorkeling.

 

[rongoodman]

I've never used one outside of a PADI class. I usually throw it into the bag on trips, but I'm not sure why any more.

 

[RainPilot]

I have a roll-up one in my pocket. I have to have one on me when teaching and I can't be bothered to pack and unpack so it just lives there. Never use one except freediving.

 

[Steelyeyes]

If I could find a decent storage option on my rig I'd carry one for the once in 20 years I might need it. As is is my reel, SMB, light, and sometimes camera is enough crap to haul around.

 

[CuzzA]

You're just completing another awesome dive. You're finishing your safety stop thinking about that cold one in the cooler. As you breach the surface with 500 psi in your tank you do sort of a pirouette and nothing, no boat. Seas kicked up a little bit so you try and time your search for the boat on the crest of the waves, still nothing. Sharks begin to investigate what this thing is making all of this racket on the surface, finally your tank is empty and now you need to tread water and keep your mouth above the surface. How long can you keep this up before you aspirate water?

Happened to me in April of this year. The one thing I wished I had was my snorkel. After twenty minutes I was found and if I had my snorkel I would have been much better off. Fortunately I had two DSMB's and could use one as a extra horizontal flotation device that I hung onto under my arms to help keep me above the waves and make it easier to keep the other one upright. Twenty minutes isn't very long, but it could have turned into hours or longer.

We had another diver in our area report on another board this year of an incident where he did a 4 hour float. The one thing he was thankful for was his snorkel. Despite his jaw being sore, IIRC, he said he didn't know if he could have survived without it. Despite having it he still managed to drink/aspirate a ton of sea water.

So, you really have to ask yourself, is there a possibility that you could find yourself in that position after a dive? If so, at a minimum you should carry a pocket snorkel. If you dive in caves, spring, caverns or tourist cattle boats in large groups then it's probably not needed, especially the former. But this is a question that has to be answered, because many will say they are useless, but they could be doing dives that have a remote chance of being separated from the boat, whereas your dives may have a higher possibility and you just took the advice from someone on the internet who dives in quarries.

For me, once you start wearing a good low profile snorkel in the proper position (toward the back of your ear and not by your cheek) you never even notice it is there.

Hope this helps.

 

[halocline]

I got into an argument with one TDI instructor, and he convinces me that it is appsolutely necessary to have snorkel on every dive, because it has more purposes than just helping you on surface.

Sounds like someone you probably want to avoid arguing with. He says that a snorkel is "absolutely necessary" when millions of dives are successfully completed each year without one. My guess is that a majority of divers don't use one, and somehow they seem to be surviving. Doesn't seem like it's an absolute necessity, does it?

Welcome to scubaboard. You'll find some great info on this site, but also some opinions kind of like the one your TDI instructor friend has.

 

[CuzzA]

My guess is that a majority of divers don't use one, and somehow they seem to be surviving. Doesn't seem like it's an absolute necessity, does it?

Well the dead divers who were lost at sea have a hard time reporting on ScubaBoard.

 

[halocline]

Well the dead divers who were lost at sea have a hard time reporting on ScubaBoard.

Not to worry, I'm sure some dandy fellow is keeping us updated on all divers who died from not having a snorkel.