A few posts jumped up recently around snorkels, which kicked up the usual debates between the opposing sides. So in this blog I wanted to share my thoughts on the subject, as well as giving a few hints and tips, with one MAJOR ONE I think EVERYONE should understand, practice and spread the word about. If you are going to read or not read any of this blog, please read the tip below.
The Major Tip:
The majority of us, would have been taught how to clear our snorkel by expelling a breath after diving down below the surface. Now this technique does have a place in courses, as it builds water confidence and teaches how to clear water from a snorkel should water enter it, but that’s as far as I see it. The issue is not with the actual technique of clearing, it’s what happens leading up to it. The snorkeler swims along, takes a deep breath, pivots, swims down keeping the snorkel in their mouth, swims along at a given depth before surfacing. The issue is leaving that snorkel in their mouth! If for any reason they pass out (possibly following hyperventilating) the water now has a clear route down the snorkel, into their mouth, and straight down into their lungs. If this happens they WILL experience drowning. They might not pass out, it could be shock for example. Now, if they remove the snorkel, their mouth is closed, and with the face mask protecting their nose, the chance of water getting into their lungs is greatly reduced. So the chance of drowning is greatly reduced (but still possible). If you snorkel and like to dive down, get into the habit of taking your snorkel out.
Snorkel or No Snorkel?
Now as always in my blogs I do like to make my own views clear, and this one would be no different. I ditched my snorkel shortly after training, and having one could have been handy on a number of occasions since then, but was not absolutely necessary (I managed to grind my way through). This confirmed my own conclusion, one was not needed. I lived and debated this position for a long period of time. This was mainly down to not knowing what I didn’t know, which is a subject I blogged about recently and would recommend having a read as it highlights why so many divers can grasp on to incorrect ideas. You Don’t Know What You Don’t Know!
On my journey of re discovery and aiming to be the best diver I could be, I started questioning all the various conclusions I had and was adamant about. I do have a competitive nature, and I do love a good debate, and have always loved trying to argue from what I believe was the devils advocate position as it’s good fun and a laugh. So when looking at this question, I looked at one of the most common reasons given about not using the snorkel, and that was around proper gas planning and management, which would mean a snorkel is not needed. Now for those who are not that into debates, one of the strongest attacks of a debate is to as quickly as possible take the opposing sides argument off the table, build on that premise, and other bits will fall into place. As soon as I did this, I realised my argument for not having a snorkel was not as strong as I once thought! So now I sit on the side of there are a number of dives that taking a snorkel could be very beneficial. A lot more than dives where a snorkel is not necessary.
So taking the properly planned gas management argument and getting rid of it. There are few instances where as a rescuer it will be beneficial to remove your kit. This means you could have a full tank of gas but it will be of no use to you as it will be more of a hindrance. A couple of examples, you are towing an unconscious diver in from a shore dive, the waves are breaking between between 30cm to 60cm (1-2ft), depth 1 to 1.5m. Working your way through the white water will be extremely challenging with full kit, even without kit the chance of falling over, getting knocked around etc is extremely high, and will be a lot worse with kit on. Only real option is to remove your kit. This needs tp be done soon as possible and once off it would certainly be better and safer for you to have a snorkel in. Staying on the task of rescues, a similar instance can occur getting someone on to a boat, jetty, rocky shore line, where the removal of kit is paramount. Now I am not saying some cant be done in full kit, which some can. The point of this is to highlight that the other sides argument cant be applied fully. Staying in full kit, is not impacted in anyway to you having a snorkel in your pocket.
Now keeping on rescues, lets say your buddy loses their gas due to something outside their control, free flow or bust hose. I have seen brand new hoses go pop, so having new hoses certainly wont make you immune from this happening. Anyway you buddy breath and get to the surface with that 50 bar reserve, perfect planning! Now tensions will be raised due to stress, and both divers could be breathing up to 100-140 ltrs a minute at the surface, possibly more. (To learn about breathing rates, check out Gas Management and Planning). At the lower end rate, that will only give you 6 mins of gas at the surface, higher end maybe 4mins or less. You have a few issues arising out of this if the sea state is not perfect (in the UK it rarely is). 1) you need to stay connected to your buddy as you don’t want to drift apart and pull the Reg out, this means you are now exerting energy holding each other which equals burning through gas. 2) Due to swell, you are now likely to bump into each other, increasing the risk of injury. 3) Conditions will mean the boat is slower picking up divers, as again they don’t want to rush and cause an injury, meaning longer wait times in the water. Again this can all be done without a snorkel, and you could battle through without one, but again it certainly would be safer and easier with one to hand. There is also the challenge, if you are already on the boat and de-kitted, and you have to jump back into the water to assist in a rescue, a snorkel could certainly help in that instance.
Taking a step a way from rescues, here are a few more examples, I could come up with. Sometimes we complete multiple dives a day on twinset configurations, and knock out 2 or 3 dives on 1 fill. If you are planning to do this, you will want to conserve your gas after the 1st and possible 2nd dive. So rather than using gas at the surface, you could switch to a snorkel, and save the gas for your next dive. In the UK, the water gets cold especially during the winter. This means you have a greater chance of free flow if breathing your reg on the surface, which if not resolved could result in loss of gas, or having to shut your cylinder down. I did do a blog on free flows here Free flows – Every Second Counts
There are a number of other instances that could increase your wait time at the surface which no amount of gas planning could account for. Sea Mist/Fog could come in. The dive boat could be taking its time as it’s dealing with a rescue. Every year we hear of lost divers or the dive boat not actually being there. Some shore dives require long surface swims. For me, my thoughts are switch to a snorkel and keep my reserve gas as back up.!
With all that in mind, I believe for the majority of dives a snorkel is piece of equipment that is well worth having to hand. There are of course dives, where a snorkel will make no difference. I personally do not carry a snorkel on every dive, but there are certainly dives where I have left it behind and it would have been wiser to have it with me.
Even tho, I have shifted into believing carrying a snorkel is the wiser choice, I am certainly not an advocate of keeping it attached to the side of your mask. Leaving a snorkel attached to your mask adds a number of potential issues. First is it becomes an additional entanglement hazard. I have personally seen someone get caught in a fishing net because of their snorkel, and have seen numerous incidents where divers have launched/towed a DSMB that have also become entangled. 2nd it causes clutter. Now what I mean by that, is it’s a piece of equipment out in the open that is not being used, so has no reason to be there! Clutter can cause nuisance or confusion. I have seen this with newly qualified divers confusing it with their regulator or even their BC inflation hose. So where do I stow mine, well, I have a simple silicone collapsible / folding one which goes either in a pocket, my get out of dodge bag (My GOOD Bag (Get Out Of Dodge)), or tucked away somewhere. I also went for a bright colour rather than black so it differs significantly from my BC hose.
As always I hope you enjoyed the blog, and would love to hear others thoughts on the subject.
G-SAV
Graham Savill (G-SAV) Scuba Blog 