Best spearfishing snorkel

  • Great thread. I've been thinking about dumping my Riffe stable for a while.


    Mike:


    I am giving my Stable to Campillos as soon as I get a new Sporasub J. I used one at Cat. and it was the best I have ever used until I lost it due to some clumsiness. Very dry and no reservoir in the bottom to create Darth Vader gurgling noises. Very comfortable too.


    Just thought I'd throw that out there. Its amazing to me how the simplest piece of equipment can get so overblown in the name of marketing. Keep it simple. Also amazing is how the perfect snorkel can make such a big difference.

  • Mike:


    I am giving my Stable to Campillos as soon as I get a new Sporasub J. I used one at Cat. and it was the best I have ever used until I lost it due to some clumsiness. Very dry and no reservoir in the bottom to create Darth Vader gurgling noises. Very comfortable too.


    Just thought I'd throw that out there. Its amazing to me how the simplest piece of equipment can get so overblown in the name of marketing. Keep it simple. Also amazing is how the perfect snorkel can make such a big difference.


    Thanks.

  • I am a firm believer in technical progress. I previously was an employee of Tekna before Ralph Osterhout split the company apart and sold the pieces off. During my tenure, I spent many hours testing Tekna products hoping to be on the leading edge of new products within the diving universe. After all of the testing I found that the self-draining snorkels worked well when the valve is fresh, but if any sand became lodged in between the valve material and the opening, or the valve material hardened, they were difficult to keep dry. I reported my findings to Ralph, who told me that even though the design carried its shortcomings, 85% of all purchasers of diving gear purchase it because the sales personnel can tout the products as bearing the latest in technology, thus giving the new diver an edge to keep up with the old salts. Ralph also told me that studies support the attraction new divers have toward bright colored gear. Therefore, he said he was compelled to sell snorkels with all the bells and whistles in the latest day glow colors. He also told me that 80% of new divers dive less than five times before they hang up the gear forever, thereby minimizing the need for the gear to work past outing number five.
    I have used a medium soft rubber tube style snorkel with a neoprene mouthpiece since 1971. I still use the same Tekna snorkel I used when I was a Tekna employee in 1985. One time I was snorkeling on the back side of Molokini Crater and the current began to pull me off the crater to the Southeast. My buddies began circling the crater in the Zodiac looking for me, but did not notice me when I waved my arms. I thought I was in for a long drift but as I had no whistle. At one point the outboard on the Zodiac died and I did my best to yell and wave my arms. My buddies did not see or hear me. I thought this was my last opportunity to get them to look at me, so I blew into the top end of my snorkel like it was a trombone or conch shell. My buddies heard the low tone and came to my rescue.

    Edited once, last by Xp100 ().

  • I have to respectfully disagree with you guys. I hate clearing the snorkel, especially on rough days. I tried the simple OMER/Cressi one and hated it.


    And I find I bite down hard on a regular mouthpiece and get a headache after a day of diving.


    I use a SeaCure mouthpiece on all my scuba regs and it works awesome. So I bought a Riffe Stable and put the SeaCure on it. It hands down beats all the other snorkels I've tried. It suctions to my teeth so I dont bite down with any force, it clears easily IF any water gets in.


    I've been out in 5 footers with whitecaps breaking over my head with the Stable, and almost never need to purge water from it. It is the driest snorkel I've ever used.


    I buy the same snorkel from AQA now for $36 and add a $28 mouthpiece. For the comfort and dryness its worth ever penny. I've had the same one for 2 years, and carry an identical backup with a backup mask too/


    C



    http://shop.hanapaafishing.com/index.php?page=shop.product_details&flypage=shop.flypage&product_id=533&category_id=29&manufacturer_id=0&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=1


    http://www.joediveramerica.com/page/JDA/PROD/SeaCURE1

    Edited once, last by Chuckd: added links ().

  • To clear up for guys who may not understand the mouth piece thing; the Riffe stable snorkel accepts the same mouth piece as a scuba regulator. A few years ago I thought that was a great idea, since sometimes the mouth piece gets bitten through and the snorkel gets trashed. In this case you can just replace the mouthpiece. But I found the scuba mouthpiece to be too big, requiring me to keep my mouth open too wide. One of my criteria for a good snorkel is a small mouthpiece, one that will fit with my mouth being slightly open in as close a position to neutral as possible. This way I don't have to spend any energy keeping the snorkel in my mouth. It really adds up throughout a 6-8 hour day of diving. I find the scuba mouthpiece is definitely not the best for this. Combined with the pull out effect caused by the accordion shape of this snorkel's tube I think it's more exertion for the mouth than necessary.


    Riffe stable snorkel.


  • To clear up for guys who may not understand the mouth piece thing; the Riffe stable snorkel accepts the same mouth piece as a scuba regulator. A few years ago I thought that was a great idea, since sometimes the mouth piece gets bitten through and the snorkel gets trashed. In this case you can just replace the mouthpiece. But I found the scuba mouthpiece to be too big, requiring me to keep my mouth open too wide. One of my criteria for a good snorkel is a small mouthpiece, one that will fit with my mouth being slightly open in as close a position to neutral as possible. This way I don't have to spend any energy keeping the snorkel in my mouth. It really adds up throughout a 6-8 hour day of diving. I find the scuba mouthpiece is definitely not the best for this. Combined with the pull out effect caused by the accordion shape of this snorkel's tube I think it's more exertion for the mouth than necessary.


    Riff stable snorkel.


    http://img96.imageshack.us/img96/157/stablesnorkel.jpg





    Dan, I agree. I removed the original mouthpiece and installed a custom fitted Sea Cure mouth piece. It is in my top ten greatest inventions for spearfishing/scuba diving. Once custom fitted, like I mentioned before, the mouthpiece sticks to your teeth from the surface tension and requires ZERO effort or strain to keep it in your mouth.
    And it can be trimmed as small as you like with sharp scissors or a razor blade. Here are a few examples:

  • The sporasub breeze snorkel looks like it meets all the of requirements you have for a good snorkel although I cant see how they justify that price. Just out of curiosity why arent there any snorkels made of carbon fiber. I know its expensive but that doesnt seem to stop anyone from trying. It seems like a really light snorkel might be nice.

  • I don't know Dan...I have used open and dry snorkels, and could never go back open again. Where I dive there are huge waves that constantly crash on your head, unlike those crystal calm waters I see you guys diving in up North. An open snorkel just wouldn't cut it down here where 6ft waves are the norm.

  • normal J snorkels for normal usage and rough conditions a longer j snorkel.

  • I think with snorkels, like most equipment, it is a matter of preference really. I use an old purge type scuba snorkel with a dry top that is 15 years old and love it. I like the wave protection and purge ability and that mouth piece is worn in perfectly. But what I consider a perfect snorkel another would find cumbersome or garbage. Again, preference; it's all subjective.

  • I think preference is directly proportional to how many different, in this case snorkels, someone has tried. Very often people think that what they have is the best because they simply haven't tried something better. It's in our nature to get accustomed to whatever we're using. I see this with other gear all the time. In the case of fins guys only realize how inferior what they were using before is when they spend some time with the new gear, than switch back just to see the difference. Apart from the obvious points I initially listed in this thread, lightness is what sets apart a good snorkel.

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