The Snorkel Controversy. Always in? or Out as we dive?

From a spear fishing first point of view - Out.

from a "it feels good to have your mouth closed underwater point of view"- out

From a "you black out and have a flow of water straight from the snorkel to your mouth you drown immediately" were as if not your mouth automatically closes and hopefully your buddy is there to revive you quickly.

"with snorkel can immediately and uninterruptedly assume horizontal recuperating position
[] ALL WHILE KEEPING HIS VISUAL CONTACT WITH THE BOTTOM.[/U]"

being horizontal is not a "recuperating" position!!! in my book, doing necessary recovery breathing after a dive with head slightly out of the water and once in the clear then moving back to a horizontal position, or you can swim up from a 75ft dive with gun in hand and immediately go to horizontal position with snorkel in mouth huffing and puffing each time just asking for a blackout to occur because you have not done any real recovery breathing, recovery breathing is seriously important and is not done through a snorkel unless it is small 15ft dives for a few seconds. Your an instructor? for what may I ask without any disrespect.

Easy to answer.

Recovering breathing through a small tube where it's a forced inhale or your open mouth?

Snorkel out of mouth. No question.

When you surface with a snorkel in your mouth and give a big blast of air to clear you immediately drop the pressure in your blood vessels in the brain which keeps the O2 there and this in turn can cause a blackout very rapidly. By having a snorkel in your mouth you have an open air way for water to flood in in an emergency.

snorkel always out

Quote from black1

When you surface with a snorkel in your mouth and give a big blast of air to clear you immediately drop the pressure in your blood vessels in the brain which keeps the O2 there and this in turn can cause a blackout very rapidly. By having a snorkel in your mouth you have an open air way for water to flood in in an emergency.

snorkel always out

I agree! Out, for safety reasons - it gets to be a habit of spitting it out just before you descend then you don't have to worry about swallowing water in a panic or having to clear it on the surface before you breathe.

out,,,in keeps air in the snorkel and makes noise on descent too

I keep it out but put it back in as I near the surface sometimes. Only if, I have to keep an eye on the fish, diving shallow, or if I'm feeling fine air wise.

Rick, it's a good question that you brought up, I don't think it's been discussed at length here before.

I spit the snorkel out on every dive. I do this by pushing on the mouth piece with my tongue, so I don't have to reach for it. The number one reason for me is that it's easier to take the first breath on surfacting, and consequent recovery breaths, without a snorkel. I also find I use up less energy when I'm not making an effort to keep the snorkel in my mouth, it does require a small effort. The snorkel flopping around has never been an issue for me. One option is tucking it under the mask strap, this eliminates any movement but the twisting in and out of the mouth. The whole process is almost automatic, I don't waste energy thinking about the steps.

When diving on a shallow fish flooding the snorkel eliminates the bubble noise which may spook the fish.

Quote from seaweed

I keep it out but put it back in as I near the surface sometimes. Only if, I have to keep an eye on the fish, diving shallow, or if I'm feeling fine air wise.

i find myself doing the same thing-- but only under the conditions u listed

I am just an average snorkeler..... I always keep it in. Kinda like sucking my thumb.:D I hope this helps everyone decide.

Always In.

The tide has turned

Snorkel in

Depend on depth..if I'm going deep and long time under i put it out.. If's a shallow dive not to long i keep it in.. And i clear mine before getting to the surface that pushing water out in the surface is far into the past. You let a small bubble of air go out in your last 5 feet while you look up, by the time you reach the surface tube is clear of water and ready to breath and you can keep scanning the bottom like Rick said. I guess different approach to the topic. Purging water out of the snorkel is a waste of time.

"If you look at many of the freediver blackout reports you will see that there is an increased incidence of lung complications—meaning water into the lungs. About 20 years ago, when the majority dove with their snorkels continuously there were less reported lung complications, at least in my experience."

about 20 years ago (from Terrys book date) deep was 40ft and they used to hyperventilate like crazy which was the norm, they also did not understand shallow water blackout either back then like we do know, just because Terry says something in his book does not override common sense for me personally. I have spoken to Terry at length about his new safety vest and although the subject of snorkel in mouth did not come up I would bet it would be a safer thing to do is have your snorkel out of your mouth if you blacked out and the vest was thrusting you to the surface, I will ask him about this.

Rick please don't take this as anything but my opinion please, I feel strong about it, but, mean no dis respect to you or negativity towards you on this subject ok.

always in.