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On Wed, 8 Jan 97 10:20:11 -0000, Joel Markwell wrote: >Mike, > >While I agree with you about the wings under many circumstances, and >generally about snorkels, the situation that this guy described cries out >for an air passage during such a long surface exposure. You are arguing about an event that can not conceivably occur if your dive is properly planned. This includes having everyone topside know what the plan is regarding drop-off, pick-up, departure time, etc, as well as planning for weather and sea conditions. Snorkels are dangerous because they represent a large potential to snag, and hence should not be carried under any circumstances. To try and justify their use based on the event(s) you describe, is a nonsensical argument since these events will not occur if the excursion is properly planned. >If you are on >your back in heavy seas for any extended period and your cylinders are >empty (can you breath off a depleted set of doubles for 14 hours??) then >you need an _alternate_ air source--a snorkel. Not true. I have been on the surface for >2 hours in heavy seas during a search operation, and that time was spent on my back, wings sufficiently inflated to keep my head high above water. A snorkel does not represent an alternate air source, but rather an unnecessary convolution (and additional dead air space) to provide you with air that is already there. >You are better off face >down, keeping your head out of the water in heavy seas takes effort, that >effort may be what delivers you into exhaustion/hypothermia and death. First off, keeping your head out of water should not require any effort at all. If it does, then you need to adjust your gear configuration until it no longer presents this problem. There seems to be a nasty habit in the diving community of trying to correct one problem with another, when there are really simple solutions to everything. Exhaustion - will not occur if you are properly rigged and equipped for the task(s) at hand. If not, you need to plan more efficiently. Hypothermia - if you are wearing an exposure suit that provides sufficient insulation at depth, there is no way that you should encounter hypothermia at the surface. Once again, you are probably using the wrong gear, if you can not float comfortably in heavy seas. Death - as I mentioned in a previous message, Charles Darwin was right. >With a snorkel you can float face down where you can swim easier if need >be, and where your body is in the optimal, relaxed position for a long >exposure if need be. Yes I know lying on your back is relaxing and yes I >do it after dives all the time, but in 4-8' seas, it is more relaxing--in >my experience--on your face. A good snorkel will keep your airway open. >Trying to breath with water splashing across your face and no secure >airway is no fun. Read the above. And to be quite honest, in the event of rough weather where water is being blown off the surface by the wind conditions, I would much rather it blow across my face than into a snorkel that I happen to be breathing through. >There is a reason that the rescue divers in all the navys and coast >guards of the world use a snorkel in in-water rescue operations--because >they work! I can only speak for Canadian operations, but we do not use snorkels in water rescue here. As the result of budget cuts, the only Coast Guard divers that remain are the hovercraft crews (all other work is now contracted), who use AGA's with surface supply, and no snorkels. The Department of National Defense rescue swimmers (SARTEC), as far as I have seen do not use them, as they interfere with helmets and snag in debris, but I may be mistaken. -Sean T. Stevenson Seaman, Search and Rescue crewperson (IRB), Canada Coast Guard; acting unit leader, Canadian Marine Rescue Auxiliary (Western) Inc. Crescent Beach
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