Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 9/18/84; site utcsri.UUCP Path: utzoo!utcsri!sandler From: sandler@utcsri.UUCP (Howard Sandler) Newsgroups: net.rec.scuba Subject: Re: Snorkels Message-ID: <1572@utcsri.UUCP> Date: Wed, 30-Oct-85 19:39:22 EST Article-I.D.: utcsri.1572 Posted: Wed Oct 30 19:39:22 1985 Date-Received: Wed, 30-Oct-85 19:51:28 EST References: <12000005@uiucdcs> Organization: CSRI, University of Toronto Lines: 23 I don't think that the problem with wide-bore snorkels is "dead- air" space. The air you exhale into the tube is still 16% oxygen and makes up only a fraction of the air you inhale on the next breath. The difficulty that I have found with wide-bore snorkels is the large amount of water that drips back to the mouthpiece after clearing them. Perhaps this is ddue to the larger surface area compared to a smaller-bore snorkel. Having said that, I still prefer a wider snorkel for the easier breathing resistance. The rule I was taught in my NAUI course was to choose a snorkel just wide enough to stick your thumb into. It has never failed me yet. I would like to pose a question myself. I have always used snorkels that bend immediately from the mouthpiec; that is, they don't have the classic "J" shape that early snorkels had. I find that after clearing these snorkels the drip-back arrives right at my mouth, causing me to choke on the next inhalation. It seems to me that the true "J" -shaped snorkels would be better, since the water would collect at the pit of the bend, rather than at the mouthpiece. Howard M. Sandler Dept. of Electrical Engineering University of Toronto