Scuba and Snorkeling Masks and Snorkels

[SeaRat]

I have a whole collection built around masks and snorkels. I have been adding to it lately too. Here is a part of my collection:



I want this thread to be about masks and snorkels, the relative advantages of each, and the disadvantages. I have 14 masks shown, two helmets (one white-water and one bicycling, both converted for diving) and 8 snorkels shown. I have two J-snorkels, two that are snorkels which protect against splashes using two different mechanisms, three of the flexible tubing snorkels meant for scuba diving, and one front snorkel for finswimming (competition). Of these, my favorite are the Scubapro Shotgun snorkel and the Aqualung Impulse (the one with the blue tube). These two are the easiest to clear of any snorkel combined with the best for breathing resistance.

I will follow up with more information, but this is meant for snorkel divers and snorkeling as well as scuba.

John

[nikeajax]

OK, well here are my Healthways masks and snorkel:





Very much looking forward to trying them out... one day!

JB

[tomcatpc]

Here is a link to my Pinocchio transformation project last Summer.
vintagescuba.proboards.com/thread/4556/bought
Mark

[DavidRitchieWilson]

My collection of snorkels:

1. Global Riviera snorkel (Made in USA). S-shaped plastic tube with ball valve, rubber mouthpiece (missing) and adjustable rubber head strap.
2. Heinke snorkel tube (Made in England). J-shaped anodised aluminium tube with black rubber mouthpiece.
3. Britmarine "Lloyd Bridges" black snorkel (Made in England for American market). J-shaped black plastic tube with keeper and black rubber mouthpiece.
4. Britmarine "Marina" snorkel (Made in England). J-shaped blue plastic tube with keeper and blue rubber mouthpiece.
5. Britmarine "Turtle" snorkel (Made in England). Blue plastic tube with combination U-bend and mouthpiece in blue rubber.
6. Nemrod snorkel (Made in Spain). Orange plastic tube with combination V-bend and mouthpiece in black rubber.
7. Yaroslavl snorkel (Made in Russia). L-shaped blue plastic tube with blue rubber offset rotatable mouthpiece.
8. Soviet snorkel (Made in the USSR). L-shaped aluminium tube with green rubber keeper and grey rubber offset mouthpiece.
9. Sommap Annelé snorkel (Made in France). Black plastic tube with keeper and combination corrugated flexible hose and mouthpiece in black rubber.
10. SEAC Corrugato Silner snorkel. Black plastic tube with keeper and combination corrugated flexible hose and mouthpiece in black EPDM.
11. AQA Jumbo snorkel (Made in Japan). Contoured black wide-bore plastic tube with keeper and rubber elbow with rotatable rubber mouthpiece.
12. Paragon SN2250 snorkel (Made in Taiwan). Contoured pink wide-bore plastic barrel with keeper, semi-dry top and silicone mouthpiece with purge valve.
13. Paragon SN2250 snorkel (Made in Taiwan). Contoured yellow wide-bore plastic barrel with keeper, semi-dry top and silicone mouthpiece with purge valve.

Snorkels 1-8 (with the possible exception of No 7) are no longer in production, while 9-13 are still available from online dealers. I prefer swimming with traditional snorkels and I wanted to have examples of S-shaped (valved) J-shaped, L-shaped, flexible-hose and contoured breathing tubes in my collection. John mentions frontal snorkels, which he and others use for competitive swimming, and I would love to have a vintage model in my collection, preferably the mid-1950s Typhoon version, because this style of snorkel was popular in the UK back then:

I even have a 1950s Typhoon Super Star mask waiting to be fitted:

Here's another image of a frontal snorkel being used by snorkellers at a London indoor swimming pool in the 1950s:

I'm pretty sure they wouldn't be allowed to swim with snorkelling gear in British public pools nowadays! Another reason why I'm keen to lay my hands on a vintage frontal snorkel like these is the historical development of the snorkel in Europe. The picture below appears in La chasse aux poissons (1940) by Frenchman Dr Raymond Pulvénis, which claims to be the first book dedicated to spearfishing:

Pulvénis, who conducted medical research into syphilis, lived in Nice on the French Riviera and not only practised spearfishing but also patented the spearfishing gear he invented, including the snorkel in the picture. He has also been credited with coining the French term for a snorkel, which is "un tuba", and appears to have been the "brains" behind the Nice-based "Watersports" diving equipment manufacturing company of the 1950s/1960s.

I'll stick to the subject of snorkels for the moment. It'll take a little while to gather my diving mask collection together and I'll post a picture of that when I've done so.

[nikeajax]

DRW: dang son, I love this image of the fellow with the "Pentubulator"! (a good Dr. Suess name for a Dr. Suess image ) That one always makes me laugh, but especially this morning... SIIIIIGH!

I couldn't help but notice the two young ladies, but especially the one who is trying to compensate with her hands: in case you didn't know, her hand is posing too! I think this is an Italian Renaissance-thing. They wanted women's hands to look elegant; doing something while not doing something. The original Barbie Dolls had hands like these and it was very, very on purpose.

To work my way back to the subject, here's Barney Rubble in his mask and fins:



Here are the boxes for my snorkel and fins:





JB

[SeaRat]

David Richie Wilson,

You are probably going to have a very hard time getting a vintage front-mounted snorkel, as they may not have been manufactured at all. I have what may be the original CMAS Manuel De Nage Avec Palme, or Fin Swimming Manual by Karl-Heinz Kerll. It states on the front page:

VERLAG STEPHANIE NAGLSCHMID STUTTGART

CONFÉDERATION MONDIALE DES ACTIVITÈS
CONFEDERATION MUNDIAL DE ACTIVIDADES
SUBAQUATICAS
WORLD UNDERWATERFEDERATION

CMAS Manuel De Nage Avec Palme
Fin Swimming Manual
Karl-Heinz Kerll

Imprimé avec l'aide financière du
Comitté International Olympique (C.I.O.)

EDITION LEISTUNGSSPORT FLOSSENSCHWIMMEN
Derausgeber: Dr. Friedrich Naglschmid

This is the original finswimming manual, and it is a copy, paperclipped at the top. In it, there is a very interesting discussion of equipment. As some of you know, at the time (1980s) I was the Finswimming Director for the Underwater Society of America. Here is a little bit of this manual's discussion on equipment.

5. THE EQUIPMENT

Fin swimming relies heavily on the adequate equipment. Unfortunately there does not exist, to date, a large scale industrial production of the basic equipment, although some efforts are currently being done in this direction. So swimmers and coaches must show much ingenuity and a certain craftmanship in fin construction. As a matter of fact once the basic materials are selected, a few hours work suffices for the completion of a monofin...

...The snorkel is made out of plastic tubes (used for plumbing or electrical installations) which come in thickness of 0.5 to 1.0 mm. Internal diameters ranging from 19 zu 23 mm can be used (the smaller being reserved to the youngest swimmers). In order to shape the snorkel one cuts out a pece circa 60 cm long, fills it up with close packed sand, closes the tow ends with corks and softens the tube, for example, in boiling water. A wooden frame like the one shown in fig. 4 can then be used for an easy shaping of the snorkel, the upper part of which can be more or less bent according to the swimmers preference. The mouthpiece is cut to fit and a rubber ring is put around it for a better adhesion. While the head piece is made from an aluminum or thin inox band made fast with a rubber band...

There was a snorkel available in the 1980s commercially that I bought, and had photos taken of me by my son, Brian in a pool using it.

This is me in the middle of a racing turn.


Here, I'm using the front-mounted snorkel and swimming the crawl stroke. I did purchase a monofin (which I still have), but at this stage I was making photos for the Underwater Society of America to promote finswimming, both for competition and fitness of a diver. My story about a monofin is worth a separate post, and is hilarious. By the way, I'm still wearing that neckless, which I received from my father-in-law Mr. Hsieh when Chris and I were married, 41 years ago. It is a silver link chain, with silver medallion sporting a jade stone, which I love.

By the way, when we met the the U.S. Olympic Committee about making finswimming an Olympic Sport in the late 1980s, they were flabbergasted that swimmers were still using home-made equipment. And, unfortunately due to lack of participation in the USA, finswimming was not officially recognized by the U.S. Olympic Committee.

John

[waldenwalrus]

Hi All,

I like this thread.

Like most of you vintage folks I am somewhat vintage myself. My father started diving in 1960 and when he got us snorkels on 1963 I wanted one of the candy cane long tubed snorkels with the rubber ball (used on a paddle ball)to seal the tube. He said no to that quick. He said we had to be able to clear a regular snorkel or don't use one at all. I still feel that way today. I am an assistant instructor (Dive Control Specialist if your into cool titles) I tend to steer people to the simple snorkels rather than the dry tops and tell them to learn to clear them properly.

For the 30 some odd years I got away from Scuba, I never got away from snorkeling and finswimming. As my handle implies (Walden Walrus) Thoreau's Walden Pond is my daily swimming hole and I usually swim the length (about a mile) or the perimeter (about a mile and a half) When you are swimming freestyle with a mask and fins you notice drag. I have used the front snorkels by Finnis (AKA the Dorkal cus you look like a dork when you wear one) and a variety of others. I prefer my freediving mask and snorkel because they have less drag and the snorkel has a bigger bore than the finnis front snorkel. Any snorkel that prevents water from coming in, also prevents air from coming in and when doing aerobic exercise that matters. Goggles make less drag but you can't see clearly and sometimes you want to dive down to look at something cool.

I never knew finswimming was even thought of as a sport, I do it because I like it and it keeps me in shape for diving. We have an Olympic open water swimmer who trains at Walden and I can't keep up with him for 5 strokes even with fins. Wow is he fast, or maybe I am just slow.

My choice for a scuba snorkel is the Sherwood Edge, drain on the bottom but an open top, no splash guards. Simple, the drain on the bottom makes it clear easily and the tube drops to the side when out of your mouth. Not vintage but that doesn't make it bad.

The Walrus

[DavidRitchieWilson]

Feb 3, 2018 9:32:42 GMT -8 SeaRat said:

David Richie Wilson, You are probably going to have a very hard time getting a vintage front-mounted snorkel, as they may not have been manufactured at all. John

Thanks, John, for the detailed information about front-mounted snorkels and competitive finswimming. I agree that I would have something of a difficult time locating a vintage front-mounted breathing tube, but one commercial model really existed, the one in the short article I reproduced from the 1955 issue of Neptune, the journal of the British Sub Aqua Club:

Here is the corroborating information from the 1956 E. T. Skinner (Typhoon) catalogue:

The full 1956 catalogue can be viewed at drive.google.com/open?id=0Bw7z_4bLjOOEcmt6eVBRbjBBMU0. The snorkel was also sold by London's premier sporting goods store, Lillywhites, in 1956 together with a Typhoon Blue Star mask, whose top screw provided the anchoring point for the snorkel's "attachment bracket":


This mid-1950s British front-mounted snorkel was not designed for finswimming competitions but for underwater swimming, which is what Brits called "skin diving" back then. The same model appeared in the 1966 Typhoon catalogue, whose full text can be found at drive.google.com/open?id=0Bw7z_4bLjOOEZVpYY3c0cUhOdFE.

DRW

[SeaRat]

David Richie Wilson,

Yes, those were available, but not for finswimming. When finswimming, the swimmer starts by using a racing dive off the blocks, like competitive swimmers, and such a mask/snorkel combination would not survive the dive off the blocks.


Can you imagine swimming 50 meters in 16.88 seconds?

Finnis now makes a mask that can be dived off the blocks, and is used in these finswimming competitions. I saw some in J.D. Pence, a swimming retail outlet locally. I may even pick one up. I do have a Dacor mask that is like goggles, which you can see in my collection.

John

[DavidRitchieWilson]

Thanks again, John. The underlying issue is whether the original French Pulvénis front-mounted snorkel of the 1940s, which may have led to the British Typhoon front-mounted snorkel of the 1950s and 1960s, in turn directly led to the competitive finswimmers' homemade front-mounted snorkels of the 1970s or whether the "swimmers' snorkel" came completely "out of the blue" when it became part of the essential gear of Soviet and other nations' competitive finswimmers.

I'll throw into the mix some images of front-mounted snorkels from the Soviet literature, dated where possible. Most are from the 1970s:


The illustration above appeared in the 1977 Soviet diving manual posted at flot.com/publications/books/shelf/shikanovdivers/10.htm. The caption for the third snorkel reads "передняя с прямым загубником", which means "front-mounted with straight mouthpiece".

A similar design appears in another Soviet manual, which I have been unable to date:

Again, the relevant image is the third, with the caption "спортивная с прямым загубником" or "competition straight mouthpiece". A further explanation: "спортивная – перед лицом пловца и удерживается с помощью металлической планки с ремнем. Планка с внутренней стороны прокладывается пористой резиной и изгибается по форме лба", which translates as "Snorkels for competitive swimmers are positioned in front of the face and secured by a metal bracket with a strap. The bracket is lined with sponge rubber on the inside and bent in the shape of the forehead."

And here's a third undated source for this style of snorkel:

This time the caption for the third image reads "для скоростного плавания в ластах" or "for competitive finswimming".

Here's a fourth source, an article entitled "НОВАЯ ДЫХАТЕЛЬНАЯ ТРУБКА" or "A new breathing tube" in a 1972 issue of the Soviet diving magazine "Sportsmen Podvodnik" (Underwater Sportsman):
English translation:

An underwater swimmer’s oldest piece of equipment is believed to be a breathing tube. The ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle (384-322 BC) proposed using a hollow tube for extended stays under water and ‘breathing in the same way as elephants do when their trunks project above the surface.’ Now no one takes seriously the idea of using a breathing tube to increase time spent underwater. In the 1930s, Frenchman Maxime Fauré patented a breathing tube (or ‘snorkel’, as he called it) designed to make breathing easier for a swimmer while located on the surface. If you swim with a breathing tube, you do not have to raise or turn your head to breathe. The rhythm of breathing, the duration of inhalation and exhalation, is regulated by the swimmer arbitrarily, but breathing is not associated with the phase when his arms rise above the water while swimming crawl stroke. The swimmer’s movements become more symmetrical, his body better streamlined. The swimmer had the opportunity to observe continuously through the lens of the mask, without disturbing the rhythm of breathing.

The hollow area within the breathing tube, however, creates additional breathing resistance, growing as the respiration rate increases. Hence the desire to reduce the length of the tube as much as possible to reduce its volume. The use of a variety of valve devices preventing water from entering the hollow area of the tube has not become widespread. Underwater swimmers prefer using the simplest tubes.

Fig. 1. A tube with a flutelike mouthpiece

Fig. 2. A tube for speed swimming

A breathing tube with a V-shaped bend, made of metal or plastic and fitted with a rubber mouthpiece, has become the most widespread. This design has been further developed into a steel tube with an offset (flutelike) mouthpiece (Fig. 1). There is no V-shaped elbow; the tube is shorter, easier for the head to retain, its volume slightly decreased. This tube is now used for underwater sightseeing and spearfishing.

This design, however, does not satisfy swimmers now aspiring to top performances in speed swimming with fins. Our sprinters have begun in recent years to use breathing tubes located symmetrically in the centre of the face (Fig. 2). The tube is firmly retained by the head, enabling swimmers to dive in from the starting blocks and to complete high-speed ‘backflip’ turns with no risk of it being dislodged.

Unfortunately, industry has not yet mastered the production of a new breathing tube model, and athletes are making their own. To do this, a section of tubing made from aluminium alloy, and often polyethylene or vinyl plastic, is used with an inner diameter of 20 to 22 mm and a length of 400 - 450 mm. One end of the tube has a sharp bend, the outlet end with a mouthpiece attached. A mouthpiece suggested by the DOSAAF underwater sports instructor V. I. Khokhlov is often used. This mouthpiece is held in the mouth in such a way that its orifice does not overlap with the teeth, does not reduce the airflow area, making it easier to breathe. The tube is attached to the head with a special bracket with a buckle made of a thin sheet stainless steel or a holder with a rubber strap. A soft foam or microporous rubber lining is glued on the underside of the bracket or holder. The tube can be used with or without a pair of underwater goggles. The slight deterioration in visibility has no significant impact, reducing drag when swimming and affording an opportunity to carry out complex movements that play a major role in achieving good results.

B. Zerkaly, Yu Shmelev, Engineers

Fifthly and finally, here's a variation on the picture of the "speed swimming tube", published in a small booklet by I. V. Mazurov also in 1972:


The accompanying text reads in English translation: "When swimming and diving at a high speed, athletes often use a pair of goggles and a snorkel located in the centre of the face (picture above). Although goggles have a smaller field of vision than a mask, they do offer lower resistance to motion."

The frontal snorkel is, of course, nowadays exclusively associated with finswimming races and most of the sources above make the same association. In the Soviet Union, competitive finswimming was classified as an underwater sport and we all know how much the socialist countries valued athletic competition as a means of achieving world-class standards to rival the West!

[SeaRat]

I have been evaluating my various snorkels in the pool in the last week or two. I've had three sessions in the pool, and used my front-mount snorkels twice. Today is a good example. So here are some observations on the front-mount snorkel (FINIS snorkel).

First, putting it on requires either using goggles or a very close-fitting mask (my option). The front-mount snorkel has a support that goes around the head, with a padded part on the forehead. This snorkel needs to be exactly between the eyes. If it's off by more than half a centimeter (about 1/4 inch), it can cause visual problems. As it in, exactly between the eyes, you will get a double-vision of the snorkel (one from each eye), but the center field is unobstructed. The double vision can be ignored (if you have that ability).

Second, it has a small clearing mushroom valve, and it clears very easily. This is actually the ideal snorkel for clearing, as it is symmetrical and you don't have to worry about curves going around the head.

The front-mounted snorkel is very streamlined, and easy to swim with. With goggles, it can be used off a racing dive platform too.

Because it is long enough, looking down while on the surface does not cause it to flood. If swimming and a wave comes over it, a good, hard exhalation will clear it. If water accumulates inside, closing off the top and blowing will clear it immediately.

So that's the observations I have on the front-mount snorkel. I'll try for photos later.

John

[Aquala1]

Great thread John. I’ve got a whole slew of masks and snorkels tucked away. I’ll see if I can get them together and take a few pics.

[SeaRat]

Okay, I was in the pool again this morning, using four mask and snorkel combinations.

The first combination I used was the Oceanways silicone mask with a U.S. Divers Pivot Dry snorkel. And yes, it was almost always dry after my flip turns. But there was a slight, but noticeable breathing resistance.

The next combination was a U.S. Divers low volume snorkeling mask made of almost transparent silicone. I used it with later model U.S. Divers dry snorkel (with cuts that divert the air flows and slits that allow water to flow out of the tube and not down the snorkel. This snorkel had a lot, and I mean a noticeable lot, of breathing resistance, but did clearwell. The resistance actually blows water out the purge valve below my chin. I swam with this combo for eight lengths (25 yards per length) then took the top part off. This creates a snorkel without noticeable breathing resistance, and it is mipuch shorter. It also clears completely and easily using traditional methods, but when I turned my head to watch wife Chris' kick technique, it would fill with water and need clearing.

Then I switched again to my very old White Stag oval mask, and a Scubapro Jet Snorkel, which is a traditional wrap-around snorkel withoutvalves pr other modern "stuff." It performed admirably and cleared easily, showing that if a snorkel diver knows how to clear the snorkel, no fancy "dry" engineering is needed. I found that the oval mask did present tunnel vision, but is was clear and without the nose piece getting in the visual field.

For my final swims, I used my Scubapro three-window wide view mask in silicone with a Dacor silicon flex snorkel for scuba diving. This is a great combination, and I took it to the deep end to do some 15 foot deep, 90 or so Foot horizontal swimming. What I really like about this mask is that it fits my face so well that I don't need my hands to clear my ears, as my nose is already blocked. For these underwater swims, I was using a new foreword unit for my underwater swimming technique, aide of kayak paddle blades I found in the Clackam River last summer (more on this as I get the concept fully developed). It worked well too

John

[nikeajax]

DRW, I already know, but would you please explain why there's an optimal size of snorkel bore: why is trying to breathe from a big bore snorkel such a horrible task for most people? ( you're a darned good writer and you don't get to participate enough, that's why I'm asking )

JB

[DavidRitchieWilson]

My knowledge of science in general, and respiratory physiology in particular, is limited by my exposure to premature specialisation in the English educational system. Having studied national standards on snorkels, however, the rationale seems to be that longer and wider snorkels may contain excessive "dead space" leading to undesirable outcomes such as retention of CO2 that is subsequently rebreathed. It also takes larger lung capacity to clear any residual water in the tube. My understanding is that wider bore snorkels can be beneficial to adults because they potentially contain more breathable air but that longer snorkels are not a good idea because they make it harder to draw down air from the surface to the depth at which the user is swimming.

I expect that what I've written will now have challenged several laws of physics, which was not my intention, certainly during the week of the death of Stephen Hawking, the UK's most celebrated theoretical physicist. If my reasoning is flawed, I apologise and blame it all on the poverty of my education in scientific matters.

DRW