But What If…?

The chief argument for carrying snorkels on every scuba dive is that, “It’s better to have one and not need it than to need one and not have it.” Of course, as pointed out earlier, you can make that argument about a lot of equipment. Unfortunately, by the time you load yourself up with gadgets for every contingency, you end up causing more problems than you solve.

If I had to play devil’s advocate, and come up with an example of why divers “must” carry snorkels with them on every dive, I’d use the scenario out of the dive industry’s favorite summer movie: Open Water (i.e., left behind by a dive boat in open ocean and forced to survive for hours at the surface, hoping for pickup). Under those circumstances, I’d drop whatever weight I was carrying, inflate my BC/scuba unit, take it off and sit on it.

Well, so much for needing a snorkel…

But, wait! What if my BC develops a leak and I’m forced to abandon it as well? Wouldn’t I want a snorkel so that I would not have to struggle to keep my head out of the water to breathe? Well, yes I would — assuming I was stupid enough to not be wearing adequate exposure protection.

Any diver with half a brain wears at least a 3mm jumpsuit, regardless of how warm the water is. Unless you can find a body of water that is warmer than 88 degrees Fahrenheit, your body is going to lose heat, and you’ll need a wetsuit to offset this loss. Full wetsuits also provide important protection against stings, abrasion and sunburn. They can further provide emergency flotation that, unlike a BC, can’t be punctured or leak. If it were to come to a choice between relying on a snorkel or a wetsuit for survival, I’m going with the wetsuit. But why not have both?

It comes down to where you wear it »

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