The snorkel is an essential piece of equipment in scuba diving, whether it is scuba diving or snorkeling the snorkel has an important role to play, that is to help us breathe better. There are many different types of snorkel, and the one that we all wonder about is whether it is better to choose a dry snorkel or a wet snorkel.
The role of breathing tubeYou may wonder why breathing tube is also one of the standard equipment when scuba diving has cylinders and regulators. Because first of all, when your face is in the water looking down or searching for something during a surface break or swim, you can breathe through the snorkel to minimize the consumption of air from your cylinders. Second, when the water is windy and choppy, you can avoid letting water gush into your mouth by utilizing the snorkel's orifice height, which is usually higher than the height of the waves. Third, if you get out of the water away from the boat or shore and there is little air left in the cylinder, the snorkel makes it easier to swim back to the boat or shore where your face can rest naturally in the water. And when snorkeling, a snorkel is even more essential equipment; you can spend an entire day in the water without lifting your head. Try it.
A typical snorkel is designed with an opening at one end and a curved tube with a bite at the other. The top half of the snorkel (the body) is usually a semi-rigid plastic tube, and the bottom half of the bite is mostly made of silicone. A proper breathing tube should have the right curvature (to fit your own face), an inner diameter of about 2 centimeters and a length of 30 to 35 centimeters. A suitable breathing tube should be easy to breathe in addition to being comfortable. When trying it out, you can place the bite between your lips and teeth and lean the tube in front of your left ear. The bite should fit comfortably and not rub your mouth or cause jaw fatigue, and, when contained in your mouth, it is flat and straight.
Types of Breathing Tubes1, Wet Breathing Tubes
The simplest structure of a breathing tube is one that consists of a biting mouthpiece and a plastic elbow. When the water from the mouth of the tube into, need to use the method of fierce blowing, the water from the bottom of the bite mouth to the top of the mouth of the tube spray.
2, semi-dry breathing tube
In the wet breathing tube on the basis of the lowest end of the elbow to install a single drain valve. So that when the breathing tube into the water, only need to gently blow, the water will be discharged from the drain valve at the low end, do not need to be sprayed from the uppermost pipe mouth. However, if the membrane of the drain valve is not properly homed, water will gush into the tube when you inhale.
3, full-dry breathing tube
In the semi-dry breathing tube on the basis of the upper mouth of the tube installed a waterproof valve, by a float to control the valve switch. When the surface of the water is about to be over the mouth of the tube, the float rises to close the valve, the water level drops after the float drops the valve opens, so as to achieve almost no water in the breathing tube.
Selection of breathing tubeSeemingly, the full-dry breathing tube is more complete, but the waterproof valve is often unable to open properly after the water level drops, resulting in the user can not inhale, in addition to the additional features of the full-dry breathing tube weight is more heavy, hanging on the side of the mask impedes the underwater activities, so the majority of professional scuba mask manufacturers equipped with a breathing tube is a semi-dry breathing tube. After mastering the skills of breathing tube drainage, scuba divers prefer semi-dry snorkel, while freedivers, who are more skillful in controlling their breathing, prefer the more portable and lightweight full wet snorkel.