where can i get a snorkel mask that has the pipe coming out of the top?
cannot have pipe in the mouth for health reasons did see one once but cannot remeber were, please help
Sorry, but I don’t think this kind of mask is made anymore, since the ‘snorkel’ would have to be valved to stop the mask from flooding when one dived down under the water. Valved snorkels haven’t been sold for years, mainly because they didn’t work very well in practice.
I’m not sure what you could mean by ‘health reasons’, but if you’re concerned about having a hard vulcanised rubber mouthpiece on a snorkel irritating e.g. mouth ulcers, many ‘regular’ snorkels sold these days have replaceable silicone mouthpieces, which are a lot softer and more comfortable in the mouth than the rubber type.
If you have dentures, a decent snorkel mouthpiece shouldn’t be any harder on them than chewing–indeed, correct technique is to hold the mouthpiece in place by sealing the lips round it, rather than gripping it tightly with the teeth.
You can even buy customisable mouthpieces, which you soften by dipping in hot water, then bite down on to mould the mouthpiece to your own jaw/tooth formation. They’re intended more for SCUBA diving regulators, but it might be possible to cable-tie it to a Snorkel.
You’d need to go to a dedicated watersports/dive store for something like this, since the typical cheap mask/Snorkel Sets that you can buy in e.g. supermarkets/gas stations are generally pretty uncomfortable to wear/use. They usually use plastic (hard and inflexible) rather than silicone components, and polycarbonate lenses (which get scratched easily) instead of glass.
July 14th, 2009 at 1:26 pm
Sorry, but I don’t think this kind of mask is made anymore, since the ‘snorkel’ would have to be valved to stop the mask from flooding when one dived down under the water. Valved snorkels haven’t been sold for years, mainly because they didn’t work very well in practice.
I’m not sure what you could mean by ‘health reasons’, but if you’re concerned about having a hard vulcanised rubber mouthpiece on a snorkel irritating e.g. mouth ulcers, many ‘regular’ snorkels sold these days have replaceable silicone mouthpieces, which are a lot softer and more comfortable in the mouth than the rubber type.
If you have dentures, a decent snorkel mouthpiece shouldn’t be any harder on them than chewing–indeed, correct technique is to hold the mouthpiece in place by sealing the lips round it, rather than gripping it tightly with the teeth.
You can even buy customisable mouthpieces, which you soften by dipping in hot water, then bite down on to mould the mouthpiece to your own jaw/tooth formation. They’re intended more for SCUBA diving regulators, but it might be possible to cable-tie it to a snorkel.
You’d need to go to a dedicated watersports/dive store for something like this, since the typical cheap mask/snorkel sets that you can buy in e.g. supermarkets/gas stations are generally pretty uncomfortable to wear/use. They usually use plastic (hard and inflexible) rather than silicone components, and polycarbonate lenses (which get scratched easily) instead of glass.
References :
Former SCUBA instructor (PADI # 609394)
July 14th, 2009 at 2:09 pm
I used to have one as a kid but they quit making them for a couple of reasons, the main one being that the user ended up re-breathing their exhalation due to the large "dead" air space of the mask in addition to the snorkels coming out the top of the mask. The user just did not have the lung capacity to breathe past these dead air spaces. The second reason they stopped making them was that they used either a spongy rubber ball or a ping pong ball housed in a birdcage type device that would close off the top of the snorkels. This kept the water out when the snorkeler went below the waterline but the balls compressed the deeper the snorkeler went which either compromised the seal (the ping pong ball) or ended up clogging the tubes (the foam rubber ball).
The snorkeling industry went without "dry" snorkel for close to twenty five years but was finally able to come up with designs that addressed the sealing problems like this snorkel.
http://www.snorkelingonline.com/snorkel/Snorkels/UltraDry-Snorkel.html
If your health issue is an allergic reaction to rubber, most of the snorkels use a hypoallergenic silicone mouthpiece to overcome this issue.
If you are suffering from TMJ (temporomandibular joint syndrome) you could opt for a mold-able bite for the mouthpiece or a smaller mouthpiece to help with that.
References :
http://www.healthcentral.com/chronic-pain/tmj-38544-5.html