Summer is near and you might need some gear to prepare you. If your summer includes extreme water activities such as scuba diving and snorkeling, you might be in the market for a snorkel.
You might have discovered that there are a ton of styles and features of snorkels out there.
You might have heard of dry snorkel sets which don’t look like the typical snorkel sets. What is a dry snorkel, its features, pros and cons, and design?
Dry snorkels are not really new to the market. They are different from the typical stream lined snorkels without the inconvenience of airing out the water when water comes into the valve. What are the other features of the best dry snorkels?
Features
Rather than attached to the mask strap, the dry top snorkel is integrated right into the mask. Dry top snorkel allow little to now water in to the snorkel.
Even when it’s fully submerged either accidentally while snorkeling or purposely while scuba diving for example, water is not allowed to get in to the snorkel.
With dry top snorkel, you will never have to clear water out of the snorkel. It helps to save time and energy making your water activity both comfortable and efficient.
Pros
Minimal (or no) water into the tube
As stated above, this is the main feature of dry top snorkel. It is unavoidable that water will sometimes come into the snorkel tube. With dry top snorkel, you will never have to worry about it.
If you love free diving or scuba diving, you won’t have to put effort to clear water out of the tube.
Energy saving
Since water is not allowed to enter the tube time and energy is saved and you can swim more efficiently since you won’ have to forcefully blow the water out of the tube or lift your head out of the water, interrupting the snorkeling experience, to clean the water out of the snorkel.
Cons
Bulky
Dry top snorkels are a bit bulkier than most of the stream lined snorkels. Some dry top snorkels even come with whistles and bells. This bulk causes it to pull on the mask.
Potential air blockage
Certain top dry snorkels, depending on the brand, will automatically close when they’re not supposed to due to a built in valve making it difficult to breathe, forcing the user to lift their head out of the water.
Buoyant underwater
Dry top snorkels sometimes bang in your head underwater and float around. It is more buoyant in the water than the other typical snorkels.
Is a Dry Top Snorkel For You?
If you are a beginner or nervous when in water, dry top snorkel will help you relax.
It doesn’t let water in the valve so you can have a nice time viewing the world beneath the surface. You won’t have to remove the snorkel while you are in the water which would make you nervous and cause panic. If you love free diving, dry top snorkel is for you.
Just like any other products, dry top snorkels have disadvantages too. Some of the brands are built with valves that open or close when they’re not supposed to.
Because of their added luxury such as bells and whistles, dry top snorkels are bulkier causing them to have more buoyancy in the water.
But these disadvantages are outweighed by the advantages of having longer snorkel times and efficiency. You will never go wrong when you get yourself a dry top snorkel.
