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Extra Long Snorkel

Get closer to those anemones
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This system would rely on a sliding flotation device to keep the top upright, but it would let you decend much farther than that puny footlong breather. It would be a dual- chambered valve-action tube: exhale through one tube, inhale through the other, as CO2 would fill the chamber were it to be one tube. See illustration.

[This idea has been modified from a "Six- foot snorkel" to the "Extra Long Snorkel" to avoid any health issues.]

ophello, Sep 27 2005

Illustration http://www.geocitie...xtralongsnorkel.jpg
X-tra Long Snorkel Illustration [ophello, Sep 27 2005, last modified Sep 28 2005]

(??) Snorkel Science http://www.absolute...ia/s/sn/snorkel.htm
From the article: "The maximum length of the tube is around 50 cm / 18 inches. A longer tube would place the lungs in deeper water where the surrounding water pressure is higher and the lungs would be unable to inflate when the diver inhales, because the muscles that expand the lungs are not strong enough to operate against the higher pressure." [jurist, Sep 28 2005]


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Annotation:







       Make the snorkel so that you have to blow out hard. Then use the pressure of the blowing to pre-pressurise the incoming air. Solves the pressure differential between the water and the ambient air to an extent.   

       P.S. nice illustration
Ling, Sep 28 2005
  

       With the shorter version, this won't be as much of a problem (I hope).
ophello, Sep 28 2005
  

       Gorgeous illustration!
bristolz, Sep 28 2005
  

       It's wonderful to see illustrations of that caliber, [ophello], but this idea didn't work out for Billy Green and me when we tried testing our first submarine in Layton's pond when we were nine. The boat submerged spectacularly, exactly as designed, but our snorkel tube helmets made from galvanized buckets and vacuum cleaner extendible hose attached to an overhead inflated innertube left us gasping for air. [see link for science] Billy swallowed so much pond water that he was sick for a week and I'm pretty sure the old rowboat is still on the bottom of the pond. Mrs. Green didn't let me play with Billy much after that adventure.
jurist, Sep 28 2005
  

       I would still advocate for the longest snorkel safely possible. The one-foot version we have seems arbitrary.
ophello, Sep 28 2005
  

       For every foot of water above your lungs, there is .433 lbs of pressure per square inch. After you go about five feet down, the pressure is so great, you simply can not inhale. Believe me, I've tried this idea and found out the hard way...so I did a little scientific investigation on why I could not breath through a perfectly good hose to the surface. So, I hooked up my Mom's vacuum cleaner exhaust to the hose and tried again. Was able to breath at the bottom at about six foot level, but not very well...vacuum cleaners don't produce very many pounds of pressure. So, my next try was with a bucket I soldered a fitting to and hooked up my Dad's air compresser to it..put my head in the bucket and ...presto, I was a diver at the deepest part of the pool (8') with no problems. But, the bucket kept trying to float me to the surface...so I tied two heavy concret bricks to my feet and strapped the bucket on my head...as I got to the point where water just covered the bucket (and my head) the bucket slipped off and I was anchored to the bottom of the pool and could not quickly get back to shallower water...I managed to slip my feet from the blocks and scramble to the surface just before drowning...so I quit my experiments in any environment that is devoid of natural iar...I've lived just fine so far.
Blisterbob, Sep 28 2005
  

       Is there any risk of tearing something loose if you try REALLY HARD to inhale through a tube at deeper depths? I'd hate to go experimenting and collapse a lung or tear my diaphragm... That'd be almost as bad as tying bricks to one's feet!
Navy_Guns, Sep 28 2005
  

       I wonder if this would work - add a sealed vest that has an interior frame capable of absorbing the pressure before it reaches your skin. If the pressure is offset by the vest, could your lungs inflate with less effort?
longshot9999, Sep 28 2005
  

       [Navy], [longshot], you’re toying with the possibility of ruptured alveoli.   

       The problem with this snorkel is that you can’t go under. Suppose you want to play with the interesting sea creature (nice drawing) and it’s 15’ down?
Shz, Sep 28 2005
  

       //so I tied two heavy concrete bricks to my feet and strapped the bucket on my head//
I'm still laughing.
ldischler, Sep 28 2005
  

       Would it work if there was a pair of waders with a long rigid vertical transparent tube into which you inserted your body? That way, your head and torso would be outside the water and close to sea level pressure but you could stick your limbs into sleeves and trousers to do stuff underwater, and you could see. The tube could be buoyant at the top.
nineteenthly, Sep 28 2005
  

       There is a risk of collapsing your lungs, or at least there was when I took physics 101. Perhaps times have changed.
Cuit_au_Four, Feb 24 2007
  


 

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