page_title: Snorkel (swimming)
section_title: Orientation and shape
hierarchical_section_title: Snorkel (swimming) / Separate snorkels / Orientation and shape
caption_attribution_description: English: Four basic side-mounted snorkel shapes are illustrated. Shape A: J-shaped snorkel. Shape B: L-shaped snorkel. Shape C: Flex-hose snorkel. Shape D: Contoured snorkel.
context_page_description: A snorkel is a device used for breathing air from above the surface when the wearer's head is face downwards in the water with the mouth and the nose submerged. It may be either separate or integrated into a swimming or diving mask. The integrated version is only suitable for surface snorkeling, while the separate device may also be used for underwater activities such as spearfishing, freediving, finswimming, underwater hockey, underwater rugby and for surface breathing with scuba equipment. A swimmer's snorkel is a tube bent into a shape often resembling the letter "L" or "J", fitted with a mouthpiece at the lower end and constructed of light metal, rubber or plastic. The snorkel may come with a rubber loop or a plastic clip enabling the snorkel to be attached to the outside of the head strap of the diving mask. Although the snorkel may also be secured by tucking the tube between the mask-strap and the head, this alternative strategy can lead to physical discomfort, mask leakage or even snorkel loss.
context_section_description: Snorkels come in two orientations: Front-mounted and side-mounted. The first snorkel to be patented in 1938 was front-mounted, worn with the tube over the front of the face and secured with a bracket to the diving mask. Front-mounted snorkels proved popular in European snorkeling until the late 1950s, when side-mounted snorkels came into the ascendancy. Front-mounted snorkels experienced a comeback a decade later as a piece of competitive swimming equipment to be used in pool workouts and in finswimming races, where they outperform side-mounted snorkels in streamlining. Front-mounted snorkels are attached to the head with a special head bracket fitted with straps to be adjusted and buckled around the temples.
  Side-mounted snorkels are generally worn by scuba divers on the left-hand side of the head because the scuba regulator is placed over the right shoulder. They come in at least four basic shapes: J-shaped; L-shaped; Flexible-hose; Contour.
  A. J-shaped snorkels represent the original side-mounted snorkel design, cherished by some for their simplicity but eschewed by others because water accumulates in the U-bend at the bottom.
  B. L-shaped snorkels represent an improvement on the J-shaped style. They claim to reduce breathing resistance, to cut water drag and to remove the "water trap".
  C. Flexible-hose snorkels curry favour with some scuba divers because the flexible hose between the tube and the mouthpiece causes the lower part of the snorkel to drop out of the way when it is no longer in use. However, a spearfisher equipped with this snorkel must have a hand spare to replace the mouthpiece when it falls out of the mouth.
  D. Contour snorkels represent the most recent design. They have a "wraparound" shape with smooth curves closely following the outline of the wearer's head, which improves wearing comfort.
caption: Basic snorkel shapes
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