How many pennies I should duct tape to my swim snorkel to counter the buoyancy created by the air in the snorkel’s tube?
I was experimenting with using the snorkel today and found the upward pressure it placed on my forehead (where the snorkel strap meets my head) unpleasant. I wondered if somehow weighting the snorkel would help, and came up with the plan of taping pennies to it.
But how many? I have noticed that there are a number of physics-savvy people on the forums, and wondered if someone could figure this out.
It’s a Finis Freestyle snorkel. The volume of the tube varies—there’s about 22cm of tubing that is round, with a diameter of about 2cm, and an additional 32cm of tubing that is a rounded rectangular shape (around 3 x 1 cm). About 3 cm of the latter section is above the water when I swim.
So can anyone help me with this? My purple plaid duct tape is at the ready.
(And if anyone has any better ideas for fixes, involving either snorkel or swimming technique modifications, I’d love to hear them!)
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Former Member
flipturns are the trickiest part of using the snorkle but once you get the hang of it they are no problem. the reason it is pushing off to the side is most likely because it is not oriented correctly during the pushoff. as you push off the wall your face and the snorkle must be pointed directly at the far wall, otherwise the oncoming flow of water will dislodge the snorkle. if you try to turn over to the stomach too fast after the turn it will also cause this problem. i try to push off on my back and only turn over to the stomach after the velocity has slowed enough. this takes some practice but its not that hard. one more thing, if the snorkle is not strapped on your head perfectly straight it will move when you turn even if you do everything else correctly.
flipturns are the trickiest part of using the snorkle but once you get the hang of it they are no problem. the reason it is pushing off to the side is most likely because it is not oriented correctly during the pushoff. as you push off the wall your face and the snorkle must be pointed directly at the far wall, otherwise the oncoming flow of water will dislodge the snorkle. if you try to turn over to the stomach too fast after the turn it will also cause this problem. i try to push off on my back and only turn over to the stomach after the velocity has slowed enough. this takes some practice but its not that hard. one more thing, if the snorkle is not strapped on your head perfectly straight it will move when you turn even if you do everything else correctly.
