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!)
So, here are the various results of my snorkel experiments over the last few days:
It takes 80 pennies to neutralize the buoyancy of the air in my snorkel when both ends are taped.
Taping 12 pennies to the snorkel improves the way it feels on my forehead; 20 pennies is even better (although it wiggles around more when I push off walls that way).
I'm still working on padding the snorkel strap. The problem seems to be that the strap only contacts my forehead at one point, right in the middle where the two semi-rigid sections of the strap almost meet. These pieces are curved, but the curvature doesn't match that of my head, so the rest of these sections of strap don't make contact with my forehead. So I need something that is soft and somewhat bulky to pad these sections with, so that the pressure from the snorkel is distributed evenly across my forehead, and not centered right on one point.
On a positive note, the purple plaid duct tape I used to tape the pennies was widely admired. I'm thinking of decorating the edges of my paddles with it as well.:)
Interesting. My biggest physics problem with my Finis snorkle (non-freestyle version) is that the purge valve points towards my feet. Therefore, the only way it purges is if I lift my head really high. That's the only way that the purge valve is the lowest point.
So, I'm limited to open turns.
Any suggestions on how to correct this? Perhaps I should just tape over the purge valve with multi-colored duct tape, and blow the water out the old-fashioned way.
Interesting. My biggest physics problem with my Finis snorkle (non-freestyle version) is that the purge valve points towards my feet. Therefore, the only way it purges is if I lift my head really high. That's the only way that the purge valve is the lowest point.
So, I'm limited to open turns.
Any suggestions on how to correct this? Perhaps I should just tape over the purge valve with multi-colored duct tape, and blow the water out the old-fashioned way.
no need to mod the snorkle, just blast the first exhale after the turn.
You can easily modify the shape with a hair dryer and a little bending. Then you may no longer need the counter weight (keep the tape on though). I had to reshape the tube this way because the tip would point forward and submerse with a neutral head position
Hey, the hair dryer thing really worked! Now the strap fits my head better. It still needs better padding, but it's not unbearable as is. Thanks.
I still haven't figured out the flipturn thing. I can flip just fine, but then I rotate over to my stomach the snorkel gets pushed off-center. But still, it's a big improvement. I used the snorkel for 800 yards this morning (with open turns). I'm looking forward to using it when the pool is set up LCM.
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.
