I enjoy snorkeling whenever I get the opportunity (read: have enough available credit on my mastercard to go to the Bahamas). Problem is, I have a fundamental opposition to mouthbreathing. It's so deep-seated that I keep blowing my mask off of my face when I snorkle, resulting in water in my nose and eyes.

Or, I'll have a mask that is too large for my tiny little microcephalitic noggin*, and the sealant trim around my nose will stretch out my lips, resulting in a poor seal with the snorkel. This also invariably means that the snorkel itself dips into the water too frequently to be easily purged.

Why not solve two problems at once? The snorkel, instead of being a separate piece from the mask, is instead similar to a gas mask. The eye mask fits into a slot in the top of the nosepiece (just like a car window fits between the gaskets on a door) to allow for some movement, and also allowing for some sealing between the two sets of trim.

This solves the dangerous problem of having water drain into the eyes when the snorkel is submerged (as in single-piece snorkel/mask combinations), but also allows for easier breathing. The snorkel and mouth/nose mask can be a single piece to prevent leakage.

*I don't actually suffer from microcephaly, but I do have a small head
-- shapu, Oct 29 2007

US Patent 6,668,823 (2002) http://www.google.c...AAAAEBAJ&dq=6668823
"Diving mask allowing breath of a user with the nose" [jutta, Oct 29 2007]

How will you squeeze your nose to acclimate your ears from the pressure?
-- mylodon, Oct 29 2007


You know I've never actually done that? I've never SCUBAd, but I've snorkeled down into the 20, maybe 30-foot range, and never done the nose pinch thing.

EDIT: at any rate, if this is made with a soft silicone, that's still possible. It's sealed on the top, but not at the bottom, but your nose can still be pinched off regardless of where it's sealed.
-- shapu, Oct 29 2007



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