Scubamax Total Dry Flex and Purge Snorkel

This upcoming September my boyfriend and I are taking a vacation to the Bahama's. My brother who had been there this past year, told us that we better buy our own scuba/snorkel gear, because many resorts (even the all inclusive ones) will charge you an hourly rate to rent there gear out.

No way in heck was I going to pay ridiculous prices to rent out cheap Walmart masks.

Seeing how I recently had acquired quite a few dollars in Amazon.com e-certificates by taking online surveys, I figured what better way to spend my earnings. I first ordered a Tilos EXCEL Frameless Mask, and then figured I may as go ahead and buy myself a snorkel to go with that mask.

At home we had an old-school J shaped snorkel, but after prowling numerous forums I discovered that snorkels were also now being sold with a new feature that I had never heard of before!

Basically when you dip underwater your snorkels inner chamber will stay dry. When you resurface you will breath in air, and not have to purge out a bunch of water.

The Scubamax Total Dry Flex and Purge Snorkel is described as a 100% dry snorkel, so you can submerge underwater, and come back up and breath in air- not water. Pretty nifty, and pretty convincing; thus my order.
 
Appearance:
 
The Scubamax Total Dry Flex and Purge Snorkel is designed to go comfortably in your mouth, while resting above your head/neck area. It has a precise arch in it making it a somewhat of a J shape.

The snorkel is made of 100% silicone, has a decent smaller sized mouthpiece to prevent fatigue on the jaw, and a flex tube so you can move it out of the way when you do not want it in your mouth.

The top of the snorkel has an odd chamber with this strange black valve that closes up whenever you dip underwater.

With all of that said and done, it was time to put this snorkel to the test.

My Use:
 
Before even hopping into my pool, I tried the Scubamax Total Dry Flex and Purge Snorkel. I placed the mouthpiece into my mouth, a nice comfortable fit. I already liked it.

As I began to breath in though, every now and then the top valve would close up on me not allowing for air to get through. I was a little pissed about that, but realized that it only closed up whenever the snorkel was not straight in the air. If it bent slightly forward, to the side, or back it would close up on me.

I found it to be annoying, but knew that once in the water, and used properly the valve would likely work with no issues... or did it?
 
I took my Scubamax Total Dry Flex and Purge Snorkel to the pool and gave it a try.

In the water the snorkel worked as promised.

I was able to breath in air while looking around without an issue at all. I submerged underwater, and the valve closed up on me, so there was no water hitting my tongue or teeth. Once I came back to the surface the Scubamax Total Dry Flex and Purge Snorkel valve opened up and allowed me to breath in air with no traces of water whatsoever.

The second time I dipped underwater though, I came back up and discovered that indeed there was water in the snorkel. I imagine it was due to the fact that underwater I did not breathe out of the snorkel to purge out any water that may of gotten in.

Once I realized that, there were no future incidents of water getting in.

So there is my first tip to those looking to purchase this snorkel. Breath out of the snorkel before coming up for air.

Overall:
The Scubamax Total Dry Flex and Purge Snorkel is an excellent high quality snorkel. It is comfortable, has a decent sized mouth piece which allows for comfort while diving/snorkeling, and it works extremely well.

Where To Buy:
 
I picked up my Scubamax Total Dry Flex and Purge Snorkel for around $30.00 on Amazon.com. In my opinion the Scubamax Total Dry Flex and Purge Snorkel was an excellent find for my upcoming trip. I highly recommend it to advanced users and novice users as well.