The Importance of Gloves and Flotation Devices While Snorkeling of Scuba Diving

Gloves are very helpful in protecting your hands from cuts and scrapes, and to keep them warm in colder waters. There are many different styles of diving gloves made from cotton, plastic, neoprene, and other artificial materials.

While you can wear inexpensive cotton gardening gloves for snorkeling in warmer waters, they usually don't hold up as well as gloves that are made especially for snorkeling and diving. Tropical diving gloves are usually made from a synthetic material that resists salt water and sun, with a palm that is made from a more rugged material. Cold water diving gloves are usually made from foam neoprene, the same material used to make booties, diving hoods, and wet suits. This material provides good insulation for snorkeling and skin diving.

Whenever you go in the water it is recommended that you have some type of surface flotation available so that you have a place to rest if you become tired. Your surface flotation can be something as simple as an inner tube or a boogie board, or as sophisticated as a yacht. It doesn't matter what it is as long as you have some place to rest, especially if you are a long way from shore.

Although it is not considered essential, a personal flotation device is an excellent piece of accessory gear for snorkeling, especially if you are in water that is deep enough that you can't stand on the bottom. The personal flotation device is an inflatable vest that you wear to help increase your buoyancy to make it easier to rest while you are in the water. It's like having your own private island.

The snorkeling vest holds a small amount of air, enough to make you slightly buoyant on the surface. It is equipped with a small tube with a valve that is used to inflate the vest with air from your lungs.

The buoyancy compensator is an inflatable vest that holds a much larger volume of air than the snorkeling vest. It can be used for scuba diving, although the most popular designs used for scuba diving today are somewhat different. With a buoyancy compensator, it is easier to make buoyancy adjustments if you are swimming with a heavy object, like a bag full of lobsters.

Some snorkeling vests and buoyancy compensators are equipped with CO2 mechanisms which are supposed to provide instant buoyancy in the event of an emergency. These mechanisms must never be relied upon since they almost always rust and fail. If you have a choice of purchasing a snorkeling vest with or without a CO2 cartridge inflator, save some money and get the one without it.

Both buoyancy compensators and snorkeling vests can be punctured by sharp objects. They can also be cut or damaged through careless use. When this happens they cannot be relied on to provide buoyancy as they normally would.

Neither the snorkeling vest nor the buoyancy compensator were designed as lifesaving devices. They must not be relied upon to save your life in the event of a cramp or exhaustion.