The Riffe Stable snorkel is by far the absolute best snorkel that I have ever used. When looking at this snorkel you will notice that is is a little different from other snorkels and those differences are what makes it in my opinion the best snorkel. This snorkel it is produced by Riffe which is a very well known spearfishing company, with that being said this snorkel is amazing for any activity free diving, scuba diving, snorkeling but was designed with spearos in mind and it shows.
Lets start off with the features of this snorkel because despite it being a snorkel there is a lot of design and thought put into this piece of equipment.
- Tapered shape: one of the first things you will notice when holding the stable snorkel is the taper shape of the tube, instead of a standard round tube it is teardrop shaped to give it a more hydrodynamic shape in the water. While this may seem gimmicky there is almost no drag from this snorkel and i easily forget about it when I am diving with it.
- Oversized Purge: the purge on this snorkel is huge and makes clearing water out of the snorkel effortless, I have never had to clear the snorkel twice to get out residual water.
- Oversides purge reservoir: this reservoir allows for any water that is left in the snorkel after clearing to be as far from the users mouth preventing water droplets from being inhaled by the user.
- Backwards Facing Splash guard: This is probably one of the subtle features that most divers wouldn’t appreciate, the splash guard is backwards facing, it keeps with the hydrodynamic design and leaves a very large opening at the top of the snorkel, the added benefit of this design is that the opening is the perfect size to block with a thumb to force any residual water out the purge of the snorkel. This also allows users to clear that negative air space that is created in the tube of the snorkel.
- Flexible Tube: The tube of the stable snorkel is made out of a flexible plastic that is rigid enough to keep its shape but can also be folded and shoved in a pocket of a bcd if not in use.
- Corrugated Silicone section: This is pretty standard for most standard snorkels and is a nice feature for one that can be used for scuba diving as well as free diving.
- Replaceable mouth piece: this is something that is also fairly standard for most snorkels these days but being able to swap out another mouth piece if it is damaged is always a great feature.
With any design there will always be flaws that deserve improvement for the most part this is a perfect snorkel my only gripe with this snorkel is the lack luster snorkel keeper and the sub par mouthpiece. Both of these are easily replaced or swapped but I wish that they just used the same snorkel keeper that Riffe Uses on their J-tube snorkel. And the mouthpiece while not the worst I like it better than aqualung mouthpieces i just din’t find it as comfortable as I would like.
The last thing worth noting is the price, for a semi-dry snorkel the Riffe Stable snorkel is a little expensive but if you factor in all the features I think it is well worth the value. Standard retail pricing in the US for the Stable Snorkel is about $52. If you are in search of a new snorkel and you are tired of the basic bargain bin snorkels but don’t need the fancy dry tops check out the Riffe Stable snorkel I assure you it will be the best purchase you have made on dive gear.
Submerged Travels 