What is it
- Two Bare Feet Snorkel Set; Fins, mask and snorkel
- Small/Medium suitable for UK 4.5 – UK 8.5
- Large/X-Large suitable for UK 9 – UK 13
- £23.95 Buy it here
I’ve snorkelled a few times and have previously rented gear and on my last trip I borrowed a Cressi set from a friend which was much better than the usual rental gear, so I thought it was time to invest in my own. I did a bit of online research and found that I’d need to spend around £20 to £30 for a basic set.
I prefer shorter fins for snorkelling and I already knew I wanted a snorkel with a splash guard as well as a decent mask with glass lenses, so I had a good set of criteria to help me choose.
I went for a mask, snorkel and fin set from Two Bare Feet priced £23.95 on Amazon, which looked like a great starter kit at a good price. The snorkel includes a guard on the top which helps to minimise water entering the tube, though this particular snorkel does not feature a one-way valve inside the top guard.
I chose the small/medium set as I have size 6 feet, and I found the fins very easy to fit and adjust. Initially I didn’t put them on tightly enough and my heel slipped out of one, but adjusting whilst in the water was very easy, and a matter of simply pulling on one of the straps at the rear to tighten.
I found the fins comfortable to wear and easy to swim with. I was very pleased with the mask and found it was an excellent fit and performed really well; it even performed well when scuba diving (I dived down to 12m using the mask). I did have to clear it a few times during my dive, but I’ve had to clear any mask I’ve used every time I’ve dived anyway. Given I had only anticipated it being good enough for snorkelling I was really pleased it stood up to more serious use.
When using your mask for the first time rub a mildy abrasive pad over the inside of the glass lens. Then immediately prior to using, spit into the mask and use your fingers to rub your saliva over the inside of the mask. This creates a protective layer that effectively stops your mask from fogging up during use.
The only thing that let the set down was the snorkel itself. At the bottom of the snorkel there is a one way valve that allows you to clear the mouthpiece by blowing out if water gets inside. I found that 50% of the time during use, after taking a few breaths under water, the mouthpiece would start to fill with water; the usual short, sharp exhale would sometimes get rid of the water out of the valve, but often seemed to make it worse.
When it did work, I was able to swim along for extended periods of time without having to give it another thought. My finning technique was not to blame with regards to splashing and introducing water into the tube, and when I checked the chamber where the valve sits, only once did I find a small piece of shell in there that was to blame for forcing the valve open. This was easy to clear as the guard has been designed so that it can be removed and cleaned out.
The position of your mask plays an important role into how effectively it will work. Masks are often placed too high up on the face but should sit just above the top of your lip and the head straps need not be over-tightened.
The piece of shell trapped in the valve however only accounted for one incidence where water flooded into the mouthpiece, on many other occasions I simply could not work out the cause and as a result found it pretty frustrating. I ended up routinely having to roll over onto my back, tread water and take the mouthpiece out fully to blow through it several times to remove all of the accumulated water. Even when the snorkel was working fine and not letting in any water, the expectation of it filling with water any minute did prove distracting.
Final thoughts
In summary then, this is a good value beginners set; the fins and mask are particularly good, but I found the performance of the snorkel to be inconsistent. As a result I’ve decided to purchase a Cressi Alpha Superdry Snorkel that I will continue to use with my existing Two Bare Feet fins and mask.
Having read various snorkelling forums, I still can’t work out why I kept getting water inside my snorkel, as the position of the tube and my mouth placement was correct, so I’m left somewhat baffled. The two-way valve seemed to work properly, my breathing was gentle and regular and water was not being splashed down the tube, I even turned it around and tried it on both sides of my head to see if that made a difference, but the best I can say is that it’s performance was inconsistent.
Find out more about the Two Bare Feet Snorkel Set Here.
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