>>you said you had never seen a folding snorkel before, and would like to see a picture of one. I found one for you. Here it is.<<<br><br>Thanks, it is interesting- before you mentioned it, I had no idea such a thing existed. Looks to be plenty sturdy when deployed, but how strong is the hinge when folded?<br>

To Presumed Lost,<blockquote><font size=1>In reply to:</font><hr><p>Thanks, it is interesting- before you mentioned it, I had no idea such a thing existed. Looks to be plenty sturdy when deployed, but how strong is the hinge when folded?<p><hr></blockquote><p><br>It's pretty sturdy; partially because it isn't really "hinged", per se. It's two completely different pieces, one of which fits snugly (read: "tightly") inside the other. They are held together by two quite sturdy rubber pieces, one on each side.<br><br>Interestingly, this is not the only idea in compact snorkels.<br><br>Here is the Telescoping Snorkel made by Saver Products.<br><br><br>Here is the Folding Snorkel made by Avid. It seems to combine both of the above ideas.<br><br><br>If you want to see some more images of these snorkels, you can look at them here. Some of the promotional literature for these products says they were made primarily for ocean SCUBA divers who need but don't like to carry snorkels, so they can just keep these in a pocket in their buoyancy compensators.

Thanks for the clarification. The other two you show do look less practical.