A few safety questions

Question
Hi, I love diving but don't want to buy equipment, so I thought I'd just make a big snorkel using some old garden hose and tape it to a floater. I would breathe out my nose so that I'm not breathing the same air in the tube repeatedly. Also, I would be going no deeper than 30 ft. and would be wearing eye goggles. Would doing this pose any safety risks, such as swimming up to the surface from 30 ft. ( nitrogen narcosis ?). And, yea, I know this is a somewhat strange set-up, I just thought it would be more fun than free diving and cheaper than scuba diving.

Answer
First, what you propose won't work because your lungs will not be able to draw air from the garden hose at 30 feet due to the pressure difference between the surface and depth. In fact, just a couple feet underwater you will find that you won't be able to breathe from the hose. Scuba equipment is designed to take high pressure air from a scuba cylinder and reduce that pressure to the same as the surrounding pressure so it can be breathed.

The other problem is that you will not be able to equalize the pressure in your goggles - unless you created a freediver's "pipe mask" by adding tubes from your mouth to the goggles. Without being able to equalize the pressure in your goggles, you will be risking a barotrauma injury to your eyes. Thirty feet is nearly and entire additional atmosphere of pressure and will exert twice the pressure on you as at the surface.

There is no risk of noticeable narcosis at 30 feet for the vast majority of divers. The effects of narcosis may be noticed as shallow as 60 to 80 feet, but most divers begin to notice narcosis at 100 feet. Many divers, myself included, switch to trimix at depths greater than 100 feet to reduce narcosis. By using helium to replace some of the nitrogen, divers can safely descend past 300 feet.

Without proper scuba training, should you find yourself being able to breathe at 30 feet - or if your equipment worked - which it won't, you'll be at risk for lung over-expansion injuries such as embolism, pneumothorax, subcutaneous and mediasdynal emphysemas. Holding your breath or a rapid ascent to cause such incidents.

If you don't want to buy scuba gear, develop your freediving technique to a world-class level with just mask, fins, snorkel, wetsuit and weightbelt or weight system. There are many ways to make freediving more interesting and challenging.

Scuba diving is equipment-oriented. I suggest products such as Halcyon, Dive Rite, and Deep Sea Supply with a backplate, wing, and long hose primary regulator. You can't put a price on quality training and quality equipment.

If you like Do-It-Yourself projects, some equipment you can manufacture, but it is best to first get properly trained by a good instructor. Your instructor may be able to help you find ways of saving money on equipment and may be able to introduce you to other divers who like to build scuba equipment and who can get you going in that direction safely.