Hi all,
Here's my American take on things: We do sell a fair amount of snorkels here at Quadratec, but most seem to be for aesthetics versus actual water crossing use. I have had 10 Jeeps, of those 10 I installed snorkels on only 2:
On the blue TJ I had the snorkel ripped off with a giant vine. After fixing it, I always turned the top around backward when off-roading.
For me at the time, snorkel installation was a necessity as there were a lot of water crossings where I wheeled. Those without snorkels end up like my buddy's friend show below - physically sucking water out of his intake:
I am on the East Coast, just west of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The furthest I have been from a paved road in any of my Jeeps is is 50 km (At the sunk XJ photos above). Most of us in this area are close enough to civilization that if we break down or need something, we can have it to us within a couple hours. If you head further north, or much further West (Arizona, Utah, Colorado, Nevada), then you have the possibility of being hundreds of km from the closest paved road.
-Rick