I don't get side mount?
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Rich Keller
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I just started looking into this and can only see a few minor advantages for OW use so far. First is renting doubles while on vacation is not always an option so side mount would help there but then how many charters are going to put you in the water with two tanks while everyone else is diving one tank. Also it would be easier to pack a side mount rig then a double back mount when traveling. Second is redistributing your weight on the surface, this only works if you were to go from a single back mount 80 to 2 side mount 40s for example. Third is if you have back issues and want the boat crew to hand you the tanks after you get in the water but even on calm days this could easily go wrong. Also it would be easier to carry one tank at a time to a shore dive.
Some disadvantages would be that charter boats do not normally operate this way and would have to adjust how they get people in and out of the water, it takes longer for each side mount diver to transition in & out if they are attaching & removing the tanks in the water, the boat crew would be doing more lifting in that process and they might need more crew if all the divers on board were doing side mount. You would also have other divers waiting on the surface longer to either go down or get back on the boat for each diver using side mount. The side mount rig is easier for travel but you would also need to bring a second reg that most people would want to pack in their carry on luggage. With two regs you now have more hoses going everywhere making this more of a hazard for getting hung up on something, more systems that you would have to manage and might lead to confusion or mistakes in an emergency. Having the top of your tanks secured by bungees seems like a huge disadvantage to me as well, I would have to find a better way to do this before I would even consider trying side mount.
I did see something in my research that could reduce the number of hoses and configure the rest in a more traditional manor but I do not like the quick disconnects they use to make it easier to attach regs to the tanks. Z-Distribution This would allow you to just run one LP hose from each tank to a LP manifold on your back and one SPG from the left tank to the place you normally attach that. Both tanks should draw down at about the same rate if the tanks both start at the same pressure and the IP for each reg is set to the same pressure. Your inflator hose and both second stages could be routed as normal and you would not have to switch back & forth between seconds during the dive. This could also be placed on your chest so you could use shorter hoses and be able to reach all the hoses should they get hung up on something.
Some disadvantages would be that charter boats do not normally operate this way and would have to adjust how they get people in and out of the water, it takes longer for each side mount diver to transition in & out if they are attaching & removing the tanks in the water, the boat crew would be doing more lifting in that process and they might need more crew if all the divers on board were doing side mount. You would also have other divers waiting on the surface longer to either go down or get back on the boat for each diver using side mount. The side mount rig is easier for travel but you would also need to bring a second reg that most people would want to pack in their carry on luggage. With two regs you now have more hoses going everywhere making this more of a hazard for getting hung up on something, more systems that you would have to manage and might lead to confusion or mistakes in an emergency. Having the top of your tanks secured by bungees seems like a huge disadvantage to me as well, I would have to find a better way to do this before I would even consider trying side mount.
I did see something in my research that could reduce the number of hoses and configure the rest in a more traditional manor but I do not like the quick disconnects they use to make it easier to attach regs to the tanks. Z-Distribution This would allow you to just run one LP hose from each tank to a LP manifold on your back and one SPG from the left tank to the place you normally attach that. Both tanks should draw down at about the same rate if the tanks both start at the same pressure and the IP for each reg is set to the same pressure. Your inflator hose and both second stages could be routed as normal and you would not have to switch back & forth between seconds during the dive. This could also be placed on your chest so you could use shorter hoses and be able to reach all the hoses should they get hung up on something.
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I guess if you don't see the need or point of side mount then you do not think you have any problems that would be solved by it, so the answer is simple, don't bother with it, it is not compulsory !
For me I wanted to carry extra and fully redundant air - I dive in the UK, cold water, sometimes long dives, and a real risk of free flows etc. I tried back mount doubles, and really struggled with valve drills etc. in my drysuit. So I tried side mount - and it works for me, I can rig up, carry my cylinders to the water, hop in, clip on, and off I go, valves are easy peasy to reach, and I have my full redundant gas supply - lovely.
But when I dive open water in Cyprus I don't bother, I dive single tank back mount unless I am going deep when I will take a bailout of some sort.
So I don't think it is better than back mount, single or doubles, but in certain circumstances it works better for me, so I'll use it. But if you want to dive back mount doubles because that works for you I won't try to change your mind, and will happily buddy with you.
P
For me I wanted to carry extra and fully redundant air - I dive in the UK, cold water, sometimes long dives, and a real risk of free flows etc. I tried back mount doubles, and really struggled with valve drills etc. in my drysuit. So I tried side mount - and it works for me, I can rig up, carry my cylinders to the water, hop in, clip on, and off I go, valves are easy peasy to reach, and I have my full redundant gas supply - lovely.
But when I dive open water in Cyprus I don't bother, I dive single tank back mount unless I am going deep when I will take a bailout of some sort.
So I don't think it is better than back mount, single or doubles, but in certain circumstances it works better for me, so I'll use it. But if you want to dive back mount doubles because that works for you I won't try to change your mind, and will happily buddy with you.
P
Although it has been a few years since I've done really deep diving, I can see it as my future if I resume that. I'm an old geezer and carrying doubles on my back would probably reduce my height a few inches. Heck, even carrying my main tank and pony is getting heavy. I'll go with the greater easy of carrying two tanks for sidemount.
scubastingray
Contributor
One thing I haven't seen mentioned in this thread is that it can be a large nuisance form a setup standpoint. One thing you will never see a side mounter try and argue is that it is easier or faster to setup, simply because it isn't.
I was coming out of a cave dive a few days ago and surfaced with my buddy. The stairs were very wide, but four side mount divers had blocked the entire way pretty effectively. They offered to let us out (exiting divers have the right away), and we said "It's okay, we can wait a few minutes." 15 minutes later of messing with bungee and clips ONE of the four was finally able to be fully configured and clear out of the way.
Now not everyone is that slow probably, but it's a pretty common sentiment that others side-mounting can affect you, particularly on boats where setup and entry/exit space is at a premium.
As far as required for caves, there are few caves that actually would require it. The more advanced/cutting edge of exploration/laying line may necessitate it, but how many side mount divers are involved with that?
/rant
I was coming out of a cave dive a few days ago and surfaced with my buddy. The stairs were very wide, but four side mount divers had blocked the entire way pretty effectively. They offered to let us out (exiting divers have the right away), and we said "It's okay, we can wait a few minutes." 15 minutes later of messing with bungee and clips ONE of the four was finally able to be fully configured and clear out of the way.
Now not everyone is that slow probably, but it's a pretty common sentiment that others side-mounting can affect you, particularly on boats where setup and entry/exit space is at a premium.
As far as required for caves, there are few caves that actually would require it. The more advanced/cutting edge of exploration/laying line may necessitate it, but how many side mount divers are involved with that?
/rant
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like Bob said, lots of threads on this. For OW, it is true, it is the current fad, but it is for a reason. People don't like tanks on their backs.
In OW I dive backmount doubles almost exclusively. It is easier for me to get in and out of the water quickly with students and the whole gear setup is a few minutes faster. In caves, I dive sidemount almost exclusively, but I do carry my tanks from the water while still attached at the top and will occasionally do it getting to the water. Doesn't bother me in my Nomad.
That being said, I was diving with a very nice German guy from Atlanta and he was rather grumpy that I broke his opinion on sidemount divers. I was in and out of the water just as fast as he was in doubles. If you do it right, it is actually just about as quick as backmount. Maybe another 2-3 minutes in predive and post-dive because of stuffing hoses and what not, so it isn't quite as easy for that, but if you carry your bottles in and out on the harness, you're within 1 minute of backmount divers. Unfortunately most sidemount divers are quite slow which ruins the whole stigma for everyone. For me it is top clip on land and wing inflator on land, bottom clips then drysuit inflator once in the water and I'm ready to go. Both of my second stages stay in the hose retainers until I'm fully situated otherwise. I'll snap the bungee on after the descent has started and I'm not fighting gravity. On a boat it is different and that is where I prefer the on-deck stability of backmount, so twinset it is. There is less to do in twinsets in dive prep so that is nice, and I prefer the simplicity if I have lots of stage/deco bottles or I'm in and out of the water or at the surface a lot with students, but for cave diving, it's just more comfortable.
In OW I dive backmount doubles almost exclusively. It is easier for me to get in and out of the water quickly with students and the whole gear setup is a few minutes faster. In caves, I dive sidemount almost exclusively, but I do carry my tanks from the water while still attached at the top and will occasionally do it getting to the water. Doesn't bother me in my Nomad.
That being said, I was diving with a very nice German guy from Atlanta and he was rather grumpy that I broke his opinion on sidemount divers. I was in and out of the water just as fast as he was in doubles. If you do it right, it is actually just about as quick as backmount. Maybe another 2-3 minutes in predive and post-dive because of stuffing hoses and what not, so it isn't quite as easy for that, but if you carry your bottles in and out on the harness, you're within 1 minute of backmount divers. Unfortunately most sidemount divers are quite slow which ruins the whole stigma for everyone. For me it is top clip on land and wing inflator on land, bottom clips then drysuit inflator once in the water and I'm ready to go. Both of my second stages stay in the hose retainers until I'm fully situated otherwise. I'll snap the bungee on after the descent has started and I'm not fighting gravity. On a boat it is different and that is where I prefer the on-deck stability of backmount, so twinset it is. There is less to do in twinsets in dive prep so that is nice, and I prefer the simplicity if I have lots of stage/deco bottles or I'm in and out of the water or at the surface a lot with students, but for cave diving, it's just more comfortable.
I love to see them donning/removing the tanks when the surface current/surge is strong.
scubastingray
Contributor
That's why I qualified the statement by saying those divers could have been slower than most. You may be faster in side mount than 99% of back mounters, but that doesn't mean most people are. More power to you if the setup time doesn't affect you, but as you noted it is a more complex setup and does require more meticulous preparation process.
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yeah, unfortunately they were probably about average. We got held up for quite a while about 6 weeks ago and most sidemounters take 5-10minutes to get in and out of the caves in my experience. I dive a lot of mixed team diving and for me I made it a point that I wasn't going to take more than 5 extra minutes than in backmount because one of my peeves is taking too long to get in and out of the water. My rig and setup is optimized for diving, but there were a lot of subtle tweaks that are focused 100% on being efficient getting into and out of the water. Small simple things that are different on my rig but they make it easy to carry the tanks on land to get in and out faster.
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