00wabbit
Contributor
Before sidemount it seemed like the right thing to me, but my big worry was boat diving.
Now that I've been doing it I have been pleasantly surprised.
Here are some things I was worried about and the realities for those of you that are on the fence. I should note that my sidemount training was from a boat so my instructor helped to show me the better way to do things.
1. Getting geared up will take too long.
It hasn't taken me any longer than others to gear up and many times I am ready to go before others. Why is this? I can put on my sidemount harness and fully kit up before the pool is open. Since I don't have a heavy tank on my back I can wear my harness earlier and go help my buddy out. Then when it's time to go I just clip in my 2 tanks and hop in.
2. Double tanks on a boat will be difficult with the boat rocking.
This hasn't been a problem for 2 reasons. The first is, I don't have to put on my tanks until the last possible moment before jumping in.
The other reason is that the tanks are low on my body helping to lower my center of gravity.
3. Getting out of the water will be a problem.
Sidemount is more and more common and DMs are more familiar with the practice of handing up a tank before exiting. Also if the boat has a good swim platform and nice ladder then it is no problem to carry both tanks out of the water when exiting. Just remember to turn sideways when walking through narrow walkways.
4. There is a lot of fiddling with gear on the boat.
I don't know where this came from. Basically when I get on the boat I put my left tank in the rack to the left, my right tank on the right and connect my regs and stow my long hose. When I'm ready to dive, bungee reg over my head, inflator connected, clip on left tank. Long hose over my head and clipped off then clip on right tank. I chose to do fins last so I can get closer to the bench when clipping on tanks. Then last safety check and I'm good to go. When I get back on the boat I reverse the procedure and relax. I don't have to move regs and bc during the surface interval. On short surface intervals on shallow dives I might even leave my harness on.
Because I will do a lot of boat diving in sidemount I chose to use the Dive Rite Ring Bungie system for one simple reason. I don't have to worry about looping a bungie around the tanks after getting in the water and I don't have to unhook a bungie. This way if there is a call for a negative entry, or a current, I can hop in and descend and not have to do anything else with my tanks. I know the ring bungie system isn't ideal for all uses but I like it for boats.
On my descent down the line I do a bubble check of each tank. It's great being able to see all my connections and be confident that nothing weird is going on behind my head.
Anyway just thought I should post this in case folks in the future are worried like I was and are searching the forums for info.
Now that I've been doing it I have been pleasantly surprised.
Here are some things I was worried about and the realities for those of you that are on the fence. I should note that my sidemount training was from a boat so my instructor helped to show me the better way to do things.
1. Getting geared up will take too long.
It hasn't taken me any longer than others to gear up and many times I am ready to go before others. Why is this? I can put on my sidemount harness and fully kit up before the pool is open. Since I don't have a heavy tank on my back I can wear my harness earlier and go help my buddy out. Then when it's time to go I just clip in my 2 tanks and hop in.
2. Double tanks on a boat will be difficult with the boat rocking.
This hasn't been a problem for 2 reasons. The first is, I don't have to put on my tanks until the last possible moment before jumping in.
The other reason is that the tanks are low on my body helping to lower my center of gravity.
3. Getting out of the water will be a problem.
Sidemount is more and more common and DMs are more familiar with the practice of handing up a tank before exiting. Also if the boat has a good swim platform and nice ladder then it is no problem to carry both tanks out of the water when exiting. Just remember to turn sideways when walking through narrow walkways.
4. There is a lot of fiddling with gear on the boat.
I don't know where this came from. Basically when I get on the boat I put my left tank in the rack to the left, my right tank on the right and connect my regs and stow my long hose. When I'm ready to dive, bungee reg over my head, inflator connected, clip on left tank. Long hose over my head and clipped off then clip on right tank. I chose to do fins last so I can get closer to the bench when clipping on tanks. Then last safety check and I'm good to go. When I get back on the boat I reverse the procedure and relax. I don't have to move regs and bc during the surface interval. On short surface intervals on shallow dives I might even leave my harness on.
Because I will do a lot of boat diving in sidemount I chose to use the Dive Rite Ring Bungie system for one simple reason. I don't have to worry about looping a bungie around the tanks after getting in the water and I don't have to unhook a bungie. This way if there is a call for a negative entry, or a current, I can hop in and descend and not have to do anything else with my tanks. I know the ring bungie system isn't ideal for all uses but I like it for boats.
On my descent down the line I do a bubble check of each tank. It's great being able to see all my connections and be confident that nothing weird is going on behind my head.
Anyway just thought I should post this in case folks in the future are worried like I was and are searching the forums for info.