Love this side mount alternative

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timegan

Contributor
Messages
128
Reaction score
2
Location
ontario Canada, where the water meets the land on
# of dives
100 - 199
Glad to see a forum just for SM. It's so inventive. The equippment is all still made for diving....just a different way to carry the bottles. Brought it up in my local forum and got "flamed out" in a hurry. (same with the long hose) Was not even contemplating BM doubles.....manifold shut down, right or left post roll off, isolate!.. reach now ...which one? Oh and don't worry that you can hardly stand/walk.....you'll get used to it. NO I won't, thanks. But from a SM standpoint, I just might "double up" now. Here's my take...I'm only 52, so to even go to doubles I'd need training. SO with long term diving in mind, why not train for dbl SM. Money well spent.Gotta Love the openmindness in inventing the SM divers are doin! On the flip side....I'd like to hear any ....what? pitfalls in the SM method. LETS INVENT.
 
Mostly answered here:
http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/cave-diving/313829-side-mount-side-mount-better-option.html

Briefly though, you really have to finish setting up your rig in the water - that poses its own set of challenges. Especially when diving from a boat.

BTW, while sidemount is still nicer from a troubleshooting perspective, the valve drill becomes automatic after a while with doubles (practice practice), so it's not really a big deal. Then there is the whole issue of manifold or no manifold, but conservative reserve gas allocation is a good answer to that with independents/sidemount. If you are going to dive solo though, sidemount is easily the way to go.
 
On the flip side....I'd like to hear any ....what? pitfalls in the SM method. LETS INVENT.

Only pitfalls I see are getting into and out of the water. Much easier putting backmount doubles on in a crowded boat.

Also would not want to climb a ladder with large steel sidemounts when the tanks are only hanging off bungee. Not too difficult to take a loop of rope and clip them to a D ring in nice weather but big seas and sidemount 130's might get interesting.
 
:cool2: Thanks for the replies. More to the point of this thread. What are the hit and misses of SM? Whats the soluition? OK #1.. Not real good on a boat dive. (choppy waters aside) A boat dive is in perspective a portable giant stride to diving. So we have the "out of water entry" fault with SM. An idea. Throwing it out there for critique. The butt rails and clips on bottles seem to be rock solid, and not an issue with support on land. So the necks need to be well supported. Bungees don't cut it..or will wear out doing so ..What about a large strong bolt snap attached to the first 2 " below the neck of bottle. Attached the same way the back snap is banded to tank. This rock solid clip can then be attached to a reinforced D ring on each shoulder on harness. Would only need the clip> When you enter and exit...they can be clipped tight to each side. When not needed...tuck em away under a wide elastic band.
 
Thats pretty much what I did the one time I did a sidemount dive from a boat. Just got a loop of 1/4 inch ?? Nylon webbing (Rope would work fine as well) Put it round the neck of the tanks and clipped it to my chest D rings with a double ender as if they were stages. Once in the water unclip the double ender and put tank in the sidemount bungee.

Bit of a pain but easier than reconfiguring my regs and hose for backmount !
 
The other issue is finding space to clip on two sidemount bottles, wobbling to the exit point and getting your fins on is no picnic on a smaller, rocking boat with the usual entry activity around. A private or larger boat may be another story.
 
I took a SM training class in March just to see if that was the way I wanted to get into diving with doubles and am pretty much convinced that it's the way to go. BTW, I'm a 62 yr old M, in decent shape, and had no trouble with the rig. I used my personal AL 80s with RH valves to simulate what I'd get on a trip and it all worked fine...... Check with DIVE RITE to find a class near you and give it a try!
 
Glad to see a forum just for SM. It's so inventive. ... Brought it up in my local forum and got "flamed out" in a hurry. (same with the long hose)
Out of curiosity, why did you get flamed? Or, more specifically, toward what aspect of SM diving was the 'flaming' directed?
Not real good on a boat dive. (choppy waters aside)
I think there are some straightforward ways to address this issue. People have been successfully using two deco/stage bottles on (tech) boat dives for quite a while. And, these are people who also usually have some big BM doubles on. If you can giant stride into the water with a couple of AL80 deco bottles clipped on - one on each side, or two on the left - you can certainly giant stride in with just the two bottles clipped SM. A lot depends on the boat configuration, and the crew familiarity with SM, and how many other divers are on board. Yes, on a crowded cattle boat, with entry only from the stern, and a crew unfamiliar with SM, I doubt that the first experience will necessarily be the best one. But, rolling backward off the side of the boat in SM, or rolling sideways off the side of the boat for that matter, doesn't have to be that big a deal (issues of current put aside for this discussion). For exiting, stand on the ladder at the bottom, unclip each bottle and hand them up, before fully ascending the ladder. That's what we do with deco bottles. That way, when you ascend the ladder you only have your harness/wing on. Yes, you have to disconnect your inflator hoses. Yes, you are potentially in OW without a gas supply, if you fall backwards off the ladder (although you are less likely to do that if you have nothing on your back besides you harness and wing). But, I don't know that you are at particular risk. No, I don't know that I really want to do that in 7 ft seas. But, I won't be diving BM in 7 ft seas either. (Getting in is easy, it is the getting out part that isn't.)
So the necks need to be well supported. Bungees don't cut it..or will wear out doing so ..
Not necessarily. When you are standing, much of the tank weight can really be supported by the rails and buttplate, and the bungees are keeping the top of the tank in close to the body, rather than supporting a lot of weight.
What about a large strong bolt snap attached to the first 2 " below the neck of bottle. Attached the same way the back snap is banded to tank. This rock solid clip can then be attached to a reinforced D ring on each shoulder on harness. Would only need the clip> When you enter and exit...they can be clipped tight to each side. When not needed...tuck em away under a wide elastic band.
When I took the SM instructor course, one of the things that my instructor emphasized was his individual disdain for the 'chokers' that DR uses. Instead, he loops some 1/4 nylon static line, with a bolt snap, around the neck of each bottle, and clips those to chest D-rings, AND then runs the bungee around the outside of the bottle neck, to pull it in close to the chest. I do it that way as well. It works, and in that configuration, much of the the weight of the tanks can rest on the chest attachments rather than the buttplate, just as it does with deco/stage bottle clipped to the chest and a hip D-ring. But, you can also clip that top bolt snap to the bungee itself, per the DR approach. Either way works, and as your OP implies, you can have some fun experimenting to see what works for you.

There are a number of very capable and experienced divers on SB who suggest that BM may be a bit easier, or efficient, for boat diving, and I respect their opinion. Personally, I find strapping on a set of BM double AL80s for a coastal boat dive is pretty easy, and getting out, even when the seas are up a bit, isn't that much of a challenge. It is probably easier than SM. Can't say the same for BM double 130s. I am still learning how to best manage SM on a boat. But, for shore diving, where you want to double up some tanks, and either don't have a set of banded, independent or manifolded, BM doubles available, SM is a great alternative. There are also some very experienced and respected posters on SB who see SM right now as a bit of a fad, and I think they are right. It is somewhat trendy / in vogue. But, it is also an interesting gear 'frontier' and that is exciting. As you said, it is inventive. SM has been around for a long time. But, the appearance of some commercial rigs on the market has stimulated a lot of new interest, or at least expanded the interest well beyond caves and technical diving.
 
Colliam7, how many sidemount dives do you have?
 
I will be going out on our local lake tomorrow to try a giant stride with the 2 sm bottles and one deco bottle for the first time. It doesn't sound like it should be that big of a deal, but getting back in the boat will probably be another story. My plan is to hand up the deco bottle and right tank only, then climb the ladder with the left tank attached.
Handing up ALL tanks out in the ocean just doesn't sound like a good plan.
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/perdix-ai/

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