Sidemount, southern california, training needed?

Recently I've really been interested in sidemount diving and experienced enough now where I would like to learn it. I have most of the equipment already, an Oxycheq Recon bcd, a couple of hp 100, 120, and 130 tanks but my question is, would you recommend paying for a class or is it simple enough to teach yourself? It seems fairly simple but wondering if a class is worth it to save time and avoid the trial and error. Plus if a class is needed, what's a good local one, how much does it cost and how long does it take?

About me a little btw, I'm an advanced level NAUI diver, plus I have my rescue diver and Nitrox certification and looking ahead at the next potential step. Before any asks, here are my reasons for wanting to learn sidemount versus standard backmounted doubles:

1) Down the line, I'd like to get into more tech diving and this would give me a lot more flexibility. I don't have to manifold my tanks and dedicate them to tech diving, I can still use my tanks for simple recreational type dives. Plus if I travel, it's less equipment to take and I can easily use rental tanks.

2) I've started diving from my kayak and with sidemount, it would make the logistics easier. For example, I can wear my bc and only put on my tanks right before diving. That would also make much better use of the limited room since I only have to strap down my tanks and not deal with where to put the bulky bc.

Final question too, how does rec diving with sidemount work, anyone have experience? I know some people dive with only a single tank and could see real advantages, esp for saving on nitrox costs with a big tank. That way if I take the kayak out, I can only get one nitrox fill in the big tank for the same price and use it for two, maybe three dives. I would most likely still bring a 30-40 pony bottle but I'd plan to use only the big tank for the dive.


Thanks for any feedback and perhaps if anyone is local in the orange county, los angeles area and wouldn't mind teaching, let me know.

Robert

There isn't much to open water sidemount diving per se, you strap in and go. Information is plentiful around the web if you research enough (TDS and Cavediver.net forums are helpful). You won't kill yourself. The devil is in the details, procedures to clip-in and clip-out, what hose lengths work best etc. - an instructor will speed up some of it. But I'm self-taught, and I enjoyed the learning process.

Your biggest issue will be getting in and out of the tanks while free-floating on the surface. Not sure how much you can use the kayak for support. It gets easier with practice, but waves/currents would complicate the process. A lot.

rec diving with sidemount... you mean a single tank? it's doable, but I'd rather sling it and have the weight more centered, I think. Of course you can just dive both tanks and enjoy the redundancy, and you can use more of the gas that way (you can't, generally, take a 1000psi tank diving, but you can take two 1000psi tanks)

I did my class on the east coast. A good instructor will help you with your bouyancy & trim as well as doing valve & share air drills.

The other thing my instructor had me doing was keeping the tanks within 200psi of each other, so its not like you dive one tank down and then switch to the 2nd tank to complete the dive. So switching back and forth between nitrox and air may not fit your dive profile. We kept the same mix in both tanks as if there was a manifold between them.

Having a different mix in each of your SM tanks would be one of the stupidest things to do... ever.

How much time do you have? If you have time to go out there and do 50 or so dives to tweak things and look for the best configuration for you, then don't worry about a class. If you want to learn about as many different things you can do with a sidemount rig in a couple of days and skip ahead, then find a good instructor who has a significant amount of experience (not an instructor who took the sidemount course and instructor course in the same week) and take the class.

Know any good instructors in southern california?

Unfortunately, I don't know of any good, experienced sidemount divers/instructors in SoCal. Why not head over here to Florida and do a sidemount course followed by a cavern course?

Well I might actually be going to Florida this summer to visit some friends so you never know If I were to go, what would be the cost of a sidemount course?

I had the exact same deliemma at the end of last year. Wanted to move into Tec, but wasn't sure about the BM doubles. Heard about sidemount, and am fortunate enough to be in Alabama, so I took the class. I had never used two tanks before and had good trim and comfort after the first dive! By the end of the class, 2 days (weekend), I was doing really well. I also took the Tec1 class in sidemount (same instructor), so having the SM class before that was very helpful for me skill-wise before Tec1.

Sidemount started with cave divers teaching themselves, so you could do that if you want, but for me, the class really shortened the learning curve.

Also, you want to keep the same air supply, as stated earlier, in both sidemount tanks. In Tec1 we learned how to setup and don stage bottles in SM config for extended range/accelerated off gassing dives. Again not rocket science, but I liked it.

As for one tank with SM, might want to stick with AL80 so it doesn't throw you off balance like the steel tanks (reason for 200-500psi tank switches with SM doubles). Some people also use 2-LP40s for Rec diving, which really streamlines a SM profile.

I do Rec dives with my SM rig just as I would do any other dive. You have 100% redundancy and you can do both dives (if you are doing say 2 boat dives in a day) off of just those tanks. No switching tanks. Not sure it's the best for vacation diving, but I'm going to the Caymans next month and may see how it works.

If you do get to N FL, give this guy a call, he wrote the distinctive specialty class for PADI, and who I did my training with. http://www.jeffloflin.com/sidemount.php

Good luck and Happy diving!

formula1mb@aol.com:

Well I might actually be going to Florida this summer to visit some friends so you never know If I were to go, what would be the cost of a sidemount course?

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It depends. All my course fees are listed here: Course Fees. Sidemount is listed under Technical Diving Courses. I do have a Sidemount course already scheduled in June, June schedule. If you were over here during that time, it would save you some money.