SM and rec charters

Please register or login

Welcome to ScubaBoard, the world's largest scuba diving community. Registration is not required to read the forums, but we encourage you to join. Joining has its benefits and enables you to participate in the discussions.

Benefits of registering include

  • Ability to post and comment on topics and discussions.
  • A Free photo gallery to share your dive photos with the world.
  • You can make this box go away

Joining is quick and easy. Log in or Register now!

jimmy71

Contributor
Messages
407
Reaction score
25
# of dives
200 - 499
I was curious if anyone has had problems with SM and rec diving locations. I have read a few posts here where people have had trouble with OW charters allowing them to dive SM. In part of my rational with moving to SM is that when I travel to locations where al80s are plentiful i can have redundancy. For the cost of renting doubles, I could pay for the extra gear required with SM. I am thinking about places like cozumel and bonaire. I also have the ability to learn it from a good instructor.

My thought process is that i need a new wing and am moving from singles to doubles. My instructor really likes SM and often talks his older clients into SM from their doubles for back and strength issues. I have also been impressed how stable they make him in the water. The money I would save from bands/manifolds would get me close to my new gear. I am looking at the tesseract and OMS profile. It seems like a system that will grow with me and is fairly inexpensive. The wing will work with doubles and a rebreather in the distant future if i go that route.

I have read the thread that is somewhat similar to this one. Since my questions/direction are a little diff, i wanted to start a new thread.

Jimmy
 
Greetings Jimmy and other than some weird looks and comments most dive ops are becoming accustom to SM. It is a different approach to the same principal.
A friend of mine took some ribbing out on the east coast but more from traditional wreck divers. You have to expect it when you are traveling east coast!
I am guessing it will be mainstream in just a few short years as our population is getting older and fitter.
People will be diving longer and in need of a less stressful rig. Not the reason I chose to dive SM but it is just one more bonus.

I think that the vacation destinations will complain the most but because of the blend of divers on a larger boat. In general if you pick a smaller boat which most of us do anyway the point is mute! It is your cash so they will keep their mouths respectful.
Asking a few questions and making sure you are comfortable with the configuration.
If you are inland caving you will be right at home where ever you travel.

The main issue IMO will be your level of training and comfort. A good DM or Instructor can evaluate your skills in a matter of minutes and this can lead to some awesome opportunities. The safer a dive op feels the more likely they will take you to the premier dive spots or more challenging dives.
In short train and be prepared and let the other issues worry about themselves.
Your skills will go a long way in stilling the critics comments.

Good luck and have fun I LOVE MY SM!
CamG Keep diving....Keep training....Keep learning!
 
I'd be really surprised if the average recreational,Caribbean boat allowed sidemount.

Sidemounting from a boat takes up more room than diving a single backmounted tank. Having 12 sidemount divers on a boat that normally carries 12 backmount single tank divers would be a mess.

I think divers are being misled with the current fad for recreational sidemount. Just because you have a card for it doesn't mean you're going to get to dive it. Same as the solo card.
 
I would be concerned for the safety of other divers if the charter allowed SM. These boats are geared towards having tons of people, so drop/pickups have to be quick.
 
I would be concerned for the safety of other divers if the charter allowed SM. These boats are geared towards having tons of people, so drop/pickups have to be quick.

What do sidemount divers have to do with the safety of the other divers?
 
Thanks for the comments. My last trip to Cozumel had trouble handling my BP/W. The tanks had to drop down in a hole on the benches and my BP got in the way. The boat I normally dive off of will have no problem with the SM as he is the person who will be teaching me. It is on vacations and such i wonder. I know dragging/getting doubles is not likely. I do not like diving without having a large degree of redundancy. I am also on a fair amount of boats that have no problems with BM doubles, why should they complain about SM?

I am looking at Bonair. From what i heard there is a large rack of tanks that you take as much as you want and do beach entry. I also heard that renting doubles in these locations is crazy expensive. Seems like SM is a viable option in these situations. I guess i could take the gear with me to sling an 80 but i could see them objecting to this.

Like i said before i have the opportunity to learn from the guy who designed the OMS profile/tesseract wing. I am just trying to see if this is something I have use for.

Jimmy
 
I am looking at Bonair. From what i heard there is a large rack of tanks that you take as much as you want and do beach entry. I also heard that renting doubles in these locations is crazy expensive. Seems like SM is a viable option in these situations. I guess i could take the gear with me to sling an 80 but i could see them objecting to this.

Shore diving on Bonaire is easy. I can't see any problems with sidemounting and shore diving.

I have taken staging gear and a stage reg with me on various business trips where I may have a chance to dive and had no problems with that either.
 
I would be concerned for the safety of other divers if the charter allowed SM. These boats are geared towards having tons of people, so drop/pickups have to be quick.

Seriously?

I have dove several whole weekends off of rec charters in Florida as a sidemount diver (single tank) with no issues and heck, I was MORE stable with the boat rocking then the any of the backmount divers... (lower center of gravity with sidemounted tank)

I was ready to dive off the boat faster then the rest of the divers and could doff my gear and be ready for the next dive faster.

I will continue to dive this manner on OW dives, as I find it MUCH more comfortable and MUCH easier to dive.

Here is a pic of how I dove the last time (on the wreck of the Eagle >100ft)
 

Attachments

  • IMG_1631 copy.jpg
    IMG_1631 copy.jpg
    84.8 KB · Views: 323
Shore diving in Bonaire would be no problem at all. Stacks of Alum 80s are readily available just grab what you need and dive.
 
Seriously?

I have dove several whole weekends off of rec charters in Florida as a sidemount diver (single tank) with no issues and heck, I was MORE stable with the boat rocking then the any of the backmount divers... (lower center of gravity with sidemounted tank)

I was ready to dive off the boat faster then the rest of the divers and could doff my gear and be ready for the next dive faster.

Nice pic..

But there is a huge difference between sidemounting a single tank and double tanks. While I guess I might prefer single-tank sidemount (scratch that, I know I would) over single-tank BM, OP's idea is to reap the advantages of doubles on a non-tech charter. I don't think that's going to happen with any regularity. It'd be very difficult to get both tanks on and wobble around on the boat (not to mention you can't really climb a ladder with both tanks and have any stability), so entry and exit would involve lowering/retrieving the second tank into/out of the water, and extra time required for you to screw around getting your second tank on while floating, and certainly no fun with a surface current or chop. I'd think most crews would take a very dim view of that.
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/peregrine/

Back
Top Bottom