- Messages
- 125
- Reaction score
- 3
- # of dives
- 1000 - 2499
I just got back from a week in Bonaire, during which I dove exclusively side mount.
I used a 3 mil shorty for exposure protection and used my "home made" SM BC. It started life as a Dive Rite Trans Pac, and I added a butt plate, and put the Rec Wing on the inside of the harness. I sometimes dive the rig with a Travel Wing, but I was planning on doing some tech dives while I was there, and the Travel Wing doesn't have enough lift for me, 10 lbs of lead, four regulators, 2 AL80's and 2 AL 40's. I also considered taking my Hollis SMS 100, but it doesn't fit well into my travel cases.
The tech dives got canceled by the weather - we couldn't get permits to dive the Windjammer at the oil storage facility, so I spent the week doing open water dives in side mount from a boat or shore. I normally take my gear into the water and gear up there, but that option wasn't available on boat dives, nor on shore dives due to the surf.
When I was starting a dive with full tanks, I used 3lbs of lead on each shoulder, and 2lbs on each tank to keep them level. Once the tanks got to 1500psi, I'd switch the 2lbs to my shoulders and put the 3lbs on the tanks. I used XS Scuba weight pouches with velcro closures so I could move the leads around. I'd tried weights attached directly to my BC webbing and tank cam bands on previous excursions, but never came up with a configuration that worked over the entire life of the tanks. Switching the weights seemed to work well.
The staff at Habitat was more than willing to hand me my tanks in the water when I did boat dives. I'd take my left tank first, clip it off, get a reg in my mouth, and then take the right tank and clip it off. Once I had an air supply, I'd descend, orally inflate the BC to get neutral and then get my long hose and bungees rigged up underwater. After a dive or two, I learned just how big a breath to blow into the BC to get more or less neutral. On exit, I just climbed up the boat ladder, tanks and all. Squeezing through the uprights on the dive platform was easier if I did it sideways.
Shore diving was no bigger problem for me that it was for anyone else diving back mount. Gearing up on the tailgate of a pickup truck was no problem. I'd just get my tanks clipped off and then head into the water. I made sure I had a working reg in my mouth as I walked out, and just like with the boat dives, I'd get the bungees and long hose all set up once I was underwater.
Because my buddies were all in back mount single tanks, I couldn't stay down as long as I might have been able to otherwise, so I lost one benefit of having doubles. But I did get lots of questions from interested folks. Besides, diving side mount is cool and the chicks dig it.
Max
DSAT 198186
I used a 3 mil shorty for exposure protection and used my "home made" SM BC. It started life as a Dive Rite Trans Pac, and I added a butt plate, and put the Rec Wing on the inside of the harness. I sometimes dive the rig with a Travel Wing, but I was planning on doing some tech dives while I was there, and the Travel Wing doesn't have enough lift for me, 10 lbs of lead, four regulators, 2 AL80's and 2 AL 40's. I also considered taking my Hollis SMS 100, but it doesn't fit well into my travel cases.
The tech dives got canceled by the weather - we couldn't get permits to dive the Windjammer at the oil storage facility, so I spent the week doing open water dives in side mount from a boat or shore. I normally take my gear into the water and gear up there, but that option wasn't available on boat dives, nor on shore dives due to the surf.
When I was starting a dive with full tanks, I used 3lbs of lead on each shoulder, and 2lbs on each tank to keep them level. Once the tanks got to 1500psi, I'd switch the 2lbs to my shoulders and put the 3lbs on the tanks. I used XS Scuba weight pouches with velcro closures so I could move the leads around. I'd tried weights attached directly to my BC webbing and tank cam bands on previous excursions, but never came up with a configuration that worked over the entire life of the tanks. Switching the weights seemed to work well.
The staff at Habitat was more than willing to hand me my tanks in the water when I did boat dives. I'd take my left tank first, clip it off, get a reg in my mouth, and then take the right tank and clip it off. Once I had an air supply, I'd descend, orally inflate the BC to get neutral and then get my long hose and bungees rigged up underwater. After a dive or two, I learned just how big a breath to blow into the BC to get more or less neutral. On exit, I just climbed up the boat ladder, tanks and all. Squeezing through the uprights on the dive platform was easier if I did it sideways.
Shore diving was no bigger problem for me that it was for anyone else diving back mount. Gearing up on the tailgate of a pickup truck was no problem. I'd just get my tanks clipped off and then head into the water. I made sure I had a working reg in my mouth as I walked out, and just like with the boat dives, I'd get the bungees and long hose all set up once I was underwater.
Because my buddies were all in back mount single tanks, I couldn't stay down as long as I might have been able to otherwise, so I lost one benefit of having doubles. But I did get lots of questions from interested folks. Besides, diving side mount is cool and the chicks dig it.
Max
DSAT 198186
