Sidemount for a newer diver

I'm a relatively new diver with around 20 dives under my belt. I currently use a bp/w with a drysuit and hp100. As I live in the Cleveland area my main diving option is wreck diving in the great lakes. So basically I would like to progress up that ladder, leading into wreck penetration and deep wreck dives. It looks like diving doubles is a requirement for this type of diving. I am fairly comfortable in the water currently, but that is only with single tanks. I just wanted to see what your opinions are on starting with sidemounted doubles fairly early in the game. I'm sure most sidemount divers dove a ton with singles before they moved on to doubles. It seems like I'd be able to practice simple dives in quarries and such with sidemount and get used to it, as opposed to getting better with a single tank before switching over. As to why sidemount vs backmount doubles I'm sure there are enough topics on that already. I think the consensus will be get more more experience before making the switch, but I'm just trying to think about the reasons of why not just get the experience with sidemount from the beginning. Thanks!

It ain't rocket surgery ... but I would recommend starting out with a class from someone who dives sidemount regularly ... in other words, don't just sign up with your local recreational instructor who took it up as a sideline in order to be able to teach yet another class ... find someone who does the kind of diving in sidemount that you aspire to do. There are going to be other disciplines you're going to want to learn along the way, and it's best to develop good habits right off the bat ... so you don't have to "unlearn" bad ones later ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

I am a fairly recently certified diver and made the switch to sm. I started originally diving a backplate. Some people even said don't jump into a backplate right away??? I really like sm so far. I have very few dives in sm but so far so good. I am diving open water side mount only. I wreck dive in cold water also. As a new diver I think there are actually some benefits to sm over bm. I really like the redundancy of two independent systems, direct access to my first stages and gauges. In the water it feels good and swimming is as easy as I find it in bm.

As I noted I am still very new to this but so are you so my opinion is probably relevant to you. I don't think it is quite as complicated as people think. Admittedly I did struggle at first to get my hoses right and understand the setup. I did not take a course as nobody here dives sm. I practiced a lot in my pool also. If you are interested I would do it. Start slow, dive with competent buddies, stay shallow. It was worth changing to me. My two cents.

Thanks a lot for the replies. I'm trying to find a sidemount instructor in the Cleveland area but so far no dice. I may just give it a try and practice a lot in the pool and in quarries. I'd really like help from someone to get my routing and trim and all those things down as I think it's gonna be hard to tell if my tank positioning is correct etc on my own. I'm sure I can get to a point where I feel comfortable, but I wanna make sure I do it right. I might pull the trigger...think I'll start out by giving Cave Adventurers a call. I might go with their HOG package and the nomad JT. I also need to pick up a couple tanks, probably faber lp 85s.

NWGratefulDiver:

It ain't rocket surgery

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Made me chuckle.

arod15:

I might go with their HOG package and the nomad JT. I also need to pick up a couple tanks, probably faber lp 85s.

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I would say you have some specific goals,although I'd say they are fairly aggressive for only 20 OW dives. If your main goal is diving the great lakes,and doing wrecks there,ideally it would be best to hook up with someone in that area to help you with equipment appropriate for that environment,and hook up with people diving those sites that can instruct/mentor you. It is advantagous to develop skills among a group specific to your dive location,because it will help facilitate your goals. For example,if someone very new shows up with new gear and wants to do wreck penetration,it isn't uncommon to be rejected.

No I agree with you for sure. My plan is not to buy new gear and then sign up for advanced wreck. I would like to slowly progress up the ladder to advanced wreck and deeper dives. My thought process though, was to start diving sidemount now and get used to that so by the time I am ready for more advanced or tech diving I will be used to all of my gear. As opposed to upgrading in a stepwise fashion.

Greetings arod15 you are asking the correct questions but you would do well to heed the advice that has been given.
There are two schools of thought that you are going to find in your research.
One would advise you to make the switch and start today.
The other would advise you to climb the ladder slowly follow the progression from MASTERY of singles, singles with pony, doubles SM/BM, etc.
There are many skills that go along with these steps and they are essential to diving safely.

When I was in your shoes I was asking the same questions and chose to follow a route that was based on the natural progression of my dives.
Being dive goal oriented I would dive to the max of one level then purchase gear required and move to the next gaining training allowing time for mastery of skills between the certs.
I would caution you to start very purposeful with specific goals and be overly conservative in your dive plans and aspirations.
This ensures you will not rush into dives beyond your experience or skill level.

SM is not rocket science but the skills to dive the environments it will allow you to dive need to be mastered.
Start with a OW SM coarse from an instructor who dives SM and can clean you up gear wise as well as skills.
This would be my first recommendation.
I can put you in contact with a Instructor putting together a SM clinic / specialty at Gilboa quarry yet this season if you are interested.
PM me and I will get his contact information to you if you wish.

We dive quite frequently at Gilboa and SM quite a bit if you are interested in some mentorish relations.
Beware the fast track and take your time to progress!

Just let me know and I can help you whatever you decide.

CamG Keep Diving....Keep Training....Keep Learning.

I made the switch to sidemount after about 30 dives... its all really your comfort level in the water in my opinion, I know have about 30 dives in sidemount and I still throw my backmount rig on and dive it with no problems. You need someone who knows what they are doing to help you get trimmed out and comfortable in the setup.

arod15:

Thanks a lot for the replies. I'm trying to find a sidemount instructor in the Cleveland area but so far no dice. I may just give it a try and practice a lot in the pool and in quarries. I'd really like help from someone to get my routing and trim and all those things down as I think it's gonna be hard to tell if my tank positioning is correct etc on my own. I'm sure I can get to a point where I feel comfortable, but I wanna make sure I do it right. I might pull the trigger...think I'll start out by giving Cave Adventurers a call. I might go with their HOG package and the nomad JT. I also need to pick up a couple tanks, probably faber lp 85s.

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There's a sidemount instructor in Windsor ON who does the open water session at Gilboa. both are a reasonable distance from you. Give Ron at Benthic Scuba in Windsor a call.
There is also a guy who dives White Star quarry, and I'm out there fairly regularly as well.
From my point of view, I don't see why you couldn't get instruction and have sm as just another aspect of your diving education. You might find when you've done some sm, you'll feel less happy with having your tank and 1st stage stuck on your back out of reach

As the man says, it ain't brain science!