sidemount rig question.

hello scuba board

i have been looking for some time now into the different sidemount rigs available. and..... im stumped, mainly i have been looking at the razor 2 harness with 45lb bat wing. or the nomad xt. i no they are two totaly different style pieces of equipment.

i am a recreational open water diver, i eat sleep and breath diving i go under as much as my wallet can stand. so with this in mind the maximum i would be carrying would probably be 2 steel lp 12L cylinders and at a later date a deco gas of some sort when i inevitably venture into the tech route.

i dive dry with a 2.5 mm o three drysuit and fourth element arctic undersuit down to a max of 40 meters. so im after something with enough lift should the worst happen an i get a flood. an my worry is that there wouldnt be enough lift in the bat wing on the razor. but the guy i will be taking my training with believes in the razor 100% and i can get swept along easy (im like a sponge) so i guess what im after is input from anyone that wants to help on these two systems or something i may not have thought of at all. pros- cons etc.

i apologise if you are bored of probably answering the same sort of questions over and over, but any help given is much appreciated.

jordan

Jordan, 45 pounds is plenty of lift so that shouldn't be concerned. Rather, what you really need to consider is how the rigs are designed and how they will work with the type of diving you plan on doing. Both of the rigs you named have a rather tall profile in the water when fully inflated. This may not be an issue for you if you only plan on doing OW dives with some decompression eventually. However, diving evolves and progresses and you may find you eventually want to do wreck penetrations or sump diving. In that case, you may want to look at some different kits. Somewhere to start in your area would be members of the CDG. While many of them use a Farr harness or similar, their kits tend to be pretty individualistic, which tends to be true of any sidemount rig. I hate to say this, but you may also want to shop around for other instructors. I'm always leery of instructors who push one particular rig. Different rigs work better for different people. You need to find the rig that works for you.

ok thanks for the advice, its not that I don't trust his oppinions I just know that when someone is that passionate about something some times it can cloud their judgement a bit I just wanted an indipendant oppinion. I know its a good set up as other people talk very highly of it. Tbh I don't think caving is for me to much of a wimp lol maybe things will change 10 or 15 years from now but I think if I can have something light that travels well but is also well suited to the type of diving I like doing over here then it works for me. Thank you for your help

Jordan