Newbie looking at gear - Sidemount vs BP/W advice please

Greetings fellow dive enthusiasts,

I have been a long time lurker on these boards and I really appreciate the advice and knowledge many of you have imparted. I was hoping I might solicite some of it for myself - and perhaps others who are thinking of similar questions...

Please allow me to apologize if these questions have been answered in a previous thread, if so please point it out to me.

Some backround: I am a new diver, open water back in March and in the middle of Advanced OW with only 14 dives to my name. I dive both cold water (puget sound) and warm, and I travel extensively. I do not use a drysuite. I am looking to buy my own gear, regs first then BC setup.

My questions involve the BC, as I will be looking into Tek diving later - after I gain some experience - but: I would prefer as much as possible to make one purchase that is flexible for many uses, and I would prefer to learn one set of gear to minimze confusion and having to 'unlearn' habits...

As such, I am trying to decide whether I should go with a Backplate and wing, or a dedicated SM - likely the Hollis SMS100 - as it seems to be able to handle standard back mounting as well as side.

1) First - is a sidemount system appropriate for someone with my low experience level or something I should move to only after I gain a few years of experience?

2) Is it possible / difficult to dive a single AL80 mounted on the side? Do I offset weight to compensate for the tank? Is trim and boyancy difficult to control for someone with my (lack of) experience? I am envisioning both cold and warm water, shore and boat dives...

3) Is it possible to attach dumpable weight pockets to the SMS 100? Is there even a need? Typically in cold water (vest BC) I need 26 lbs and warm I need 16 or so, but I absolutely hate weight belts...

4) I know there are possibile ways to adapt a BP/W to sidemount, are these as effective as the dedicated BC? Have any manufacturers come out with a conversion kit? Will I need a SM specific wing for the backplate?

Thank you very much for your time, advice and teachings.

Cheers!

N.M.

1. i'd wait to start diving dual sidemount for a while, but there is no reason you can't buy the gear now to save later
2.It's possible and not difficult, but it's not ideal IMHO
3. it is possible, but they make sidemount more difficult.
4. no, you don't want to do that, yes you will need a specific wing and you do NOT want to dive a hard backplate in sidemount.

BFS: Dive Rite Nomad XT Sidemount Package [BC4650P] - $879.99 : Cave Adventurers!, We will NOT be undersold!!!
If you can afford that now, that gets you regulators, and a full out nomad. You can buy a normal length HP hose and use all of that stuff for backmount singles. You can use the nomad with a single tank adapter or just weave the cam bands which works better for singles. Nomad also accepts doubles no problem and you can use weight pouches if you want to. Dive Rite Nomad Weight Plate [BC2727] - $72.25 : Cave Adventurers!, We will NOT be undersold!!!
If you're diving in sidemount, that is great to add up to 16lbs of weight on your back, non ditchable, but not a belt. Also make sure if you're using a belt that you have to put the belt on AFTER the bc if you're using a crotch strap so the belt is outside of the crotch strap. With the sidemount butt plates weight belts are rather awkward, but you can usually find used weight pouches pretty cheap

My advice is to stick to single tank diving for a while. There is SO much to see in and around Seattle (not to mention other places in the world) in a single tank, that unless you have a burning need to dive shipwrecks or caves (and not much interest in anything else) there is no need to hurry into any kind of double tank setup.

Diving a single tank on your side is doable, but it is neither the most comfortable nor the most convenient way to carry a single tank.

I would highly recommend just getting a standard backplate and wing setup and diving it for a while. They're eminently resellable, should you later decide to go sidemount for some other reason.

As far as habits go, by the time you are ready to do technical diving -- and assuming you decide to do it sidemount, which outside of caves has its advantages and disadvantages -- you will be far enough along to where learning the procedures for sidemounting won't be that big a deal. Swapping regulators and watching your gas is not really very different, and the big things of sidemount, which are getting your gear properly adjusted and weighted, you're going to want help from an instructor with, most likely, anyway.

I'd buy standard gear and dive it. Change later. The cost of a sidemount rig is not going to loom large in the overall costs of technical training and diving, and as I said, you can always sell the rig you have.

+1 on what Lynn said. As much as I like my Razor in the caves, I'll be taking my BP/W on my next open water trip to Saba/St. Kitts. Much less hassle getting off and back on the boat and it will do everything I need it to do in the water.

I agree with what was said, but if you know you're going sidemount eventually, that price is hard to ignore and you will never be able to buy a new setup for less than that, which is why I still recommend buy it, play with it in the pool/quarry whatever, but stick to single backmount for now which the nomad is just fine for. If you're on the fence, buy a used bp/w and reg setup. No sense in buying new with depreciation if you're not 100% sure you're going to stick with that setup

DiveAv8r:

My questions involve the BC, as I will be looking into Tek diving later - after I gain some experience - but: I would prefer as much as possible to make one purchase that is flexible for many uses, and I would prefer to learn one set of gear to minimze confusion and having to 'unlearn' habits...

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One thing you will have to consider is your tech instructor. There are very few of us who teach tech classes and teach sidemount. It's not advisable to take a tech class from an instructor that has no experience or knowledge about sidemount. There are things that need to be addressed in that configuration that an instructor with no sidemount experience will not know about. There are no experienced sidemount instructors in your area that I am aware of.

1) First - is a sidemount system appropriate for someone with my low experience level or something I should move to only after I gain a few years of experience?

Click to expand...

Sidemount is fine at any experience level. It can actually be quite a bit easier to learn than backmounted doubles.

2) Is it possible / difficult to dive a single AL80 mounted on the side? Do I offset weight to compensate for the tank? Is trim and boyancy difficult to control for someone with my (lack of) experience? I am envisioning both cold and warm water, shore and boat dives...

Click to expand...

It is very possible and not difficult at all. No offset weight is needed. Trim and buoyancy can be very easy. It really depends on you and the instruction you receive. Check out a video and some photos -

Cave Diving Videos (scroll down to Cypress Spring, this dive was done in an 8/6 with no wing)
Aruba (3mm shorty in a homemade sidemount rig)

3) Is it possible to attach dumpable weight pockets to the SMS 100? Is there even a need? Typically in cold water (vest BC) I need 26 lbs and warm I need 16 or so, but I absolutely hate weight belts...

Click to expand...

It depends on how much waist you have. Sidemount rigs usually involve wrapping much of the wing around your torso so there isn't much room for anything other than a small knife and battery canister on the waist belt.

4) I know there are possibile ways to adapt a BP/W to sidemount, are these as effective as the dedicated BC? Have any manufacturers come out with a conversion kit? Will I need a SM specific wing for the backplate?

Click to expand...

Hard back plates don't work as well for sidemount. There are some DIYs out there but there's a lot involved to make it a streamlined kit. It's easier to make a homemade SM rig with a soft harness like the Dive Rite Transpac or OMS IQ harness. You do not need a SM specific wing either. The rigs you see in the Aruba photos are made of an OMS IQ harness and an Oxycheq single cylinder wing. However, I wouldn't try to build a SM rig without having some experience in SM diving or without having a good mentor to help you along. The only DIY rigs I've seen that work have been made by experienced SM divers. The ones made by new SM divers have a lot to be desired, including the one I first made several years ago when I still lived in Arizona! There are no conversion kits.

the sidemount kits that you see for the hard backplates are mainly designed for divers who want to sidemount their bailout tanks for CCR or deco bottles in doubles, not for true sidemounting. Figure that was worth noting.

Great information, thank you all for taking the time to respond.

I think I will stick with a BP/W for now, I am sure that technology will improve further with new enhancements by the time I am ready to dive Sidemount. It certainly is an intrigueing concept to me and I can't wait to try it.

Thanks to Rob (Dive aholic) for posting the vids, looks like a lot of fun!

Incidentally, I am kinda partial to Hollis Gear as I have had some extremely positive experiences with the company and it's customer service team. I will write about that and two fantastic local Dive Shops I have experience with on the West Coast in a seperate thread.

Thanks for all your help, I hope we meet in the water someday!

N.M.

nothing wrong with their gear, I'm not as much of a fan of their sms100 because the lack of modularity and the wing is kind of weird IMHO. Just difference of personal opinion

You sound like a certain diver I know!

I have told you to keep it simple right?