SMS100 / Nomad XT / or wait SMS75

I am an advanced diver has always dived in jacket-style BC's. I spent a lot of time considering which BP/W I wanted to get. I think I was down to HOG or used Halycon Infinity.. But then I keep seeing all the momentum around Sidemount. A lot of folks at my LDS have SMS100. I had a chance to try a Nomad XT at a demo event. And I just saw some posts in the forum about the SMS75.

Most of my diving is warm water, tropical diving. Rental tanks. while on vacation. Occasionally I'll some some fresh water diving around the US.

I've seen a lot of folks talk about about how they even prefer single-tank side mount over back mount BP/W. So that got me thinking. if I'm going to invest in a new BP/W rig, should I just skip the BP/W and invest in the side mount since it seems to have more long-term advantages and growth opportunities. Eventually I'm going to want to do some Cave diving training and more tech training. It seems if ST side-mount is more comfortable that back-mount anyway (which is why I was going to BP/W in first place and better trim). Then I get that with SM plus opportunity to dive double tanks and redundancy and better trim in overhead environments when I get there.

With that being said. Would the SMS100 (may w/ Edd's mods) or the Nomad XT be better rig to use for side mount, or maybe even UTD, keeping in mind that initially most of my diving will still be single-tank side mount. Also, I had concern about the bulkiness of the SMS100 and wondering should i just wait for the SMS75. Is that supposed to be a good compromise.

thanks

The rigs you have listed are great for steel tanks. If you're diving one or two aluminums I would go with something minimal like a Razor, Stealth, UTD, etc.

I have the SMS100 I bought it because i wasn't sure in what direction I would go with tech diving. The SMS100 can take back mount singles and doubles ass well as side mount, you can also do doubles on your back and put a tank under each arm if doing deep deco dives. It is bulky for tight caves but if I get into serious cave diving I would probably want a specific setup just for that like the razor or sms50 sport but for a good all around the SMS100 was the best I could find to meet all needs.

The SMS100 is good....but it requires mods to be great. The SMS75 is the SMS100 with all of the mods. Another great option is the Halcyon SM rig. The Razor and Stealth are both good options for sidemounting alu tanks. The SMS50 and SMS50 Sport are not well thought out, and it shows in the way they dive.

I don't have any personal experience with the Nomad XT, but I've heard mixed reviews on them and a buddy has one and dislikes it, despite us really trying to get it good.

I haven't herd anything on the 75 is it out yet?

Last I heard the SMS 75 was going to be out in March. I'm interested in getting a look at it as well.
I own both the SMS 100 with Ed's mods and a Halcyon Evolve as a double backmount and I have to put my vote on the SMS 100. To me it is more versitile and easier to dive than the Evolve backmount. The SMS is also lighter for traveling.
I do think you're right though, if you plan on doing some serious caving the SMS may not be your best bet if you plan on getting into some narrow passages.

I didn't get the EDDs mods didn't even know about them, Do they make a big difference? The only thing I might like is the shoulder strap change coming down to the belt might be less restrictive, as for the upper back dump I wouldn't need it because I dive with a lot of open water back mount divers I had my inflator changed to a octo integrated and also integrated a pull dump into it as well, because I wouldn't be able to share air and breath off it while dumping air, now all I have to do is pull it while the octo is in my mouth , I have it rigged so when I side mount I can remove the octo integrated inflator and instal a normal inflator only because its smaller and less to think about free flowing (not that it has) but the pull dump remains.
Again my thinking was I wasnt sure what type of tech diving would really grab me and I still really dont know and the SMS100 meets all requirements for all tech. I think if you really specialize in something you would probably want a specialized single purpose rig like the RAZOR for cave.

---------- Post added January 21st, 2014 at 06:59 AM ----------

I would like to know more about the mod if you have info? please

Having owned or dove many of the side mount rigs out there, I would say for your needs go with a Stealth or Razor. The SMS100 and Nomad are too bulky to travel with and dive single tank side mount. If you're worried about tank trim (and you should be), then the butt rails are going to be useless. There'll be people on here that say just add a weight to the tank band, but that is really going to affect your balance with a single tank.
My recommendation would be the Stealth. I was cave diving in Mexico with aluminum tanks in December, and I was ice diving with it this weekend with steel tanks. It's versatile enough so that you can grow with it.

---------- Post added January 21st, 2014 at 08:35 AM ----------

gearhound:

Having owned or dove many of the side mount rigs out there, I would say for your needs go with a Stealth or Razor. The SMS100 and Nomad are too bulky to travel with and dive single tank side mount. If you're worried about tank trim (and you should be), then the butt rails are going to be useless. There'll be people on here that say just add a weight to the tank band, but that is really going to affect your balance with a single tank.
My recommendation would be the Stealth. I was cave diving in Mexico with aluminum tanks in December, and I was ice diving with it this weekend with steel tanks. It's versatile enough so that you can grow with it.

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gearhound - a lot of good things about these boards but this is the bad part of these boards. you think your narrowing in on something then someone recommends something else to look at, and your back to square one deliberating... LOL. so i haven't even heard of Razor or Stealth before. SMS100 is popular all over the place so I just immediately focused there. Seems as if a large percentage of people were buying it must be good. I just hopped on website for the Stealth II and it looks pretty intriguing. I presume it also does single tank back mount as well. can you, or anyone else, give me some high level comparisons and differences between the Stealth type of rig and the SMS100 and Nomad which are more bulkier versions. I agree with you that I've always been hesitant on the SM rigs b/c they seem bulky ( i guess you need that when diving 2+ steel tanks in cold water, drysuit, etc.) 90% of my diving is open water, tropical water, typically off tour boats with Aluminums. Even if I did buy steels some day, i wouldn't be transporting them with me to my diving vacations. So is this Stealth more better for me.. Which is better Stealth or Razor.. Might has well through UTD in there I guess. is there a ranking of which ones are more functional, versatile, or "better" in a sense.

---------- Post added January 21st, 2014 at 08:36 AM ----------

DiverDownDave:

Last I heard the SMS 75 was going to be out in March. I'm interested in getting a look at it as well.
I own both the SMS 100 with Ed's mods and a Halcyon Evolve as a double backmount and I have to put my vote on the SMS 100. To me it is more versitile and easier to dive than the Evolve backmount. The SMS is also lighter for traveling.
I do think you're right though, if you plan on doing some serious caving the SMS may not be your best bet if you plan on getting into some narrow passages.

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I likely won't be doing any serious caving anytime soon. Only because I don't live near any caves. And I won't be flying to florida or mexico on a regular basis. However, I do want a rig that will provide a little more options for enhancing my SCUBA capabilities as I continue to grow. From what I'm seen, side mount alone is much more comfortable and better trim. So even if you don't use it for caving like it was initially intended, it's still good to dive with in OW.

I'm one of those people that try to keep up with the latest generation of things (electronics, computers, cars, etc..) so as I look at the SCUBA generations going from DIY BP, to jacket-style, back inflate jacket, to BP/W and now to side-mount. I've been on jacket-style and need to invest in a get a little more current to improve diving. It seems it makes sense so skip the BP/W generation and go straight to SM since that is what seems to be the current evolution of diving. And if I'm going to invest $1,000+ is might as well be on something more current so I'm not kicking myself and having to spend more money 6mths down the road wishing I would have just did it in first place.

Now, I'm not saying at all that there isn't a place for Bp/W vs SM and good divers probably have both and dive each one where it's more applicable. But I want to get one rig for right now that will improve diving and give me room to grow in my diving skills. It seems like SMS100 is heavily recommended.

Thanks for the all comments

Stealth and Razor are strictly side mount. Good luck I know its not always a easy choice.