So why is my LDS so excited about sidemount all of a sudden?

[Johanan]

Thanks! An interesting, creative thread. :thumbs_up:

 

[halocline]

Just don't forget that the history of sport diving and it's gear is littered with all sorts of latest-and-greates fads and trends, as well as some huge improvements that have stood the test of time. Who knows where sidemount will fit in, although it does absolutely have advantages in specific situations, but those are in technical diving. The idea that rereational sport divers, especially novice divers, will gain any 'real' benefit from being pushed into diving doubles (back or sidemount) is very iffy at best.

Your LDS might not be solely motivated by trying to sell you specific gear, but they are in the business of creating a market through activity. They want you involved in what they're doing; that's how they create a community of local divers and survive. So recreational sidemount might be one of those activities.

Personally if you're a recreational diver going through the PADI pyramid scheme, oops I meant to say 'sequence of courses', I would not bother with any technical PADI specialties. And definitely do not worry about some future event at which some hypothetical dive shop is telling you to wear the same gear as the students when you're a DM. Just dive the way you want to. For single tank, a BP/W set up with a bungied alternate and 5 ft primary hose, with the tank on your back, is very tough to beat IMO for dive comfort and overall enjoyment.

Then at some point if you want to explore technical diving and doubles, do so with an agency that specializes in technical diving.

 

[Wookie]

Your LDS might not be solely motivated by trying to sell you specific gear, but they are in the business of creating a market through activity. They want you involved in what they're doing; that's how they create a community of local divers and survive. So recreational sidemount might be one of those activities.

This is the best quote I've seen about LDS's and how they should work on ScubaBoard ever. Everyone thinks your LDS is out to screw you. No, they are in the business of selling dive gear, and many things contribute to that, including taking you on trips, whether it be to a resort in Bonaire or ice diving in some cold god-forsaken place, or introducing you to new gear and techniques, or offering training, or whatever.

 

[JamesK]

Your LDS might not be solely motivated by trying to sell you specific gear, but they are in the business of creating a market through activity. They want you involved in what they're doing; that's how they create a community of local divers and survive. So recreational sidemount might be one of those activities.

And definitely do not worry about some future event at which some hypothetical dive shop is telling you to wear the same gear as the students when you're a DM. Just dive the way you want to.


For single tank, a BP/W set up with a bungied alternate and 5 ft primary hose, with the tank on your back, is very tough to beat IMO for dive comfort and overall enjoyment.

First two paragraphs I agree 100%!!!!!

Third paragraph, ehhh. Lol. Just to be a butt head, and stir the pot, I am going to say nope. A small OW style SM BC with a single AL80, all properly rigged of course, still with a long hose and bungees backup is down right difficult to beat as far as comfort is concerned.

 

[billgraham]

Sorry, a question out of ignorance, I've never been on a boat with SM divers. Do most divers enter and exit the water with both cylinders attached or are they attached and unattached in the water? In very heavy seas I'm not sure I would want to deal with the cylinders in the water and seems like one would want at least one cylinder available in case one was thrown back into the water from the ladder. Likewise, when a rapid descent is needed, seems like one would really like to enter the water with cylinders already attached and ready to go. Maybe I'm wrong, but manueveing around the boat with 2 side mounted cylinders would seem to be more difficult than a single back mounted cylinder, perhaps more like regular doubles, certainly, the weight is about the same.

Thanks, Craig

All wiseassery aside, I've been doing sidemount from boats for about then years and I think it's easier than backmount, at least for me. I have my bottles rigged up and most times you can actually slide them right under the bench, out of the way. For the dive boat, I make sure I've got a clip at the top of the bottom gas tanks as well as the one on the bottom. I usually have a drop line rigged up (30 something feet long, spliced loop for a cleat at the top, rings spaced started around 20 feet in pairs, so I can pull a tank out of the water and the others are still in the water, with a 10 pound weight and a little strobe at the bottom.

To gear up, put the deco bottle near the gate, sit down on the bench, pull the bottles out and sit down between them and get it together. Shuffle over to the gate, grab the deco bottle and jump out sideways, no big deal. When you get back underneath the boat, you can swim over to your drop line and do your 20 foot stop, and when you're done, get rid of the deco bottle (charge it and shut it off, clip it to the line using both the top and bottom clips). If you want to get rid of one bottom gas tank, go up to the next set of rings and dump ALL of the gas out of your wing and suit, undo the bungee (the hose to your suit will keep it from going anywhere), grab the back clip in your hand, undo it, and take it straight to the ring. Then unlug the suit hose, get the top clip on the ring (it will end up upside down), stow the hoses and you're good to go.

It's not that bad to climb a GOOD dive ladder with both sidemount tanks still on but these days, I don't really like doing it with LP 95's. The thing to watch for is catching hoses on the rungs of christmas tree ladders. Where I live, it's cold water diving and dive boats usually have someone in a drysuit on the swim platform when you get there so you can hand up deco bottles, catch bags, etc. I realize it's not like that everywhere.

As for doing this stuff on single tank boats, I've only done it one time, in Fiji. I struggled about whether to ask questions but I figured I'd just follow directions. We were supposed to put our regs on the boat and they'd set our stuff up. Of course they had no idea what to do with my stuff so I just set it up, asked if I could roll off the side, and did my thing. I just used the same two tanks for both dives. The Fijians are the friendliest people on earth so I don't know how this would go some other places. Good luck!

 

[drbill]

I'm personally excited about sidemount as it gives an old geezer like me a better chance of carrying the gas I may need to return to deeper depths for filming without breaking my back! However it could also be that pushing sidemount means a new cert to ring up in the cash register for some shops.

 

[Angry Turtle]

I'm personally excited about sidemount as it gives an old geezer like me a better chance of carrying the gas I may need to return to deeper depths for filming without breaking my back! However it could also be that pushing sidemount means a new cert to ring up in the cash register for some shops.

You can always get with someone who already does it, get the lay of the land and try yourself, for some people it is just intuitive.

 

[billgraham]

I never took a sidemount class. I'm not sure if there even was one other than Bill Rennaker's workshop.

 

[USFpsychDiver]

I'm considering side mount for two (well, two-and-a-half) reasons:

1: Better trim. The folks I've dove with who have used both and now dive SM say trim is better SM. makes sense to me; two weights (tanks), one on each side, seems inherently more stable than one weight (twinset) concentrated on the midline -- less tendency to roll.

2: Independent gas supplies. In SM the two cylinders are completely independent. True, you can shut down the isolater on a twinset, but one less thing to hassle with in a gas emergency. True, you don't have the option of using the gas in both tanks in the event of a reg failure, but true independence seems worth it.

2.5: I have poor shoulder mobility so valve drills are tough for me. If I ever had to do a valve shutdown in a real emergency, I'm not convinced I could get it done in time. I like the idea of having the valves right in front of me.

Enough people are diving SM who aren't wriggling through silty little holes and who aren't selling gear that I don't think all of them are just trying to look cool.

 

[TONY CHANEY]

All wiseassery aside, I've been doing sidemount from boats for about then years and I think it's easier than backmount, at least for me. I have my bottles rigged up and most times you can actually slide them right under the bench, out of the way. For the dive boat, I make sure I've got a clip at the top of the bottom gas tanks as well as the one on the bottom. I usually have a drop line rigged up (30 something feet long, spliced loop for a cleat at the top, rings spaced started around 20 feet in pairs, so I can pull a tank out of the water and the others are still in the water, with a 10 pound weight and a little strobe at the bottom.

To gear up, put the deco bottle near the gate, sit down on the bench, pull the bottles out and sit down between them and get it together. Shuffle over to the gate, grab the deco bottle and jump out sideways, no big deal. When you get back underneath the boat, you can swim over to your drop line and do your 20 foot stop, and when you're done, get rid of the deco bottle (charge it and shut it off, clip it to the line using both the top and bottom clips). If you want to get rid of one bottom gas tank, go up to the next set of rings and dump ALL of the gas out of your wing and suit, undo the bungee (the hose to your suit will keep it from going anywhere), grab the back clip in your hand, undo it, and take it straight to the ring. Then unlug the suit hose, get the top clip on the ring (it will end up upside down), stow the hoses and you're good to go.

It's not that bad to climb a GOOD dive ladder with both sidemount tanks still on but these days, I don't really like doing it with LP 95's. The thing to watch for is catching hoses on the rungs of christmas tree ladders. Where I live, it's cold water diving and dive boats usually have someone in a drysuit on the swim platform when you get there so you can hand up deco bottles, catch bags, etc. I realize it's not like that everywhere.

As for doing this stuff on single tank boats, I've only done it one time, in Fiji. I struggled about whether to ask questions but I figured I'd just follow directions. We were supposed to put our regs on the boat and they'd set our stuff up. Of course they had no idea what to do with my stuff so I just set it up, asked if I could roll off the side, and did my thing. I just used the same two tanks for both dives. The Fijians are the friendliest people on earth so I don't know how this would go some other places. Good luck!

OK, I embrace SM but how in the heck can you say all that is easier than my way? I put on my BC, I get into the water, dive and then get out of the water. I have assisted SM divers putting on their tanks in the water beside the boat. I would never do that in rough seas.