Do you need to own your own tanks for sidemount?

[00wabbit]

I see sidemount in my recreational future. I like the idea of carrying extra gas and not having to lug it to the water on your back.

Is it necessary to own your own tanks for sidemount? It seemed like it maybe because of balance and attaching the tanks to your rig.

 

[Paul S]

I wouldn't personally. In fact, that's one of the main reasons I've done sidemount. Just grab two cylinders that are the same when you get where you're going.

As long as you're aware of the buoyancy characteristics of the cylinders you should be fine. You don't want to weight yourself counting on the cylinders being steel when they're actually aluminum.

 

[DA Aquamaster]

That's pretty much it. When we fly somewhere we can pretty much plan on encountering AL 80s. The preferred approach is to have a right/left valve in side mount but dealing with two right hand valves is no big deal.

We also carry 2 pound weights that we thread on the tails of the cam straps we use with the stage rigging for our sidemount tanks to help keep the tails down and normalize the overall buoyancy and trim compared to the steel 72s, LP95s, and HP 100s we also dive. The stage kits take about 30 seconds to put on and take off and only weigh a couple pounds, so they travel very well.

 

[Dive-aholic]

It makes it a little easier, especially if you dive a lot, but it isn't necessary. I just spent a week in Cozumel diving sidemount with rented cylinders. It would have been nice to have left and right hand valves but it isn't absolutely necessary.

 

[MSargeant]

If you like having your own gear and you can afford... why not? The valves with the shoulders on them aren't critical but they're nice.

Aside from that get a stage rigging kit which has a cam strap or easily adjustable jubilee clip, takes a few minutes to set up and get off again. Easy.

 

[00wabbit]

The why not is that my wife and I are planning to live full time in an RV and weight is at a premium so I can't carry anything extra.

 

[beanojones]

One thing to consider is that depending on your setup, you may have trouble with clipping in yoke tanks.

Example with the Nomad Ring Bungie or somthing like it, the clean back of a DIN tank valve is where the upper clip is bound into. A yoke makes it a bit crowded there.

On the other hand, a yoke knob gives a nice place to hook the bungie.

 

[DA Aquamaster]

One thing to consider is that depending on your setup, you may have trouble with clipping in yoke tanks.

Example with the Nomad Ring Bungie or somthing like it, the clean back of a DIN tank valve is where the upper clip is bound into. A yoke makes it a bit crowded there.

On the other hand, a yoke knob gives a nice place to hook the bungie.

Let's go diving when Marci and I come down after labor day - we'll sell you on Edd's "old school" kit for the Nomad. Way better than ring bungees as it eliminates the clipping into the choker issue, but still gives you a bolt snap to D-ring connection.

 

[BabyDuck]

no, it doesn't. unless some tank fairy futzes with my clips and lengthens the lines on them...

 

[copter53]

How can I make my own side mount straps that I can use on my probe lx so I don't have to buy a whole new sidemount bc?