GUE Cave Sidemount is a thing now?

[JohnnyC]

I think the problem is that for the vast majority of the diving world, it IS a fad. It's been touted by agencies and self-certifying instructors that it's the newest best thing, and it's being presented poorly by those people. These are the same people putting stuff like i3 inflators on BCD's, full face snorkels, distinctive specialties.... The guys that developed and used sidemount as a tool aren't the ones pushing it all over the recreational world. Those guys are miles back in a cave or bilge deep in a wreck.

Sidemount is a fantastic tool for certain things. I occasionally dive sidemount myself. But for the fat American tourist doing single tank sidemount off a cattle boat 12m down on a reef, tanks 45 degrees to his beer gut, let's be realistic here. He wouldn't have it if he weren't sold on it by people pushing it as the newest, greatest way to dive. Go figure, those are the guys that profit off all this stuff.

It was developed as a tool and has been co-opted into a money-making endeavor by people who never understood its application in the first place.

 

[wetb4igetinthewater]

The benefits of SM for me when diving in open water is that I don’t need a tech shop to support me when I travel and have redundancy (traveling with a pony is a pain).

As a photographer, I’m a solo diver, regardless on whether you try to pair me up with someone. I make no bones about being selfish on my dives on vacation. At home, I have no problem taking people out for fun dives and being focused on them. But never on vacation.

Plus, I can do as many dives as I want. Sure I could bring 2 or 3 sets of manifolds and bands with me to do the same thing, but A, that falls under the category of insane, and B, I lose time to get things set up in advance. When I’m on vacation, I want minimum fuss. I just show up in the morning and set up my gear. Others have back issues and doubles are out for them. I do like the reduced drag, but I prefer to move so slowly that it is a negligible benefit.

That’s how it is a tool for me; simplified logistics for redundancy when traveling. It isn’t for everyone and I despise the many self certified instructors who are unqualified to teach a complex configuration.