It's the stairs at Grand Cenote and Pet Cemetery that convinced me that backmount had its significant advantages! (It doesn't help that I can't carry an Al80 very easily in one hand, which makes getting them down stairs and trails difficult.)
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My recommendation -especially if you're going eventually to technical overhead wreck & cave- is to learn and be comfortable with backmount doubles first. Get a feel for your gas planning and actual consumption on a dive with a double manifolded set of conventional cylinders that are the same size & volume as the individual tanks that you will be using for sidemount (i.g. I used AL80's conventionally manifolded on backmount, and then used them individually for my sidemount dives on UTD's Z-system).It was recommended to learn backmount before going to sidemount. I realize everyone has their own view and I do not think its "wrong" but I am wondering if anyone can shed some light on why that may be the case.
I carry them by the valves. I'm so short that I can't do it with my arm relaxed; I have to bend my elbow a fair bit to keep them off the ground, and that's uncomfortable fairly quickly. I can't put a tank on my shoulders because of old collarbone fractures, so I end up carrying them with one hand on the valve and the other supporting the bottom, which doesn't leave me a hand to help with balance when going up and down slopes. It's easier to have them on my back and be able to use my hands.
I carry them by the valves. I'm so short that I can't do it with my arm relaxed; I have to bend my elbow a fair bit to keep them off the ground, and that's uncomfortable fairly quickly. I can't put a tank on my shoulders because of old collarbone fractures, so I end up carrying them with one hand on the valve and the other supporting the bottom, which doesn't leave me a hand to help with balance when going up and down slopes. It's easier to have them on my back and be able to use my hands.
Actually Lynne, with UTD Z-system sidemount, you can carry the tanks easily for a beach dive by the kit straps, and attach to sidemount harness at water's edge --a "no-no" for dedicated deco/stage bottles-- but for Z sidemount tanks it's not a problem because of the tight draw of harness tank bungee when looped around the tank valves (and no extraneous butt plate needed to stretch that lower bolt snap for attachment; just regular & standard hip D-rings to clip onto). . . so pre-dive carrying tanks vertically by the valves is not mandatory.I've actually never tried to walk a sidemount rig with the tanks attached . . . but if I have to walk them down attached to me, I may as well stay with the backmount setup I already know and own.
Because when you use the straps as "carrying handles" out-of-the water, they may pull out of alignment and shorten your chord length between your top & bottom bolt snaps (this is especially true with non-permanent "travel" stage/deco tank kits). Generally may only be a nuisance --your stage/deco bottles may fit & hang tighter when clipped off to your shoulder and hip D-rings. Worst case, you may have trouble rotating bottles, clipping & unclipping, on gas switches with multiple stage/deco tanks.Why is it a no-no for deco/stage bottles?
(One of the main reasons I use the Nomad Ring Bungie is because I want to be able to use the straps to handle the bottles underwater/topside.)
Because when you use the straps as "carrying handles" out-of-the water, they may pull out of alignment and shorten your chord length between your top & bottom bolt snaps (this is especially true with non-permanent "travel" stage/deco tank kits).