Not a set of doubles or single tanks to be seen

[shoredivr]

Yesterday at Ivy Lea campground dive beach on the St Lawrence river I came up from a dive and there were 16 or 20 sidemount tanks and a couple of rebreathers... Not a single tank or set of doubles to be seen. It was not a class, either.

It was very interesting.

 

[gcarter]

How are those dives? Son and I camped there a few weeks back while doing some boat dives out of Brockville, but did not dive there.

I did find it amusing to see people in drysuits walking down the road while sitting in front of my fire,

 

[DA Aquamaster]

We were at JB a couple weeks ago and the only doubles and single tanks we saw were in a class. While we were gearing up for a side mount dive, Marci remarked to me while pointing at a set of doubles "What are those?" I replied "They are what cave divers used to use in the old days". We were both kidding...but not much.

That same day I heard a well known cave diver, instructor and dive shop owner remark that "some people still dive doubles because they just don't want to admit there is a better way".

The times and configurations have changed.

 

[shoredivr]

Gcarter, nice slope down to 160 or so, no current in the bay. You can do a drift dive from the boat dock off Site 113, go around the point, under the bridge and back to the beach in 45 min.

DAAquamaster, there were a fair number of women and also over 50's getting ready to do the dives.
Ten people on the charter boat, 4 of them exclusively SM.

 

[Dive-aholic]

That same day I heard a well known cave diver, instructor and dive shop owner remark that "some people still dive doubles because they just don't want to admit there is a better way".

The times and configurations have changed.

Sidemount is not necessarily a better way. It's just a different way. Some people still prefer backmount. They have their reasons and for them backmount is the better way. That doesn't make them wrong or stupid. Better to have an open mind about these things than to just think that anyone not diving the same configuration as you has chosen a lesser way.

Oh, and these comments aren't directed at you Larry. I know you have more of an open mind than to think that.

 

[fdog]

Wellllll...it's only from a limited sample set....but every time I've dove backmount with a sidemount diver(s), I seem to spend an inordinate amount of time waiting. Both on shore and in the water.


All the best, James

 

[JahJahwarrior]

No matter what I’m diving (backmount, sidemount, with stages, multiple deco mixes, scooters or camera) or what my buddy is diving, I can’t off the top of my head remember a dive when I wasn’t waiting around for buddies to get ready.

Some have accused me of being a Type A personality. Really, it’s just that most of the time I have the option of being underwater diving, or sitting on land in hot or cold weather, with rain, mosquitos, or sunburns awaiting me. I’d rather be diving.

I also know what I’m doing with my gear, and don’t need to fiddle around with it. I’m usually the one packing the car, so I know exactly where everything is. Some trips I’ve gone so far as to leave regulators on tanks, just unscrewing them, to reduce the time standing around putting kit together. I’m not there to sit in the Peacock parking lot…if I’m on the surface, I’d rather be enjoying the nature trail, but my buddies aren’t THAT slow…

I also enjoy diving both backmount and sidemount. I’d challenge anyone who is a die hard sidemount diver, especially if you use big tanks, to throw on some lp85’s, scooter back to Mainland, drop your stage, and start swimming. That’s the dive that convinced me to buy 85’s, and my 95’s, which I held in high esteem for many years, since I was only an OW diver, haven’t left the garage since!

 

[FoxHound]

With my SM setup, on shore dives, im in the water LONG before any of the back mounters are ready and in.....it would be the same on a boat dive except I let them get ready since I need a bit more room and my tanks always seem to be on the floor as opposed to on the bench like the BMers

 

[BabyDuck]

Wellllll...it's only from a limited sample set....but every time I've dove backmount with a sidemount diver(s), I seem to spend an inordinate amount of time waiting. Both on shore and in the water.

james, the time it takes/pain it takes are equal between back & side mount, but in different places. if both are in their suits, with the sm tanks in the water & ready to be put on & the bm also set up in the tank rack or the back of the truck and you yell 'go', in the parking lot, i bet it would take pretty much the same amount of time for the sm-er to run down & jump in & put on tanks and be ready as the bm-er to put on tanks & walk to the water & be ready. but absolutely, if you are both walking to the water but the bm-er is ready, s/he will have to wait for the sm-er. (yes, i'm coming at this from a cave-with-parking-lot perspective.)

and i will also say that it took me about a year to be anywhere close to time-efficient putting on tanks. it took strength, i was anxious about putting things on wrong, etc, but i have gotten a lot faster. still, larry is almost always ready before i am. he almost always deals with that gracefully. mainly because if he gets pissy, i get more anxious & therefore slower & he's learned that.

 

[Dive-aholic]

Wellllll...it's only from a limited sample set....but every time I've dove backmount with a sidemount diver(s), I seem to spend an inordinate amount of time waiting. Both on shore and in the water.


All the best, James

That's just showing either the inexperience or the ignorance (not necessarily their fault) of the people you're diving with. I always wait for my students to be in the water before I get in to start gearing up. And even then I'm still ready to submerge before my backmount students are done fiddling with their gear and ready to go.