SDI Open Water Sidemount & TDI Sidemount difference

[sOt0nGx]

SDI Open Water Sidemount Diver | SDI | TDI | ERDI

• Equipment considerations
• Gas management
• Attaching cylinders
• Trim and Buoyancy
• Different water entries

Prerequisites to enroll on the SDI Open Water Sidemount Diver course are: Age 18 (or 15 with parental consent), SDI Open Water Diver or equivalent.

TDI Sidemount Diver | SDI | TDI | ERDI

• Equipment considerations
• Gas management
• Attaching cylinders
• Trim and buoyancy
• Deployment of surface marker
• Different water entries

Prerequisites to enroll on the TDI Sidemount Diver course are: Age 18, SDI Open Water Diver or equivalent. (Otherwise open water diver)

From the website, it seems the only difference is the deployment of SMB and the same Prerequisites.
Surely it can't this simple?
Can someone tell me more about the differences?

Thanks

 

[iamjblevine]

One is a Technical Cert so the price is higher?

 

[DevonDiver]

TDI Sidemount In-Water Skills
1. Demonstrate various propulsion techniques (frog kick, modified frog kick, modified flutter kick, backwards kick, helicopter turns, and hand pulling if appropriate for the environment)2. Demonstrate adequate buoyancy control (ability to hover at fixed position in water column without moving hands or feet)
3. Demonstrate adequate trim (ability to maintain proper position during the descent, bottom and ascent portion of the dive)
4. Demonstrate the ability to perform the following exercises while maintaining trim and buoyancy in the water column:
a. Unclipping and attaching sidemount cylinders
b. Perform gas switches with and without a mask
5. Demonstrate the ability to safely manage gas in independent cylinders
6. Demonstrate conservation, awareness, and back referencing techniques
a. Deploy liftbag
b. Carry additional cylinder(s) (optional)

The skills highlighted are the extra, I believe. In addition to lift-bag/DSMB, there is the option for addtional cylinders - which permit tech qualified divers to progress in sidemount training with deco/stage cylinders.

This differs from the TDI Advanced Sidemount course - which is overhead environment specific and has a considerably higher and more focused skill requirement.

 

[HIGHwing]

After looking at the course standards, the major difference is the SDI course assumes the diver is never going beyond 130ft/the NDL, whereas the TDI Course allows concurrent certification with many of the common decompression courses. In essense the SDI Course is teaching gas management, the TDI course is homed in on not accidentally switching to a deco gas, dealing with multiple bottles per side. I would say the instructor for TDI Sidemount will teach you the multiple tank/multiple gas protocols to keep you alive, whereas the SDI Instructor is going to spend more emphasis on keep yourself balanced and trimmed.

Just my 2psi