Side mount with a back cylinder?

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Sidemount with back cylinder = single tank and two side mounted stages?

The OP asks about 2 SM bottles and a "SMALL DECO" bottle on his back.
Seems reasonable to me... SM+deco.
I'd prefer a 40 on my back rather than a twinset too!
 
You tell em Coztick

I was thinking a hollis sms 75 would allow 2 side cylinders and a small back cylinder?

Yeah mate perfect idea!

Get out of this place and post in the basic forum for some open imaginative expression
 
Having an AL80 on both sides + a deco bottle isn't something you'll notice. People can single tank sidemount which will feel more "unbalance"... but if you are properly trained and spent some time in the pool, you won't notice the imbalance.

In a 2 AL80 + 1 AL40 SM config, you get a benefit of giving your Deco bottle to your buddy if they have a failure. You can also drop the tank and come get it later.

I believe SM all 3x tanks is the best config.

However, if you are inclined to put a bottle on your back... I'm would think
Single AL80 on the Back + SM AL80 (Right Post) and AL40 (Left Post). I'm unsure how hard it will be to manage the unbalance of the AL40 being full and the AL80 Right post being mostly used by the end of your dive. I would have to see how that feels in the pool to see if it would work. But this option allows you to use your BPW + you will need to add bungees for each side. The Waist webbing will be a little higher so your ability to trim the tanks won't be as good. But it'll be pretty streamlined, definitely more streamlined then twins + deco.
 
Rebreather on the back, bailout and deco stages sidemounted to keep them streamlined and under control. Nothing worse than being inside a wreck with floaty deco tins all over the place.

Deco stages on your back, DEFINITELY NO. You need to be able to identify which stage you're breathing from, know the gas, get to the valves, etc. As everyone else has said, diving sidemount with one or two stages isn't hard. If you're wearing a sidemount harness, the lower D-rings will be further down (than a backmount harness), so the stage cylinders will be tighter to your body.
 
I was thinking a hollis sms 75 would allow 2 side cylinders and a small back cylinder?

Compared my wife's SMS75 to my new SM-only Katana 2 in January. Could not stand the "multipurpose" SMS75. The chest straps are too cluttered with things that cannot be moved or adjusted. Katana 2 was easily able to reconfigure to exactly what I needed where I needed it (a big part of SM). There may be a unicorn out there but SM BCDs will perform better than a multi-purpose BCD.

I've done boat SM with 1 deco bottle where I had to giant stride in, and climb out, wasn't too bad. I would like to find a boat that will let me clip off cylinders and don/doff underwater.

Sam
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/peregrine/

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