Question Sidemounts on a Liveaboard

[McGinty]

I'll be going on a liveaboard and wish to use my sidemount setup. This will be the first time I've used SM on a rec dive trip. I contacted the liveaboard company and they told me sidemount is fine as long as I bring my own equipment. Thant's not a problem except of course of the tanks.

Those of you that sidemount know the valves have longer sticky outing things to secure the bungees to the tank and the two valves are mirror images, e.g., the valve on/off wheel is reversed on one tank.

So my question for those that have done rec diving with sidemount set ups, and assuming the liveaboard does not have any side mount specific tanks, is there a work around for the two issues or will I need to bring my own valves?

TIA

 

[scubadada]

I've only been on 10 liveaboards, have not seen anybody use sidemount. I wonder whether they want you to use one tank or two, The dive time is generally set +/- an hour. You've got to be kidding regarding changing valves. Let us know how it works out for you.

 

[rongoodman]

I've been on one liveaboard out to Cocos Island where a young guy dived sidemount. The valves/regulators won't be symmetric but I don't see why that should be an issue. Try it out with a couple of standard tanks before you leave so you can figure out how things will work.

 

[lostsheep]

If all you get are standard valves and the operator doesn't want to swap valves you can run one side first stage up and the other first stage down and just loop the bungees over the knob instead of wrapping all the way around to the longer sticky outy thing.

Definitley play with this in a pool before you go.

 

[rddvet]

SM on boats isn't great for the crew, and often the diver. I'd say skip the sm and just enjoy yourself. Depending on the boat, the quickest way to become the guy the crew doesn't want to deal with is to show up in sidemount
To answer your question, just use the valves they have. There is no reason you cant. One will be up, one down. Practice in a pool and adjust your reg setup as needed.
May I ask why sidemount? Is it a tech trip? SM has worked its way into the rec diving community, but I'm not sure why. Obviously you get redundancy, but you could always sling a stage very easily and you don't really need redundancy on most rec dives. Why not just dive single tank sm or a monkey rig? It would make life a little easier for the crew.

Its up to you to make the decision, but is the juice really worth the squeeze? But I've also been diving sm a long time and am of the school that it really should stay out of the rec world and remain a technical skillset.

 

[runsongas]

you can either run one up and one down but without long stems you likely will have to resort to using the valve knob to wrap (with both valve knobs facing inward) or run ring bungees (aka dive rite choker style). pretty much there aren't a whole lot of reasons to bother unless if you are like diving off the truk odyssey and want to be pushing through some portholes.

 

[Thrutch]

As others have said, you'll basically just pretend you've got tanks set up with opposing valves and hook the knob on the right side. It's a little harder to get on and off, but that's it. There's typically a little nub with the burst disc on non-modular valves for you to sling, as well. Works just fine.

I've done sidemount off a liveaboard, and it was great. I brought my own tanks because I was driving for that trip, but it would have been fine either way. If you know what you're doing (and aren't handing off tanks in the water, which also isn't a big deal), the only extra work for the crew is topping off a second cylinder. Just use safety clips for getting back out of the water or tip the folks grabbing your tanks for you a little extra for being cool. That and watch where your tanks are swinging. Easy peasy.

You'll love it and thank yourself for bringing the SM gear. I just spent a week resort diving in backmount. So uncivilized. Definitely going sidemount next time.

 

[O-ring]

There were a few people diving sidemount when I was in Socorro (Belle Amie). They were using the boat standard tanks (single tank only) and the crew didn't seem to mind dealing with them and they didn't cause anybody any problems.

 

[LFMarm]

As described above most valves have a small protrusion on the non-knob side that allows you to mount the left tank while you can use the knob for the right tank. This allows you to have both regs pointing to your body. In the rare case they don’t have valves with the protrusion, you can use both knobs and have the left reg point outwards.

Regarding the overall experience on a LiveAboard, you will not best friend with the crew unless you become very tidy on how you use your deck space and quick in donning and doffing — both of which may be great learning goals for the trip.

If you like sidemount, you know you will be regretting diving backmount during the trip.

 

[Underwater Tourist]

if you really want to stick to sm-like set up, then consider doing monkey diving (sm with just 1 left cylinder)

you put long and shot hoses on the same reg, long hose remains fully stowed away

in fresh water you don't need any weight changes

in salt water, i would definitely put a 1.5-2kg weight on the right side to counterbalance the tank