beautybelow
Contributor
on the deck of a heaving dive boat in 4-6 foot seas, whether fully kitted up and trying to waddle to the jump gate with cylinders swinging this way and that (applies to those who don't have their rigs fully tuned yet), or trying to get in and have their cylinders handed down to them from 6 feet high. Your sidemount instructor was the first diver we've ever had dive sidemount from the Spree, and he did fine. Others who came later got through the process without managing to kill themselves. I just don't see it as a best case scenario for all situations. When someone tells me "I dive sidemount", I want to tell them that I can rig that way too, and would if I had any reason too. I dive with a snorkel. Not often, and only if I think I will spend a long time on the surface, because a snorkel is a tool. It helps me accomplish things I can't otherwise accomplish if I didn't have it.
To repeat. I have nothing against sidemount. I just don't get it. I didn't get BP&W before I tried it, either.
I took it as the OP was talking about sidemount with two tanks.
In my 500 and some odd posts on scubaboard since 2006 only about 5 have been understood the first time, maybe that's why I rarely post. haha
Anyway, my original point I tried to add to this discussion according to the original post and posts added by the original poster was:
I am guessing that most recreational liveaboards (and it's a fairly educated guess) can't accomodate 2 tanks for each diver on a full charter. (doubles or twin sidemounts, doesn't matter)
I mentioned the sidemount diver a few weeks ago only because it made me think that if they all were doing it what a mess it would be. He was not an issue at all and I assumed he was just logging dives in his sidemount configuration because he was a sidemount instructor.
I stated in my first post here that I know very little about sidemount diving and one question I had for this instructor which I never got around to asking was: Are both tanks manifolded so you empty them at the same rate? I just assumed they were and we were filling two tanks. I never did ask the boat crew because honestly I gave it all very little thought at the time.
If you are going to dive one of the tanks provided by the boat then personally I don't care of you stick it under your T-shirt and hop in (which I have done). The company however may have other policies that apply.