Sidemount basics? Just some simple questions

[grantmac]

Low Profile Slide Locking D-Ring

Here is a simple slide locking d-ring! Made out of 304 marine grade stainless steel so you can use it in salt or frsh water with no harm to it! This part is roughly 1/8" inches thick giving it plently of strength and very durable for diving use You have thick webbing no problem we designed this...

www.piranhadivemfg.com

I have a pair of those...in a bag. I spent the money (twice) on shipping over SumpUK rings because they are that much better.

 

[MSargeant]

Couple of these + some pliers, the more bent = the easier they slide.

 

[halocline]

I'd do it at whatever you feel more comfortable with, it mostly boils down to individual preference. I think 500psi is the commonly accepted "rule of thumb" but it also depends on the situation. There are times where I do it based on a task (when I get finished winding up a spool or reel, deploying an SMB, navigating through a restriction, dealing with flow in a smaller section of cave going into a bigger one, etc.) and I might have breathed 500-700psi before swapping regs.

They way I was trained, I switch regs every 200 PSI, sometimes even more frequently. This is for cave diving. Assuming I start the dives with more-or-less equal gas in each tank, I start with the right tank, breathe on that until it’s 200 PSI less than the left, then switch, breathe left until it matches the right, switch, breathe 200PSI, etc. In zero vis or higher stress situations, I switch more frequently, like every tie off in zero vis.

The point of this is kind of two-fold, 1st, you don’t want the left tank to ever get lower than the right; that’s your tank in case of air sharing and it also supplies the LPI. 2nd, you want to ingrain the habit of switching quickly and automatically when things get stressful, otherwise you might forget and then your redundancy is compromised. Also, I dive wet with AL80s and so I’m a little more sensitive to unbalanced tanks than divers with a lot more overall mass.

 

[mr_v]

I recently started SM. Galvanized LP85s are fantastic with cave fills. I have 4 sets.

LP85 Worthington - great with drysuit in FL caves. Perfect trim. No need to move the tanks.
LP85 Faber - great with drysuit and thinner undergarments. Also good CC bailout tanks.

My instructor taught several gas switching methods. I prefer the "continuous switch" where I'll switch based on feeling and time. It was a bit strange to learn the approach, but now I am getting to the point where the switches are spot on every 200 psi.

 

[34109411]

I recently started SM. Galvanized LP85s are fantastic with cave fills. I have 4 sets.

LP85 Worthington - great with drysuit in FL caves. Perfect trim. No need to move the tanks.
LP85 Faber - great with drysuit and thinner undergarments. Also good CC bailout tanks.

My instructor taught several gas switching methods. I prefer the "continuous switch" where I'll switch based on feeling and time. It was a bit strange to learn the approach, but now I am getting to the point where the switches are spot on every 200 psi.

i only got 2 dive by myself in sidemount just finish training. I do my switch at an interval of 300 psi work fine.

Be safe