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Curious how many of you dive sidemount on recreational dives. What kind of training did you receive?
My agency doesn't offer a sidemount class that can be taught to recreational divers. If you want sidemount you have to go NAUI Tech. If you want to teach sidemount you have to be a NAUI Tech instructor. The official agency position is that sidemount is tech diving.
I just read an interesting post in another forum from a fellow who claims to be the designer of one of the currently offered sidemount systems. His position is that recreational sidemount diving is more akin to "side-slinging" (his term), and that it bears little resemblance to sidemounting for divers entering restrictions. How do those of you who dive sidemount feel about that?
I'm personally of the opinion that sidemount diving is growing in popularity among recreational divers. There are several reasons for it ... the inherent sense of balance and freedom it gives you ... an aging demographic that has difficulty with backmounted doubles but still wants either the gas or redundancy inherent in doubles ... a sense of something "new" to experience ... and perhaps other reasons. It really doesn't matter whether someone finds those to be valid reasons or not ... in a free market, people are going to buy and try what they want, regardless of how an agency feels about its appropriateness to a given type of diving.
And I disagree with the designer fellow ... if you're going to be using a sidemount system you should be using it as it's designed and intended for use. Tanks that are slung like stage bottles aren't giving you the real benefit and streamlining of sidemount. And it just invites poor technique as divers progress ... it would inevitably lead to people entering overheads thinking they were properly equipped and trained for that environment, and either hurting themselves or damaging the environment.
What are your thoughts? What kind of training do you think a recreational sidemounter really needs? And should this be a certification class or just an ad hoc skills workshop?
... Bob (Grateful Diver)
My agency doesn't offer a sidemount class that can be taught to recreational divers. If you want sidemount you have to go NAUI Tech. If you want to teach sidemount you have to be a NAUI Tech instructor. The official agency position is that sidemount is tech diving.
I just read an interesting post in another forum from a fellow who claims to be the designer of one of the currently offered sidemount systems. His position is that recreational sidemount diving is more akin to "side-slinging" (his term), and that it bears little resemblance to sidemounting for divers entering restrictions. How do those of you who dive sidemount feel about that?
I'm personally of the opinion that sidemount diving is growing in popularity among recreational divers. There are several reasons for it ... the inherent sense of balance and freedom it gives you ... an aging demographic that has difficulty with backmounted doubles but still wants either the gas or redundancy inherent in doubles ... a sense of something "new" to experience ... and perhaps other reasons. It really doesn't matter whether someone finds those to be valid reasons or not ... in a free market, people are going to buy and try what they want, regardless of how an agency feels about its appropriateness to a given type of diving.
And I disagree with the designer fellow ... if you're going to be using a sidemount system you should be using it as it's designed and intended for use. Tanks that are slung like stage bottles aren't giving you the real benefit and streamlining of sidemount. And it just invites poor technique as divers progress ... it would inevitably lead to people entering overheads thinking they were properly equipped and trained for that environment, and either hurting themselves or damaging the environment.
What are your thoughts? What kind of training do you think a recreational sidemounter really needs? And should this be a certification class or just an ad hoc skills workshop?
... Bob (Grateful Diver)