Beginner diver thinking of switching to sidemount

[Hojo in SC]

I would wait to get more dives in, more experienced classes; you didn't say if you have your Advanced, then go deep, you should get Nitrox, and I would highly recommend Rescue before sidemount...why, because Rescue is a class in of itself with important lessons, then sidemount will REALLY test you.

Of all the classes I've taken, Sidemount was the most demanding both physically and mentally, maybe it was my teacher, but it was a TOUGH course that I thought about asking if I could take the next day off and restart the following weekend.

 

[Marie13]

And yes, the Nomad XT is a good SM rig for cold water with steels. I use it as do a number of folks I dive with.

 

[Lorenzoid]

Get a lot more dives in. I did my SM class two years after I started diving and probably 175 dives. Messed with it some at the local quarry. Fiddly, so tried doubles. Those didn’t work out so I went back to SM two years ago. SM was much better second time around. Got intro to cave late 2020. Now over 400 dives. I dive SM exclusively due to knee issues.

I just wanted to interject a comment that your approach always made sense to me. You initially went for SM rather than BM doubles because of the knee problems. But through actual experience, not someone's word here on SB, you found SM boat diving on the Great Lakes to be a bit of a hassle, so you tried BM. But eventually, again through experience, realized SM was the way to go for you. Trying things out oneself is invaluable. All the advice from all the old salts here on SB cannot replace putting in the time and trying things out.

The OP does seem to have the "not in any rush" mindset, so that is a good start. I love the stated "7-10 year" timeframe (though I suspect that if the OP is younger and more athletic/talented than I am, the OP will get there sooner). I started down the path in 2014 and am not yet Full Cave. If I were the OP, I would start with BM doubles rather than SM unless and until the OP finds some reason to do otherwise. BM doubles can be less of a hassle on boat dives, and SM isn't really needed for most cave diving. I might have a different opinion if I had started down the cave diving road when I was younger, but I doubt I will ever run out of cave that I can comfortably fit through in BM doubles. If my knees or my back start complaining, well, then I'll see.

 

[Marie13]

I just wanted to interject a comment that your approach always made sense to me. You initially went for SM rather than BM doubles because of the knee problems. But through actual experience, not someone's word here on SB, you found SM boat diving on the Great Lakes to be a bit of a hassle, so you tried BM. But eventually, again through experience, realized SM was the way to go for you. Trying things out oneself is invaluable. All the advice from all the old salts here on SB cannot replace putting in the time and trying things out.

The OP does seem to have the "not in any rush" mindset, so that is a good start. I love the stated "7-10 year" timeframe (though I suspect that if the OP is younger and more athletic/talented than I am, the OP will get there sooner). I started down the path in 2014 and am not yet Full Cave. If I were the OP, I would start with BM doubles rather than SM unless and until the OP finds some reason to do otherwise. BM doubles can be less of a hassle on boat dives, and SM isn't really needed for most cave diving. I might have a different opinion if I had started down the cave diving road when I was younger, but I doubt I will ever run out of cave that I can comfortably fit through in BM doubles. If my knees or my back start complaining, well, then I'll see.

@Lorenzoid

I’ll say that I was really surprised how many SM divers I saw at Peacock around Christmas. You pretty much could tell who the few doubles divers were affiliated with.

My tech/cave instructor started SM in the mid-90s. Used it for a lot of Missouri cave exploration. She’s handy with a sewing machine so adapted Zeagle Rangers for SM with an aluminum plate from someone. Might be Bill Rennaker. She’s a huge advocate for SM. Many of the WI dive community I’m a part of dive OC SM unless they’re CCR. She told me something a while back that’s stuck with me. Years ago she saw a guy at Peacock who could only get around with a walker. He shuffled down to the water one tank at a time. But once he was in the water, he was a fish. She watched and realized that the configuration you dive shouldn’t be what limits your diving.

 

[rddvet]

@Lorenzoid

I’ll say that I was really surprised how many SM divers I saw at Peacock around Christmas. You pretty much could tell who the few doubles divers were affiliated with.

My tech/cave instructor started SM in the mid-90s. Used it for a lot of Missouri cave exploration. She’s handy with a sewing machine so adapted Zeagle Rangers for SM with an aluminum plate from someone. Might be Bill Rennaker. She’s a huge advocate for SM. Many of the WI dive community I’m a part of dive OC SM unless they’re CCR. She told me something a while back that’s stuck with me. Years ago she saw a guy at Peacock who could only get around with a walker. He shuffled down to the water one tank at a time. But once he was in the water, he was a fish. She watched and realized that the configuration you dive shouldn’t be what limits your diving.

That’s holiday time. If you come during the week not holiday time you’ll see more bm and not all or even most are gue

 

[grantctobin]

She’s handy with a sewing machine so adapted Zeagle Rangers for SM with an aluminum plate from someone. Might be Bill Rennaker.

You should ask her about the history of those plates.

 

[ginti]

Hi @Gbair89, I also posted in your other post (about the computer), and I can perceive your excitement about scuba diving from my side of the screen: it's fantastic!

However, please don't let your enthusiasm rush into inappropriate decisions.

There are some basic steps that you could take if you want to proceed in a "high performing" direction:
{A} Stop thinking about what toys to buy and how to upgrade your equipment; diving is about staying underwater, not about shopping at the local dive shop.
{B1} Forget the AOW, except if it REALLY helps you in doing dives that you absolutely feel the urge to do; instead, find a good tech instructor and do a good intro to tech or similar course (finding a good instructor is quite hard, so ask for help if you decide to go for this route). Requirements for these courses are usually relatively low:

TDI Intro to Tech Diving - International Training - SDI | TDI | ERDI | PFI

www.tdisdi.com

GUE Fundamentals

The Fundamentals course functions as a gateway into GUE training and is an excellent way to experience what GUE is about. All will benefit, regardless of their level of certification. Graduating this course is something to be proud of, as the quality of a GUE Fundamentals diver is recognized all...

www.gue.com

Tek Essentials Diver

This mid-level Specialty Continuing Education Diver Program is designed to enable the certified diver to extend proficiency in the water and to review and...

iantd.com

There are other agencies, and you can even think about paying an instructor for a 1to1 session without receiving any card (you'd save the cost of the card itself and the fee for the agency). Depending on the agencies, you may or may not do crossover (essentially, GUE does not allow any crossover, and maybe not even UTD, but you should double-check the latter).
{B2} Find tech-oriented buddies, meaning people who already do tech dives and people who would like to do tech; dive with these people.
{C} if you are really serious about it, dive in as many different environments as possible: fresh/seawater, night/day, cold/warm, high/low visibility, no/high current, etc.

I made this list from (*what I believe should be*) the first to the last step. There are several degrees of passion for this activity, and by no means you should start at full throttle. You can instead focus on {A} at the beginning and then move to {B} (B1 and B2 are things that you can do at the same time, but I think that doing a course will open more possibilities for you).

This is no more than my personal perspective on the scuba diving world and what I would do if I could go back in time. Other people probably think differently from me, but I still thought this could help you.

EDIT: in my humble opinion, the right moment to do any further training and to buy extra pieces of (non-essential) equipment is when you are frustrated about your limits. The only exceptions are intro-to-tech/essentials/fundamentals/whatever_you_want_to_call_it and rescue courses: these should be done as soon as you are ready. Rescue requires basic comfort in the water, so it makes sense to wait a bit (discuss it with an instructor; furthermore, AOW is a prerequisite for some agencies I think). Intro/essentials/fundamentals/etc. require nothing -> do it as soon as you can.

Dive safe!

 

[Marie13]

Heck, the OP only has 13 OW dives. He doesn't even have enough (25 needed) to do TDI ITT.

AOW is needed. Nitrox, too, if he wanted to go the TDI route for tech. Plus if he wants to do deeper recreational diving, even on the Great Lakes, he's going to need that AOW card. The charters often require it.

 

[ginti]

Heck, the OP only has 13 OW dives. He doesn't even have enough (25 needed) to do TDI ITT.

AOW is needed. Nitrox, too, if he wanted to go the TDI route for tech. Plus if he wants to do deeper recreational diving, even on the Great Lakes, he's going to need that AOW card. The charters often require it.

ITT is the only one that requires 25 dives (which he will do probably soon). All instructors I spoke with always told me that the earlier you do these types of courses, the better it is since you wouldn't give time for bad habits to form. Anyway, as I said before, this is just my opinion.

However:
- I don't get why AOW is "needed"; that is true only if he wants to go "deeper", which is absolutely not a necessity in my opinion. If he likes, why not... but saying that it is "needed" is nonsense. Some of my best dives were actually quite shallow.
- Nitrox... well, it depends on how he wants to dive; for sure is crucial for tech diving, but if he doesn't need it now, why spend money on it?

 

[Marie13]

ITT is the only one that requires 25 dives (which he will do probably soon). All instructors I spoke with always told me that the earlier you do these types of courses, the better it is since you wouldn't give time for bad habits to form. Anyway, as I said before, this is just my opinion.

However:
- I don't get why AOW is "needed"; that is true only if he wants to go "deeper", which is absolutely not a necessity in my opinion. If he likes, why not... but saying that it is "needed" is nonsense. Some of my best dives were actually quite shallow.
- Nitrox... well, it depends on how he wants to dive; for sure is crucial for tech diving, but if he doesn't need it now, why spend money on it?

Say OP decides to go the TDI tech route. The prerequisites for AN/DP include nitrox and AOW. Suggest you actually look at the standards.