SlugLife
Contributor
SideMount really shines here, because you can....More importantly I had definately not considered the handling of the tank on a boat/zodiac.
- Put on your sidemount rig, minus tanks.
- Lower each tank into the water one at a time (tethered of couse)
- Enter the water yourself fully kitted, minus tanks.
- Don tanks in the water 1 at a time.
- Remove each tank 1-at-a-time and clip/tether/secure to the boat.
- Climb ladder without tanks.
- Pull up each tank 1-at-a-time.
If you breathe down one tank faster than another in SM where the cylinders are far apart, the worst thing that happens is you very gradually start leaning to one side. I've done this in SM completely using 1-tank, while not using the other, and it gets noticeable and annoying towards the end of the dive, but is fairly manageable.If the only change that I have to make with independant tanks is to swap my regs every 20 or 30 bar then I think that that would be the best solution for me.
If your independent doubles are on your back next to eachother, I'd probably not worry about it that much, other than practicing regulator-switching as a highly valuable skill, or ensuring both tanks have enough air at all times to handle an emergency.