"Sidemounting With Benefits" - Lessons from a newbie Sidemount Diver

[jale]

I might as well throw out a 1-year update!

1) Sidemount is going great! Still haven't taken any classes, except online sidemounting.com materials.
2) I'm not as fast getting in the water as my friend who has been diving 22-years, but probably fairly average compared to most backmount divers. Jale's idea (scroll up a few posts) for putting bolt-snaps on a cord has been a massive game-changer for donning equipment quickly.
3) I still often dive with an AL80 + AL19, although occasionally 2x AL80s. The offset sizes don't bother me at all. That said, I don't expect the AL19 will work with #4 below


4) I just bought a matching pair of Steel 100s! As a bonus, I didn't have to sell any ammo to buy them. Killer deal: $100/each, 2019 hydro, 2004 birthdate, full 3500PSI. I haven't taken them into the water yet, but may post and update once I do. (I don't expect to be doing Steel 100 left + AL19 right, I already tried that once and it sucked. Unless I add weights to the AL19).
5) I still suck at and need to work on frog-kick.



View attachment 730199

Good to see you are getting use to it and keep experimenting

 

[mdwalter]

This is a somewhat close representation of the boat. You might imagine two divers getting ready on that rear platform, while waves rock the boat.

View attachment 671480

Each tank on it's own line might work. It would make each tank less likely to bump into eachother & easier to toss in 1-at-a-time. The same might work for pulling up tanks. The secondary, could be clipped to a deeper line, while the primary would be on me most of the time. I could clip the primary to the ladder, climb up, and then pull in primary, then reach over to the other line, and pull up and pull in the secondary tank.

Honestly, if I were SM diving off this boat, I would just get my harness and everything except the tanks and fins on in the passenger area, then set my 2 tanks on that top grey seating area with valves facing the stern and space between them for my body. Then I would take my fins with me and sit down between my 2 tanks facing the stern with my feet on the rear dive deck, put on the fins, clip on the tanks, stand up and giant stride right off the back.

On the way out, I would have a 20ft long line hanging from one of the cleats near the stern with a few pounds of lead weight on the end to keep it vertical and a few loops tied in to clip my tanks to (and my fins if I can swim to the ladder without them). Then at the end of the dive I swim to the line, remove one tank and clip it off at like 10 ft down, remove my fins and clip them at like 5 ft down, remove the other tank and clip it near the surface, then surface and drift or swim to the ladder and get out very easily with nothing in my hands. Then once on the boat and settled, I pull up the line, unclip the tank, pull up more and unclip fins, pull up more and unclip other tank, then pull the rest of the line in or let it back down for the next dive.

 

[mdwalter]

I might as well throw out a 1-year update!

1) Sidemount is going great! Still haven't taken any classes, except online sidemounting.com materials.
2) I'm not as fast getting in the water as my friend who has been diving 22-years, but probably fairly average compared to most backmount divers. Jale's idea (scroll up a few posts) for putting bolt-snaps on a cord has been a massive game-changer for donning equipment quickly.
3) I still often dive with an AL80 + AL19, although occasionally 2x AL80s. The offset sizes don't bother me at all. That said, I don't expect the AL19 will work with #4 below


4) I just bought a matching pair of Steel 100s! As a bonus, I didn't have to sell any ammo to buy them. Killer deal: $100/each, 2019 hydro, 2004 birthdate, full 3500PSI. I haven't taken them into the water yet, but may post and update once I do. (I don't expect to be doing Steel 100 left + AL19 right, I already tried that once and it sucked. Unless I add weights to the AL19).
5) I still suck at and need to work on frog-kick.



View attachment 730199

Yeah, just dive those matched 100s together as a set as God intended, and put that AL19 aside for some day when you get a rebreather (for your O2 cylinder).

 

[SlugLife]

Yeah, just dive those matched 100s together as a set as God intended, and put that AL19 aside for some day when you get a rebreather (for your O2 cylinder).

I did 3 dives on the 2 steel 100s. They seemed fairly natural, nothing major to report. I'll still need to periodically dive my AL tanks due to distance from fill-stations.

Honestly, if I were SM diving off this boat, I would just get my harness and everything except the tanks and fins on in the passenger area, then set my 2 tanks on that top grey seating area with valves facing the stern and space between them for my body. Then I would take my fins with me and sit down between my 2 tanks facing the stern with my feet on the rear dive deck, put on the fins, clip on the tanks, stand up and giant stride right off the back.

Here's my current process, which works fairly well.

• Rig tanks (ideally, before getting on the boat)
• Add regs on tanks, pressurize, and check.
• Don wetsuit, BCD, boots, mask, etc. Everything except fins and tanks.
• When back of boat is clear, move fins & tanks to back.
• Stand between tanks, drop down a little, put each fin on
• Clip "drop clips" to BCD. Attach inflator hose, inflate BCD, route left reg-hose, check regs.
  • The "drop-clips" are effectively a bolt-snap on 6-inches of paracord attached near the tank-valve. They allow easy clipping on the boat, and some moderate movement while tanks are clipped. Standing up fully from a bent-knees position is easy, tanks are a few inches off the ground in standing position.
• Stand up fully, giant stride off boat. Alternatively, if sitting on the deck, I can roll in.
• Finish donning tanks in the water, and route right-reg-hose.

The part that made a MASSIVE difference was having those drop-clips, because otherwise it was a pain to clip the tanks and stand up.

On the way out, I would have a 20ft long line hanging from one of the cleats near the stern with a few pounds of lead weight on the end to keep it vertical and a few loops tied in to clip my tanks to (and my fins if I can swim to the ladder without them). Then at the end of the dive I swim to the line, remove one tank and clip it off at like 10 ft down, remove my fins and clip them at like 5 ft down, remove the other tank and clip it near the surface, then surface and drift or swim to the ladder and get out very easily with nothing in my hands. Then once on the boat and settled, I pull up the line, unclip the tank, pull up more and unclip fins, pull up more and unclip other tank, then pull the rest of the line in or let it back down for the next dive.

That's awesome! I had a similar idea, but never tried it, and this gives me even more ideas. I'll definitely have to do this, I ordered some neon-rope and have a plan. Basically a loop at the top for the boat-cleat, then about every 2.5 feet there will be something like a d-ring, bolt-snap, or loop. Then a steel weight at the bottom. Clip fins, each tank, optional loot, climb up, then pull up items.

This might be increasingly important as I dive with my 2x steel tanks (instead of my AL80 + 19 setup)

I could also use the same system for donning tanks and fins in the water. I have a good setup for donning in the boat, however, the Texas heat is brutal, even worse with a wetsuit on.

 

[SlugLife]

On the way out, I would have a 20ft long line hanging from one of the cleats near the stern with a few pounds of lead weight on the end to keep it vertical and a few loops tied in to clip my tanks to (and my fins if I can swim to the ladder without them). Then at the end of the dive I swim to the line, remove one tank and clip it off at like 10 ft down, remove my fins and clip them at like 5 ft down, remove the other tank and clip it near the surface, then surface and drift or swim to the ladder and get out very easily with nothing in my hands. Then once on the boat and settled, I pull up the line, unclip the tank, pull up more and unclip fins, pull up more and unclip other tank, then pull the rest of the line in or let it back down for the next dive.

Here's what I came up with:

• Each loop (neon-orange) is about 3.5-feet long, mostly ensuring they're taller than my tanks with a little extra. Made with 550 paracord.
• Each loop has some kind of "ring" (random extra SS hardware) at the end for clipping onto.
• Loops can easily be chained/unchained, to eachother, d-rings, boat-cleats, etc easily.
• An "optional" bolt-snap with a few inches of cord (blue) is placed on each ring, intended for fins, random loot, lost-anchors, etc.
• Using a basic quick-release knot, I can toss several in my dive-bag, or even a dive-pouch, without worrying about tangling.
• The loops+rings can easily be repurposed for other things like lift-bags as needed, or split up to different sides of the boat.

I haven't tested the system yet. In hindsight, 5 to 6 ft long loops would have been better (I have plenty of cord to make more), but it's fine for now.

 

[g2gorder]

If you use a Prusick knot Prusik Knot, you can position your loops anywhere you like on a boat line dropped into the water. Maybe that's what you are already doing.

 

[SlugLife]

If you use a Prusick knot Prusik Knot, you can position your loops anywhere you like on a boat line dropped into the water. Maybe that's what you are already doing.

Precisely! I keep forgetting what that knot is called, but that's the knot I use to create loops and secure all kinds of things.

 

[SurteesDiver]

Precisely! I keep forgetting what that knot is called, but that's the knot I use to create loops and secure all kinds of things.

Hi Sluglife, could you please post an image of your “drop clips” rigged. They sound like they would help me diving off my boat. I use the loop of cord method with a double-ender but find it a bit tricky to manage due to its proximity to the New Zealand ROC (Ring of Confidence for Hydro/Visual date) plastic loop around the tank valve. A tied on bolt snap does sound easier…

 

[lermontov]

Hi Sluglife, could you please post an image of your “drop clips” rigged. They sound like they would help me diving off my boat. I use the loop of cord method with a double-ender but find it a bit tricky to manage due to its proximity to the New Zealand ROC (Ring of Confidence for Hydro/Visual date) plastic loop around the tank valve. A tied on bolt snap does sound easier…

cant you take the ring off and just clip it back on when you need to get a fill

 

[SurteesDiver]

cant you take the ring off and just clip it back on when you need to get a fill

I don’t think so Peter, fairly sure that they are “anti tamper”. Jack told me he just got a hydro every year so he could cut the the ring off… I haven’t got that desperate yet.