Recreational Sidemount - with Recreational Backmount Friends

Please register or login

Welcome to ScubaBoard, the world's largest scuba diving community. Registration is not required to read the forums, but we encourage you to join. Joining has its benefits and enables you to participate in the discussions.

Benefits of registering include

  • Ability to post and comment on topics and discussions.
  • A Free photo gallery to share your dive photos with the world.
  • You can make this box go away

Joining is quick and easy. Log in or Register now!

My guess is a Scubaboard poll would find no primarily single tank sidemount, unless for benign tropical vacation shore diving. Though AL80 + AL19 might do well there also.
.
Well in another thread, some people are mentioning they dive single SM... The world is wide :)
And why always make a distinction between "benign tropical vacation shore diving" and other diving?
All dives need to be planned and it doesn't matter where and from where it is as you can dive in any configuration depending to your objective. Do you mean, tank being the same, a single SM is not the same as a single BM? In places where people dive single BM a single SM is not possible? Confused.
 
Do it.

I did lots of SM recreational dives with others running singles. Great way to build up some skills. This means you need to do gas switches like you would in actual technical SM diving or you are just wasting everyones time. That said, be aware that you will be holding others up as they will be ready to dive much quicker than you. But don't let that rush you, that leads to mistakes. The correct answer is to start sooner.

I know people who will do doubles and dive single tank profiles. The typical 2-tank boat dive. For one, there is now tank swapping between dives. Another, the reserve gas from the first dive is additional gas on the second. And it keeps them in practice for actual doubles tech dives. That is there standard configuration.

I even mix a rebreather in these days. That takes a little more in the pre dive briefing.
 
Well in another thread, some people are mentioning they dive single SM... The world is wide :)
And why always make a distinction between "benign tropical vacation shore diving" and other diving?
All dives need to be planned and it doesn't matter where and from where it is as you can dive in any configuration depending to your objective. Do you mean, tank being the same, a single SM is not the same as a single BM? In places where people dive single BM a single SM is not possible? Confused.
I've also dove single tank sidemount, though only once for a 5 minute shake out dive with an LP27. All the gear was new, I figured settling into the harness and wing without two bigger tanks would be best and I already had the pony.

Seeing this https://www.scubaboard.com/community/threads/single-tank-sidemount.595703 , it looks like you primarily dive sidemount with single tank, as does that threads OP. That is great. And perfectly fine. Nothing wrong with it. So my notion on the poll results was wrong. The person there mentioning diving single when double is not possible is more my expectation. But it is a wide world. My notion on the poll results was also partially that SB does not always reflect the dive world as a whole, maybe even rarely reflects.

I think it might be similar to people saying doubles instead of isolation manifold doubles all the time, though some primarily dive independent doubles, and some non isolation manifold doubles. Nothing wrong with either of those. They just offer different trade-offs, and appear to be less common in discussion.

Redundancy is a big benefit. In the tropics you likely did not bring your own tanks, and might have the choice of AL80, AL80 or AL80. Looking from shore at a 40' reef in crystal clear warm calm water from which you could easily CESA if needed, you might ponder if you really wanted to walk to the water and back with two 80s or if one 80 would be just fine. That same choice facing cold dark murky waters thick with kelp might result is a different decision. Or if your LP50s were in the car behind you, negating the land weight cost of two tanks. Hence maybe doing that tropical beach dive single tank when normally you do two tank.

I think single SM is very similar to single BM. Though it is a little more complex. There are places single BM might be preferable to single SM, rough seas or rough surf come to mind.
 
I am just trying to remove the confusion of using the term "SM" as a pleonasm for "two tanks set-up"
It seems now that SM is only perceived as diving only with 2 tanks.
Of courses 2 is better than one and the OP is right to dive his double SM with his single BM buddies as nobody has never died from too much gas.
Great......now I have to look up “pleonasm”.......
 
has never died from too much gas.

depends on the gas :rofl3:

I dive with a buddy who is currently exclusive twin tank side mount while I dive single back mount or even doubles with him.
 
Great......now I have to look up “pleonasm”.......

LOL, me too! But that's when I noticed he misused the word.
"I am just trying to remove the confusion of using the term "SM" as a pleonasm for "two tanks set-up" ".
Using an abbreviation in place of a longer phrase is actually the opposite of a pleonasm.

ple·o·nasm
/ˈplēəˌnazəm/
noun
  1. the use of more words than are necessary to convey meaning (e.g. see with one's eyes ), either as a fault of style or for emphasis.
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/swift/

Back
Top Bottom