Beginning cavern and cave!

[Max Speed]

A lot easier to reach the valves side mount and you have complete redundancy regardless of "buddy".

 

[PfcAJ]

A lot easier to reach the valves side mount and you have complete redundancy regardless of "buddy".

Except that certain failure modes = absolute loss of half your gas.

 

[TracyN]

Thanks for the info Scuba Girl. Pm sent.

 

[kensuf]

Except that certain failure modes = absolute loss of half your gas.

Shhhh.. I had one guy recently tell me he can swap regs from one tank to another while holding his breath. I nearly choked.

 

[PfcAJ]

He probably practiced on the platform at the pool and/or quarry to master that 'skill', amirite?

 

[Max Speed]

Swapping the reg to the other tank is a required skill with some instructors.

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[PfcAJ]

Its the practicality of said skill that I raise an eyebrow to.

Drop an oring and you're DONE.

 

[syntaxerrorsix]

Agreed, swapping regs sounds an awful lot like going from losing half your gas to no gas at all.

 

[mk706]

I recently did cavern and intro with Edd Sorenson at Cave Adventures. Edd was fantastic, I love his learning style. He'll let you make mistakes and figure things out in time. Edd is well known for side mount. I did the course in back mounted doubles. I've done 15 dives now, 13 in double 108s, two in side mount 85s. Needless to say I'm going back to Edd's in two weeks for the side mount class. I'll finish apprentice and full cave in side mount. I've dived doubles for three years, after two dives in side mount I'm ready to switch.

My two cents:
- Cave is a really bad time to introduce new gear
- You should coordinate any gear purchases through your instructor, it's a great way to avoid buying the wrong kit
- Cave is a bad first tech course, the environment is unforgiving, to say the least. If you're new to tech consider a fundamentals/essentials course
- Dive side mount before buying new back mounted new gear, you may end up preferring side mount - like many of the cave divers I've met
- Arrive in decent shape

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[karstdvr]

My two cents:
- Cave is a really bad time to introduce new gear
- You should coordinate any gear purchases through your instructor, it's a great way to avoid buying the wrong kit
- Cave is a bad first tech course, the environment is unforgiving, to say the least. If you're new to tech consider a fundamentals/essentials course
- Dive side mount before buying new back mounted new gear, you may end up preferring side mount - like many of the cave divers I've met
- Arrive in decent shape

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I would say you give some good advice. I would say,learn backmount and sidemount. They are both tools, and have appropriateness in certain caves. For example sidemount is obvious for restrictions and bedding planes,but in a fissure crack type passages,backmount will provide easier access with less cave damage. Also, if you travel abroad and want to cave dive,you may not be able to cobble together sidemount gear that suits your purpose.