Boat Entry Question
- Thread starter TigerDiver8
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I am still irritated why anyone would find it 'dangerous' to enter the water without fins.
As a lake-, seashore- and river diver mostly, I seldom enter the water with the fins strapped on.
Most of the time I walk until I loose contact to the ground and slip on the fins then.
And only if the group is unable to descent without surface communication to the last second, otherwise I start 'descending' in knee-deep water and put on the fins as soon as depth allows to rejoin the group at the bubble check location.
My fins are Mares Avantis with bungee straps and I clip them to a large boltsnap.
Unclip them, catch the neutrally buoyant fins and slip them on one handed.
If I where to loose one, the propulsion of the other is enough (would be, never happened, except for the purpose of testing the theory) to catch it in time, even when river or tide diving with a strong current. I get more careful with zero vis entries, but only because I do not want to buy new fins, not because I would not do the dive with one fin only.
So doing the same from boats was the preferred method from the beginning.
I tried other ways, mostly to reassure backmount dive leaders and helpful crews.
Took me some time to also prefer it from a zodiac. I am not sure If I like that yet, since I haven't tried for a year.
Anyway:
On a dive-boat I help others in front of me and around me with their weight pockets and fins, collect forgotten cameras and lights, get another cold drink and drop in any time I think it is time to decent.
Unclip the mask and fins together, drop mask to the neck on its bungee-strap, slip on the fins, reroute the hoses (and occasionally opening the second tank then) and descent while putting on and rinsing the mask.
Turn on camera, start filming the group from behind.
Has become my routine roughly that way.
I always dive in a drysuit, even in relatively warm water, so buoyancy is never an issue, but I also have to inflate the wing when the water is rough or with strong winds.
Several of my dive partners are faster than me doing the same routine in wetsuits but I never had the chance to really compare on a boat.
As a sidemounter, when you drop into the water you should not have to worry about fins.
Some beginners should worry about their regulators, but when you know your configuration blindly and entanglements have been made impossible even that might seem excessive hassle for some.
In contrast to backmount you are stable and have control of the situation upon entering the water (or should have).
Spreading arms and legs and emptying your lungs is enough to go into a stable descent and wearing fins should be optional anyway.
To me this is an important point in sidemount training:
If you think you are unable to swim back to the surface or even your boat without fins as a sidemounter, there is something wrong with training or the configuration.
Back to the pool. It evidently is possible to do it, so everyone should at least have tried to master it and know his abilities.
It goes without saying, of course: a diver should only enter the water if he is in control of the situation and absolutely sure he is able to complete the dive exactly as he has planed.
But if you are comfortable without fins and are sure you will never loose them the way you use them, why modify a good routine to make it less comfortable to use?
As a lake-, seashore- and river diver mostly, I seldom enter the water with the fins strapped on.
Most of the time I walk until I loose contact to the ground and slip on the fins then.
And only if the group is unable to descent without surface communication to the last second, otherwise I start 'descending' in knee-deep water and put on the fins as soon as depth allows to rejoin the group at the bubble check location.
My fins are Mares Avantis with bungee straps and I clip them to a large boltsnap.
Unclip them, catch the neutrally buoyant fins and slip them on one handed.
If I where to loose one, the propulsion of the other is enough (would be, never happened, except for the purpose of testing the theory) to catch it in time, even when river or tide diving with a strong current. I get more careful with zero vis entries, but only because I do not want to buy new fins, not because I would not do the dive with one fin only.
So doing the same from boats was the preferred method from the beginning.
I tried other ways, mostly to reassure backmount dive leaders and helpful crews.
Took me some time to also prefer it from a zodiac. I am not sure If I like that yet, since I haven't tried for a year.
Anyway:
On a dive-boat I help others in front of me and around me with their weight pockets and fins, collect forgotten cameras and lights, get another cold drink and drop in any time I think it is time to decent.
Unclip the mask and fins together, drop mask to the neck on its bungee-strap, slip on the fins, reroute the hoses (and occasionally opening the second tank then) and descent while putting on and rinsing the mask.
Turn on camera, start filming the group from behind.
Has become my routine roughly that way.
I always dive in a drysuit, even in relatively warm water, so buoyancy is never an issue, but I also have to inflate the wing when the water is rough or with strong winds.
Several of my dive partners are faster than me doing the same routine in wetsuits but I never had the chance to really compare on a boat.
As a sidemounter, when you drop into the water you should not have to worry about fins.
Some beginners should worry about their regulators, but when you know your configuration blindly and entanglements have been made impossible even that might seem excessive hassle for some.
In contrast to backmount you are stable and have control of the situation upon entering the water (or should have).
Spreading arms and legs and emptying your lungs is enough to go into a stable descent and wearing fins should be optional anyway.
To me this is an important point in sidemount training:
If you think you are unable to swim back to the surface or even your boat without fins as a sidemounter, there is something wrong with training or the configuration.
Back to the pool. It evidently is possible to do it, so everyone should at least have tried to master it and know his abilities.
It goes without saying, of course: a diver should only enter the water if he is in control of the situation and absolutely sure he is able to complete the dive exactly as he has planed.
But if you are comfortable without fins and are sure you will never loose them the way you use them, why modify a good routine to make it less comfortable to use?
Last edited:
Wearing the same drysuit and undergarments and diving a set of HP steel 100s tanks in sidemount I am not magically neutrally buoyant at the beginning of a dive compared to diving my double HP steel 100s in backmount at the beginning of a dive. Where I put the tanks does not effect my buoyancy. Trim, yes. Buoyancy, no.
I did not imply that, though a few people also can get rid of a few kilos after the switch.
But if you are neutrally buoyant, fins are optional, at least for distances up to a few hundred meters.
And if you are not feeling comfortable and in control without, there is something wrong with your training or configuration.
But if you are neutrally buoyant, fins are optional, at least for distances up to a few hundred meters.
And if you are not feeling comfortable and in control without, there is something wrong with your training or configuration.
MSargeant
Contributor
To the OP,
Doing a giant stride entry is fine with sidemount, as previously stated, just make sure you hard attach your cylinders to the shoulders (Boltsnap + choker around the neck or if you use a stage kit then use the top clip etc).
Doing a giant stride entry is fine with sidemount, as previously stated, just make sure you hard attach your cylinders to the shoulders (Boltsnap + choker around the neck or if you use a stage kit then use the top clip etc).
Why?
Never used that after the first try (because 'the internet' recommends it).
Afterwards always 'bungee only'.
With loops not attached to a shoulder D-ring it is often a bit unstable to carry the tanks that way, but the jump itself works much better with flexible than with hard attachment.
Never used that after the first try (because 'the internet' recommends it).
Afterwards always 'bungee only'.
With loops not attached to a shoulder D-ring it is often a bit unstable to carry the tanks that way, but the jump itself works much better with flexible than with hard attachment.
Before trying I feared the tanks would move when hitting the water, since aluminum tanks are said to be buoyant.
Found that to be a totally ridiculous fear.
Than I still feared doing that with empty tanks that are proven to be buoyant.
Still no problem, even with one empty and one full or only one attached the other carried in one hand by the valve.
Even the most floaty tank just breaks the water like a brick.
They stabilize your decent in air and in water and they do not bounce - ever!
Found that to be a totally ridiculous fear.
Than I still feared doing that with empty tanks that are proven to be buoyant.
Still no problem, even with one empty and one full or only one attached the other carried in one hand by the valve.
Even the most floaty tank just breaks the water like a brick.
They stabilize your decent in air and in water and they do not bounce - ever!
I have only little experience boat diving, only a couple of hundred boat dives and mostly in Egypt in 'tourist level' diving conditions.
But especially with a bit more movement of the boat or more crowded situations on the dive deck I try to do as much as possible after hitting the water.
Attaching the bungee to the tanks while sitting or with a lot of people moving around you can be uncomfortable.
So I often only slip the bungee around the rubber knopp on one of the tanks to have it less stretched, route the hoses, clip into the forward D-rings on the hip, inflate the wing a little bit and walk into the water. At 5 meters or so I reattach the tanks, but often I forget about it and just complete the dive without even getting distracted by the 'sloppy attachment' (doesn't even show on photos very often).
Forgot my fins and mask ones, swam back, climbed on board, collected them, was still first to descent.
A sidemounter is as surface capable as any swimmer wearing a BCD he can inflate and deflate at will, so he is more or less 'unsinkable'.
But especially with a bit more movement of the boat or more crowded situations on the dive deck I try to do as much as possible after hitting the water.
Attaching the bungee to the tanks while sitting or with a lot of people moving around you can be uncomfortable.
So I often only slip the bungee around the rubber knopp on one of the tanks to have it less stretched, route the hoses, clip into the forward D-rings on the hip, inflate the wing a little bit and walk into the water. At 5 meters or so I reattach the tanks, but often I forget about it and just complete the dive without even getting distracted by the 'sloppy attachment' (doesn't even show on photos very often).
Forgot my fins and mask ones, swam back, climbed on board, collected them, was still first to descent.
A sidemounter is as surface capable as any swimmer wearing a BCD he can inflate and deflate at will, so he is more or less 'unsinkable'.
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