Diving sidemount on liveaboards?

[victorzamora]

What's the difference with taking an AL40 and an AL80 in the water before clipping off your second tank, an AL80? If you're Jon-lining one tank, why not make your other tank an AL80 as well? Heck, why not throw both AL80s on a JonLine?

In my opinion, if I'm clipping tanks to a line and throwing them in the water I'm throwing ALL my tanks in the water. If I'm sidemounting two tanks, they'll be the same size.

 

[gurnie]

I clip the 80 on a line, because the 40 is lighter. Why have all that weight swinging around on a pitching deck? The only time the 40 is used is to retrieve my bottle and redundancy if needed. We are talking about recreational diving with a one tank restriction. Honestly it does not need to be a 40, you could use a 13 or 30..

 

[ewaiea]

I was diving on Tropic Dancer in Palau a few years ago and the Palau Aggressor II was the sister ship. There were two guys on that boat (PAII) who were diving with two tanks under each arm. Apparently the crew let them but I don't know what was being said behind the scenes.....I heard the crew talking and got the impression that they were probably just showing off. Had to have the fancy setup, the most expensive camera, etc......oh, and they loved telling everyone on the boat how much all their stuff cost as well.

I'm not saying that's why people do it, but I think diving side mount is pointless if you're just diving with a bunch of divers who are doing single tank back-mounted like we (as recreational divers) are all trained to do. The truth in that statement is compounded when everyone is diving the same sites, depths are 100ft or less (sometimes WAY less) and all divers have to stay together in a group following a guide (or at least staying nearby) diving on pretty much the same schedule. I say limit side-mount diving to where it may have application - like in a cave diving situation.....keep it off the liveaboards unless a tech-trip is being hosted and it's authorized.

 

[gizmo1972]

i was on a palau aggressor diving single 80 we had 2 russian divers running brand new sparkly side mount systems with 2 x 80 with new camera rigs streight out of the boxes they jumped last and finished first and often without air in the tanks on return also both flooded there camera rigs because they didnt put the main O rings on !!! GREAT training!!!!! rubber chickens all round!!!!

 

[DiverDownDave]

I love my side mount config, am familiar with it, don't really care to dive back mount and I've never met a dive operator that had a problem with side mount divers. I think personally that if you sign up for a recreational live aboard then you should dive recreationally. Diving a single tank side mount configuration eliminates any concern about bottom time, wear on the boat/crew, time getting in the water, etc....

 

[kwinter]

I organized a mixed trip a few years ago to the Florida Keys. It wasn't a liveaboard trip, but several day trips with a mix of single 80 recreational divers and a few rebreather deco divers. The rebreather guys jumped in first and did one long dive. The rec divers splashed in with us, completed their first dive, went up for a surface interval, and splashed in for a second dive. One of my rec buddies was using a FFM with comms, and I had an earpiece receiver. He would let me know when they splashed for the second dive. We would adjust our bottom time based on TTS and their 45 minute dive time so that we finished our deco just as they were reaching their safety stop. It worked fine and everyone had a great time. We did single dives for 2.5 hours while they did two 45-minute dives with an hour SI. The same could be done for someone diving doubles or sidemount twins, but of course that has to be acceptable to the operator.

 

[kmurray719]

I was diving on Tropic Dancer in Palau a few years ago and the Palau Aggressor II was the sister ship. There were two guys on that boat (PAII) who were diving with two tanks under each arm. Apparently the crew let them but I don't know what was being said behind the scenes.....I heard the crew talking and got the impression that they were probably just showing off. Had to have the fancy setup, the most expensive camera, etc......oh, and they loved telling everyone on the boat how much all their stuff cost as well.

I'm not saying that's why people do it, but I think diving side mount is pointless if you're just diving with a bunch of divers who are doing single tank back-mounted like we (as recreational divers) are all trained to do. The truth in that statement is compounded when everyone is diving the same sites, depths are 100ft or less (sometimes WAY less) and all divers have to stay together in a group following a guide (or at least staying nearby) diving on pretty much the same schedule. I say limit side-mount diving to where it may have application - like in a cave diving situation.....keep it off the liveaboards unless a tech-trip is being hosted and it's authorized.

Perhaps pointless for you, but not so much for people who want redundancy on those 100 foot dives and don't want to travel with a pony bottle, or for people with back problems who find it causes less pain for them, or for people who just find it more stable and comfortable in the water than backmount. Shall we also limit backplates and wings to cave diving where their original application was?? Unless someone isn't able to gear up as fast as the other divers on the boat (and I know back mount single tank divers who have the same problem) or they're you're buddy, I just don't get why anyone really cares what configuration someone else is diving??

 

[red_barbarian]

Remember the saying the customer comes first? The dive op's are a business, those that learn to adapt will get customers, those with a bad attitude will lose out. Check with the op you want to dive with ahead of time. If they have an issue with your wants/needs take your money elsewhere. The folks I dive with all want the redundancy of SM even on rec dives. A dive op with a bad attitude is no fun to spend a day with, much less a liveaboard. As long as you recognize it's a NDL group dive, you stay with the group and respect the limits there should be no issues with what you want to dive. If there are logistical issues they can be worked around. For example if it's very cramped on board tanks can be dealt with by handing them up/down from/to the diver in the water.

I remember when the ski resorts used to refuse entry to snowboarders, now that idea is laughable. SM support will probably go the same way.

 

[ewaiea]

I suppose an issue with a disabled diver or someone with a medical problem like an ailing back, then I could see it being an idea if it works for them....but again, it should be talked about with the operator ahead of time.

 

[Omisson]

I was diving on Tropic Dancer in Palau a few years ago and the Palau Aggressor II was the sister ship. There were two guys on that boat (PAII) who were diving with two tanks under each arm. Apparently the crew let them but I don't know what was being said behind the scenes.....I heard the crew talking and got the impression that they were probably just showing off. Had to have the fancy setup, the most expensive camera, etc......oh, and they loved telling everyone on the boat how much all their stuff cost as well.

I'm not saying that's why people do it, but I think diving side mount is pointless if you're just diving with a bunch of divers who are doing single tank back-mounted like we (as recreational divers) are all trained to do. The truth in that statement is compounded when everyone is diving the same sites, depths are 100ft or less (sometimes WAY less) and all divers have to stay together in a group following a guide (or at least staying nearby) diving on pretty much the same schedule. I say limit side-mount diving to where it may have application - like in a cave diving situation.....keep it off the liveaboards unless a tech-trip is being hosted and it's authorized.

Because you should dictate how someone else dives?

This has to be the single most self-centric narrow minded post I've ever read on Scubaboard.

First, recreational sidemount is now mainstream, meaning it's JUST AS VALID as any back mount for ow rec diving. Second, it is far safer from redundancy, trouble shooting, and self sufficiency points of view than back mounting... Making PREFERABLE on deeper OW Rec dives. Third, a sidemount diver is a much better buddy for an OOA emergency as he can literally pass off a much longer hose, and even hand off his tank to the OOA diver and they can clip off and surface without being tied to the donor if needs be.


Fourth, and most importantly, WHO CARES what some other divers config is if it's certified. Are you the scuba police? I suppose those damn Recreational rebreather folks have no place either, with their closed circuits and loops... Almost gives diving a bad name....

---------- Post added April 1st, 2014 at 12:57 AM ----------

What kind of dives are you planning on doing on this trip? My guess is a majority of the dives will be no deeper than 80 feet. With that being the case why do you need the additional cylinder? I've been on a lot of boats and simply jumped off with one cylinder clipped to the side. The second cylinder simply isn't needed. I'm limiting my depth and enjoying some recreational reef diving. The second cylinder just bulks things up. A single cylinder does not throw your trim off...at least not if you have enough diving experience. You don't even need a weight on the other side to offset it. And the nice thing is it's much easier to jump in the water and climb out without needing the crew's help. You're completely self-sufficient.

Here's a video of me doing a single tank sidemount dive several years ago. This was my first time diving single tank sidemount and the cylinder and harness weren't rigged up the way I do it now but the idea is to show you it's easy and safe. I don't even have a wing on during this dive.

In recreational side mounting two 40s or 50s would be compact, light and still preferable to back mount from redundancy and troubleshooting perspectives... Just sayin