Dry suit or Side Mount Set up?

[Waynegedye]

I am trying to decide between buying a dry suit or side mount gear. They will cost about the same. It's mid winter down here in NZ right now, but am not over cold on my dives in my wetsuit but want to get in to tech diving at the end of the year so will want a dry suit for that. I have just done a side mount course and really enjoyed it and will use side mount instead of back mount for the tech diving. So what way should I go?

 

[waterpirate]

If you have back mount tech gear now and and can not budget for both purchases, it is a no brainer. Drysuit now with existing gear and sidemount later. Tech is about extended run times, exposure protection is a key element.
Eric

 

[ajtoady]

+1 on the drysuit. As waterpirate said, you will be staying under longer with the added air and getting cold and aborting a dive halfway is non productive. Another plus on the drysuit first is you will hopefully have your buoyancy and trim smoothed out before trying sidemount. Another option is to look for a used drysuit on ebay or the local papers. I found a great deal on a Seasoft TX3 on ebay. Kept me diving all winter for a fraction of the cost and sold me on the neoprene style drysuit.

 

[CamG]

Greetings Wayne +2 on the DS that way you can put some dives getting used to the new suit.
The comfort of the dry suit will enable you to extend your dive times a bit with your current gear and basically improve your air consumption.
Be patient and if possible try several SM rigs before you buy one.
Just read a outstanding review on Ed Sorrenson's of Cave Adventures adaptations to the Hollis SM rig.
It made me wish to try it.

It is funny you bring up the SM or DS as I am having to purchase another DS at the moment due to wearing one out!
You will love the DS in the colder water and you will love the SM as well.
I found a really good used suit for a incredible savings and I mean killer deal.
Saved about $1000-$1500 from new and only have to put seals in not bad.
You might be able to work both in if you budget and look around a bit.

Train well and dive safe!

CamG Keep Diving....Keep Training....Keep Learning!

 

[spectrum]

All things considered I'd go with the drysuit so you can build proficiency with that. Getting up to speed with the side mounts will come a lot quicker and be less disruptive to your diving. Also, the extended duration of side mounts will be lost when you go from "not over cold" to frigid with 2X the gas.

Pete

 

[syntaxerrorsix]

Drysuit. You don't need another way to carry tanks. You do need a way to stay warm for longer dives.

Sidemount is just a tool it's not the only way to dive nor is it always the right tool for the job.

 

[50Fathom]

I own a ton of gear, and have spent a lot of money on it.

The best money I've ever spent and my favorite piece of gear, hands-down, is my drysuit.

 

[Dive-aholic]

Dry suit. You may even be able to modify your existing rig to use it as a sidemount rig. One of the things I review with my sidemount students is how to do this. You don't need an off the rack rig to sidemount dive.

 

[stano]

If you are going into tech you are going to be in doubles bm with stages. If you are going into tech sm you will be into independent doubles with stages as well. Cost wise tech is is similar in either BM or SM. Three sets of regs, three tanks, reels, bags, etc all the same gear. I am doing all my tech diving in sm. If you already have a wetsuit why not jump into learning sm and gearing up for tech. I skipped bm doubles all together and would not do it any different.

I do dive dry but spent money on a good condition used DUI CF 200 which saved me about $1500. You will need a drysuit for tech but you can have a lot of fun in the meantime and be ready for tech. I found it longer to get totally setup in sm than learning a drysuit. To me the drysuit took about 5 dives to get totally comfortable. I have a lot of dives in Sm now and am still tweaking. And loving it btw.

My 2psi
Stano

 

[Doc Harry]

1+ drysuit