Going BACK to backmounting?

[Taath]

Hi all,

Before I pose my question (although the title is a bit of a spoiler) I wanted to give a little bit of background and my diving habits.

I have been certified approximately 2 years. About 4-5 months in I went sidemount and havent dove backmounted since then. I went sidemount because my instructor/dive buddy was doing sidemount and it looked like a great way to dive. I have since got about 160 sidemount dives in.

I love how easy it trims out, however, it feels like after every dive I'm finding something else to fiddle with to try and get the system just right. I've been diving the Xdeep Stealth Tec. Overall, it's great, just fine tuning adjustments......

I initially went sidemount with the thought of getting into technical diving, however, my responsibilities at work and home have created barriers to that and I likely wont get into tech diving for years to come. I did go down to Playa Del Carmen and get my cavern cert. Really enjoyed it and might like to go back to get intro and possibly full cave, however, that's a once a year sort of option for me.

So most of my diving is sport diving. Almost exclusively non-decompression dives to 130 feet or shallower. I sidemount AL80s and typically can get about 2-3 dives from them. On a given dive day I'll do two dives on my two tanks and still have more than my reserve left.

I occasionally get to take some trips such as a weekend liveaboard to Catalina island, a drive down to San Carlos for a weekend, or in this year's case a week trip to Cozumel for some diving.

Being that my diving habits have not evolved the way I initially planned I'm wondering if it's worth getting a BP/W setup to try out for a bit. Will going to BP/W simplify my setup, making pre and post dive easier / less to manage? Or realistically, will I just be doing the same stuff in a different order?

Part of me thinks that it just makes more sense to stick to sidemount and just single tank it when I don't feel like taking both tanks. At least this way I keep up the muscle memory and skills in case I do get back to Playa for more cave training or get into other realms of tech diving.

The other part of me thinks that going to BP/W is somehow going to simplify my diving and allow me to "chill out" more before, between, and after dives.

TL;DR not diving tech like I had planned, not doing overhead diving, mostly casual sport diving. Worth going to BP/W from sidemount or just stick with sidemount?

 

[undrwater]

All boat dives?

I dive bp/w, and I think I'm still messing with stuff. It may be hard to tell what the difference may be, but it appears sidemount might have more "moving parts".

Thinking about it, I might get bored with the perfect setup.

Also, as I get more confident / comfortable, I start to notice little things that my brain was ignoring before, so now that needs attention.

Ramble, hopefully helpful.

 

[Taath]

All boat dives?

I do more shore dives than anything because of where I live. But when I get on vacation it's mostly boat dives.

My school of thought is have one system or at least one type of system (back or side mount) and maintain muscle memory and proficiency with that. Rather than vary it up.

 

[DevonDiver]

It's hard to advise because diving practices vary so much around the world. Essentially transport, boat operations, travel arrangements etc etc...

If you find sidemount easy and enjoy substantial familiarity and muscle memory using it, then there's quite a strong rationale for sticking with what you're good at.

That said, sometimes we all just want a new challenge... and switching to backmount (doubles?) might give you something new to enjoy learning.

As you probably know, both approaches have strengths and weaknesses. However, many sidemount weaknesses stem from difficulties with boats, entries etc... and you're obviously making those things work fine already...

 

[TONY CHANEY]

The right tool for the job at hand. I prefer BM but dive SM when the need comes up.

 

[RonzoTheGreat]

Hi all,

Before I pose my question (although the title is a bit of a spoiler) I wanted to give a little bit of background and my diving habits.

I have been certified approximately 2 years. About 4-5 months in I went sidemount and havent dove backmounted since then. I went sidemount because my instructor/dive buddy was doing sidemount and it looked like a great way to dive. I have since got about 160 sidemount dives in.

I love how easy it trims out, however, it feels like after every dive I'm finding something else to fiddle with to try and get the system just right. I've been diving the Xdeep Stealth Tec. Overall, it's great, just fine tuning adjustments......

I initially went sidemount with the thought of getting into technical diving, however, my responsibilities at work and home have created barriers to that and I likely wont get into tech diving for years to come. I did go down to Playa Del Carmen and get my cavern cert. Really enjoyed it and might like to go back to get intro and possibly full cave, however, that's a once a year sort of option for me.

So most of my diving is sport diving. Almost exclusively non-decompression dives to 130 feet or shallower. I sidemount AL80s and typically can get about 2-3 dives from them. On a given dive day I'll do two dives on my two tanks and still have more than my reserve left.

I occasionally get to take some trips such as a weekend liveaboard to Catalina island, a drive down to San Carlos for a weekend, or in this year's case a week trip to Cozumel for some diving.

Being that my diving habits have not evolved the way I initially planned I'm wondering if it's worth getting a BP/W setup to try out for a bit. Will going to BP/W simplify my setup, making pre and post dive easier / less to manage? Or realistically, will I just be doing the same stuff in a different order?

Part of me thinks that it just makes more sense to stick to sidemount and just single tank it when I don't feel like taking both tanks. At least this way I keep up the muscle memory and skills in case I do get back to Playa for more cave training or get into other realms of tech diving.

The other part of me thinks that going to BP/W is somehow going to simplify my diving and allow me to "chill out" more before, between, and after dives.

TL;DR not diving tech like I had planned, not doing overhead diving, mostly casual sport diving. Worth going to BP/W from sidemount or just stick with sidemount?

Stick to sidemount w hich gives you current pleasure and confidence enough to still tinker with your gear and nice job getting 1160 "real dives"
IN YOUR FIRST TWO Years, diving sie may have ou u ewith skillsets to sling your redundant gas while img your primary breathing gas on your back ,a pretty nice. Sidemount benefit is having what i consider, is having pretty mobile/manageable gear set-up with readily available ble. just about anywhere you will ever vacation or choose to dive around the globe, however, that being said, what substitute is there for personal exerience. It's a shame you live so far away, i'dbe happy to lend you one of my single bp/w rigs for a weekend to run your own control-group so you could figure it out for yourself! I ran a similar course in my diving experience with exception to my certs and duration of yucatan caverns, and its adamn good thing since i can no longer dive, but i also did an "intro to tech" to learn back mounted doubles valvedrills and such, and it certainly depends on your position in the water as well as bodyfat%, but i find the sidemounts are super easy to trim out relative to curve of finding just theright horizontal position for backmount to be really cleanly streamlined, i wasn't interested in pushing limits of cave or wreck pioneering by squeezing myself through gaps not meant for a dude of my build, that being said, i did have tons of fun with both configs and by no means are the reasons i barely touched upon, theONlY positives& negatives when considerigthe two configs, ill also mention that i grew into diving around some world-class and welbrespected mentors,and no doubt at all that their presence in the industry and preference to dive backmount and rebreathing, played a role in my decision as well, butkeep on trucking, and earn that300 ish dives-logged mark by the end of your 3rd/beginning of tour fourth year on,youll be theone helping others make quality decisions based on your own great& positive experiences!
Regardless of what you choose,dive safe,have fun, and stay well! Best wishes!
Sincerely,
Ron (Ronzothegreat)

 

[tbone1004]

as someone who still regularly switches back and forth between backmount and sidemount I may be able to lend some insight.

Here are my "rules"
In a cave? Sidemount wins-yes my avatar is in backmount in a cave, but they're strapped to my Nomad so I could drain them before splitting them up for a buddy. Extenuating circumstances for that

Teaching? Almost always backmount. Sidemount has it's place, but I am more "free" when I dive backmount doubles when I'm teaching because I can get in and out of the water faster, perform rescue skills more efficiently, etc etc as well as be in a roughly similar configuration to my students *who are in singles*

Boat diving? Depends on what I'm doing. Backmount if I have my own doubles available, but if travelling, single tank sidemount usually wins if I want to be cooperative. Boats are getting much more comfortable with sidemount divers now than they were when I started diving sidemount ~8 years ago

Me relaxing doing bs dives in quarries or whatever? Doubles. Exceptions are if I'm working on something in particular on my sidemount setup, doing prep for a big cave dive etc, or working with someone on a sidemount rig and they want to see me dive mine.

Here are my experience with sidemount gear. I can take just about any sidemount rig on the market, look at it a bit, fit the harness to me, and go dive it with some "guidelines" that I have come up with for setting rigs up. I don't have to fiddle with things if I don't want to, but they almost always require some fine tuning, and I have probably only done a handful of consecutive dives where I haven't touched something on my gear. Usually minor things, but it's still things.

My experience with backmount gear is very different. I dive a basically GUE/DIR type rig, and frankly if you are diving that kind of rig there isn't a whole lot to mess with. In doubles, the bands are always in the same spot, and you put your wing on. Wings usually have 3 different grommet settings to find tune trim and you find out which one you like after a half dozen dives. I have one position for Al80's, one for Faber steels, and one for PST/Worthington steels because of their trim characteristics. That is the order and is from bottom to top on the grommets.
The harness may take a couple of dives to get it fit properly for you, get the d-rings where want them, etc and is especially annoying if you only have one backplate and dive with multiple different thickness exposure suits and are anal about the d-rings being exactly where they are supposed to be. The difference in sizing between a bathing suit with a t-shirt and a drysuit is surprisingly large. I don't usually care and will deal with my d-rings being off by an inch or two if diving in a weird exposure protection configuration.
Other than that, reg hose routing is basically standardized. There are some different schools of thought on the inflator on left vs. right post, and SPG routing, but those aren't anything serious. I.e. I dive with independent doubles, so I have 2x spg's, and I usually dive with my inflators "backwards" to minimize hose crossing, but it's not anything that impacts the dive at all. If I'm diving "Standard" doubles with a crossbar, I use a GUE/DIR/Hogarthian hose routing but with the SPG on a shorter hose that is tied to my inflator because @Capt Jim Wyatt had an idea that I think is better. Very different than sidemount.

So yes, I believe a bp/w would minimize your tinkering because the

 

[The Chairman]

The other part of me thinks that going to BP/W is somehow going to simplify my diving

Before you buy a BP&Wing, check out the Zeagle Express Tech or the Dive Rite Hunter Pac. They are a hybrid, having a fiber backplate rather than aluminum or steel. Great to travel with and way simple to set up and dive. They are my go to boat single tank solution. All the bennies of a BP&Wing and even simpler at that. You can add weight pockets to the tank or diver straps as you see fit.

 

[Richard FDC]

I dive a lot. I cave dive and I ocean dive. I love Blue Heron Bridge as well as I love Eagle's Nest. Often when hanging out around the dive sites there will be talk about gear and often, when you're talking to a very experienced diver, you'll hear, "Sidemount is just another tool in the tool box." Your post brings to mind a couple articles so at risk of taking flak I'm sharing them both.

Is Your SCUBA Diving Tool Box Complete? Don’t Limit Yourself

Technical BCD is the Best Choice for Divers

 

[decompression]

I've got a brand new BP/W I'd be willing to trade for the tec wing and harness........