I don't get side mount?

[PhatD1ver]

I find it easier to just walk up the ladder with my tanks in place and remove them at the bench. Since the tanks sit lower on your body giving you a lower center of gravity, you're actually more stable walking a pitching deck in sidemount than in backmount. And if a 62 year old fat guy can do it, I fail to see the problem ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

Sorry bob, you won't be pulling that acrobatic maneuver in the Philippines on a banca, you'd never find your center of gravity to climb the ladder without a push from someone in the water and a pull from the boatman

---------- Post added September 16th, 2014 at 09:13 PM ----------

This is about the best response so far.
So it's an alternative to back mounted doubles then?
I always thought back mounted doubles with valves up was a flawed system when it comes to valve handling. The tanks need to be too high to be able to reach the valves and when the rig is set lower the balance and trim issues are cured but then it's harder to reach valves.
I can see how SM cured this problem, when the need calls for double cylinders.

well ill this guy seems to have an alternative

http://www.jimandi.com/SCUBATANKS/DualTanks.html

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

Sorry bob, you won't be pulling that acrobatic maneuver in the Philippines on a banca, you'd never find your center of gravity to climb the ladder without a push from someone in the water and a pull from the boatman

... then I wouldn't be diving sidemount from a banca in the first place. One of the fundamental rules of dive planning is never get in the water unless you have a clear idea of how you're going to get out. That applies as much to equipment selection as it does to conditions and choice of dive site.

That said, too many people make too much of how difficult it is on a typical dive boat, with an appropriate ladder, to get out of the water using sidemount. I think the majority of the objections I hear to this ... and many other dive equipment arguments ... are made by people who have never actually dived the equipment they're objecting to.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[Simon-]

I have only personally dabbled in side mount, myself. One of the bigger draws I have seen is the ease of taking 1 cylinder at a time to the water & hooking up in the water, thus much reduced weight to carry- very popular for those with bad backs. Side mount actually give you much more freedom of movement than back mounted doubles, & are more streamlined because the cylinders (if properly rigged) staying in the slipstream of the shoulders & arms. Yes, sidemount does let you into lower areas, at the price of the diver being wider. I have dove my SMS100 maybe 3 or 4 times, but I also sidemount my rebreather bailouts for streamlining.

Put on a back mounted single or doubles on in the water too, no issues with backs then either

 

[Centrals]

... then I wouldn't be diving sidemount from a banca in the first place. One of the fundamental rules of dive planning is never get in the water unless you have a clear idea of how you're going to get out. That applies as much to equipment selection as it does to conditions and choice of dive site.

That said, too many people make too much of how difficult it is on a typical dive boat, with an appropriate ladder, to get out of the water using sidemount. I think the majority of the objections I hear to this ... and many other dive equipment arguments ... are made by people who have never actually dived the equipment they're objecting to.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

Why don't you bring your SM kit to Philippines and try it yourself to see if we were BS?
Incidentally, all dive operators in Philippines would rather prefer their clients to climb up the ladder without any kit unless the divers themselves insisted!!!
As for objecting SM in this thread, to be honest I have seen NONE.

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

Why don't you bring your SM kit to Philippines and try it yourself to see if we were BS?

Look at the post you just quoted. Please read the first sentence.

In the context of that sentence, your comments make no sense.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[SanDiegoSidemount]

I really do wish I could figure out a way to make diving sidemount simple in Puget Sound, because if I could, as I said, I would do it a lot, because it feels so marvelous.

Lynne, I had a great time diving sidemount in Puget Sound last summer! Shore dives and Zodiac dives were all splendid. Compared to the challenges of surf entries here in San Diego, the Sound was a breeze.

For shore dives, primary tank donning options are to don near the shoreline (in or out of the water) or do it before you hit the beach. Sounds like you prefer the former, which as you say, involves carrying tanks to the shore and donning them at the shoreline or in the shallows. Keeping control of both tanks as you're donning in the water can be dodgy, as you seem to have experienced. Donning them on the beach can be OK, but involves kneeling and futzing.

I agree that if the beach isn't pretty level and smooth, walking in with the tanks fully clipped can be very awkward. For rock entries, I'd think it's near impossible.

But... have you tried the "hybrid" approach of clipping the top (neck) clips to your hip D-rings for a beach walk-in? Some people really like this method: you can grab the valves in your hands if you like, or let them hang. (Though you might not be tall enough for the latter.) They're secure so you don't have to worry about them floating off if you let go. Then wade in and reposition when you're waist/chest deep. With a Z System, you can be fully plugged and still carry them this way.

BTW, sidemount is by far the best way to dive off a Zodiac. You can don everything seated on the pontoon, then just back roll into the water. My buddies in backmount doubles were SO jealous.

Yes, you can dive single tank sidemount, but I didn't like it very much. I found myself off balance and unable to remain still. Maybe I'd figure it out with practice, but I dunno -- with a sidemount wing, you don't have the option of parking gas on the side of the wing away from the tank you are balancing, like you do with a slung stage in backmount.

Single tank SM is best done only with a close-to-neutral tank like an AL80, then the "lopsided" feel is very minor, and disappears completely after the first 500psi or so. Were you diving AL or steel when you tried single tank SM?

 

[00wabbit]

Why do we have to be so angry about where we carry tanks?

Next thing you know we'll be fighting over which end of an egg to break first.
Of course everyone already knows that breaking the small end of the egg first is the only way to do it.

 

[EFX]

If diving dual tanks SM how do you breath down the tanks assuming a long dive using air from both? Do you breath 1/2 from one tank then 1/2 from the other, then switch back to the first?

 

[SanDiegoSidemount]

If diving dual tanks SM how do you breath down the tanks assuming a long dive using air from both? Do you breath 1/2 from one tank then 1/2 from the other, then switch back to the first?

You leap-frog your way down in 500psi increments. So, say you are using 2x AL80s that start at 3000psi per side. Breathe the left down to 2500, then the right down to 2000, then the left down to 1500, then the right down to 1000, and so on.

The goal is to keep the tanks within 500psi or less of each other the whole time.

 

[victorzamora]

If diving dual tanks SM how do you breath down the tanks assuming a long dive using air from both? Do you breath 1/2 from one tank then 1/2 from the other, then switch back to the first?

I do 300psi out of my right post, then 600psi out of the other, and then keeping switching every 600psi. That keeps tanks within 300psi of eachother, and in cave situations it guarantees maximized air for my buddy.