Ask a half dozen cave divers a question and you'll get 8 different opinions. Add in side mount and the number of opinions increases to about 12.
Everybody has a favorite position but I'll try to be balanced and unbiased
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I dove back mount doubles in great lakes and mid Atlantic wreck diving for about 15 years before I started cave diving and I advanced through full cave plus a bit over 100 full cave dives before I switched to side mount about 8 or 9 years ago.
The (or at least my) case for side mount:
I switched to side mount in part because I was developing an attraction for smaller passage cave, and in part because it tends to reduce the wear and tear on your body in a couple different ways. Side mount doesn't reduce the total work load hauling tanks but it does reduce the maximum effort required by reducing the maximum weight you have to lift and spreading the it over more time. In the water, I find side mount to be much more comfortable and given that we're doing often dives that are 6 hours or so long, comfort matters.
My wife/team mate probably holds the record for falling into various sinks in back mount, so while she was not thrilled at having to master a new configuration, there's no way she'd ever go back to back mount either.
At the time I made the switch, I lived in VA and there were no good side mount instructors up there at the time. I opted to mentor with a few different full cave level side mount divers. It made was much better than the alternative of an OW side mount instructor, most of whom seem to turn out very poorly configured divers.
Now, the situation is a little better as there are a handful of side mount cave instructors in N FL that are very good, but I'm in agreement with a post above that suggests you can still count them on one hand. Over the last couple years I've mentored other side mount divers aspiring to be cave divers. The time required to get them up to speed has varied. In general, if they've been open water trained the challenge is to help them properly configure and unlearn all the bad habits they acquired from their open water instructor. I've found it's a lost easier and faster to start with someone who has never dove side mount before. The last diver I assisted fell in this category and it only took him a half dozen dives before he was ready for cavern and intro to cave, and he rocked those classes.
In that regard, it'll go against the grain, but if you are a single tank open water divers who has not already mastered back mount doubles with a back plate and wing, it won't be noticeably harder for you to just start out in side mount. If side mount diving is your goal, then just start with side mount. Just be sure to get solid instruction from a side mount cave instructor, or extensive mentoring from an experienced side mount cave diver.
The down sides of side mount is that a) it is not nearly as standardized as back mount and b) you probably won't have just one side mount rig. For example, we use side mount rigs with wings in the 40-45 pound range for diving in N FL where the caves tend to be deeper and larger steel tanks tend to be the norm (LP 85s are very popular), along with one or more stages and a deco bottle. A 25 pound wing just won't provide nearly enough lift. In contrast in Mexico where most of the caves tend to be much shallower a pair of AL80s and a stage will let you dive for 3 to 4 hours with little or no deco. Unfortunately, a Florida style side mount rig isn't optimum for use with lighter, more positively buoyant aluminum tanks. A smaller 20-25 pound wing is plenty to float 3 AL 80s and a smaller wing is a big advantage when you are packing all your gear (except tanks) in a carry on bag to ensure it all arrives when you do.
The case for back mount
Back mount is very standardized and it's a system that works reasonably well for just about everyone. You might need a shorter or taller back plate depending on your torso length and you may find that some tanks trim out better for you than others (for example, if you are short, a set comparatively long 120s probably isn't going to work for you. But you can train a monkey to dive back mounted doubles and a well trained monkey could probably teach a new diver how to dive back mount doubles.
Back mount also tends to work better off a boat in rough seas than side mount so if you plan to do deep technical wreck diving then back mount is arguably a better choice.
Becoming a cave diver
I'll start with the mandatory statement that no amount of open water training will prepare you for cave diving.
But there is a great deal of benefit in acquiring certain skills before you show up for a cavern class and some of those skills will give you a real leg up in a cave class. For example, I came to my cavern class with 15 years of experience in doubles and a dry suit, as well as about 10 years of inland commercial diving. The ability to *feel* your orientation and buoyancy in no visibility conditions is a real plus and having a solid command of buoyancy, trim and a two tank configuration will let you focus entirely on the cave specific aspects of the class.
Side mount or back mounted doubles, you absolutely must be competent and comfortable in the configuration before you show up for class. You need to be proficient in your configuration in order to fully benefit from the training. And it's important to note that it is cave training, not a guarantee that you'll pass the class. Some things you can learn in open water include:
- proficiency in back mounted doubles or side mount configuration;
- precision buoyancy;
- level trim;
- a good frog kick and modified flutter kick;
- basic line running skills;
- the ability to maintain precise buoyancy and trim in no visibility;
- comfort in low visibility and no visibility; and
- basic cave related hand signals and light signals.
Once you start cave diving, it's easier if you live within a days drive of a cave diving location, or are willing to fly to cave country and store your gear in the area, because it is a very perishable skill. But if not, you can still practice all of the above skills in open water and maintain those skills between cave diving trips - it just takes a little dedication and discipline.
If you are not cave diving at least once a month, you will want to ensure you start out with a warm up dive and critically re-evaluate your skill level. Once you progress to the full cave level, you'll have the opportunity to see ample evidence that many full cave divers are seriously skills deficient and badly over estimate their ability - as evidenced by fin cuts and hand prints in the floor in areas of caves where only full cave divers should be. Some of them are just lazy, others just lack the self confidence to thumb a dive that is beyond their current ability to dive cleanly, some of them just really suck at self assessing their skills and some of them are just slob divers who don't care. Don't be any of those guys,
Everybody has a favorite position but I'll try to be balanced and unbiased
-----
I dove back mount doubles in great lakes and mid Atlantic wreck diving for about 15 years before I started cave diving and I advanced through full cave plus a bit over 100 full cave dives before I switched to side mount about 8 or 9 years ago.
The (or at least my) case for side mount:
I switched to side mount in part because I was developing an attraction for smaller passage cave, and in part because it tends to reduce the wear and tear on your body in a couple different ways. Side mount doesn't reduce the total work load hauling tanks but it does reduce the maximum effort required by reducing the maximum weight you have to lift and spreading the it over more time. In the water, I find side mount to be much more comfortable and given that we're doing often dives that are 6 hours or so long, comfort matters.
My wife/team mate probably holds the record for falling into various sinks in back mount, so while she was not thrilled at having to master a new configuration, there's no way she'd ever go back to back mount either.
At the time I made the switch, I lived in VA and there were no good side mount instructors up there at the time. I opted to mentor with a few different full cave level side mount divers. It made was much better than the alternative of an OW side mount instructor, most of whom seem to turn out very poorly configured divers.
Now, the situation is a little better as there are a handful of side mount cave instructors in N FL that are very good, but I'm in agreement with a post above that suggests you can still count them on one hand. Over the last couple years I've mentored other side mount divers aspiring to be cave divers. The time required to get them up to speed has varied. In general, if they've been open water trained the challenge is to help them properly configure and unlearn all the bad habits they acquired from their open water instructor. I've found it's a lost easier and faster to start with someone who has never dove side mount before. The last diver I assisted fell in this category and it only took him a half dozen dives before he was ready for cavern and intro to cave, and he rocked those classes.
In that regard, it'll go against the grain, but if you are a single tank open water divers who has not already mastered back mount doubles with a back plate and wing, it won't be noticeably harder for you to just start out in side mount. If side mount diving is your goal, then just start with side mount. Just be sure to get solid instruction from a side mount cave instructor, or extensive mentoring from an experienced side mount cave diver.
The down sides of side mount is that a) it is not nearly as standardized as back mount and b) you probably won't have just one side mount rig. For example, we use side mount rigs with wings in the 40-45 pound range for diving in N FL where the caves tend to be deeper and larger steel tanks tend to be the norm (LP 85s are very popular), along with one or more stages and a deco bottle. A 25 pound wing just won't provide nearly enough lift. In contrast in Mexico where most of the caves tend to be much shallower a pair of AL80s and a stage will let you dive for 3 to 4 hours with little or no deco. Unfortunately, a Florida style side mount rig isn't optimum for use with lighter, more positively buoyant aluminum tanks. A smaller 20-25 pound wing is plenty to float 3 AL 80s and a smaller wing is a big advantage when you are packing all your gear (except tanks) in a carry on bag to ensure it all arrives when you do.
The case for back mount
Back mount is very standardized and it's a system that works reasonably well for just about everyone. You might need a shorter or taller back plate depending on your torso length and you may find that some tanks trim out better for you than others (for example, if you are short, a set comparatively long 120s probably isn't going to work for you. But you can train a monkey to dive back mounted doubles and a well trained monkey could probably teach a new diver how to dive back mount doubles.
Back mount also tends to work better off a boat in rough seas than side mount so if you plan to do deep technical wreck diving then back mount is arguably a better choice.
Becoming a cave diver
I'll start with the mandatory statement that no amount of open water training will prepare you for cave diving.
But there is a great deal of benefit in acquiring certain skills before you show up for a cavern class and some of those skills will give you a real leg up in a cave class. For example, I came to my cavern class with 15 years of experience in doubles and a dry suit, as well as about 10 years of inland commercial diving. The ability to *feel* your orientation and buoyancy in no visibility conditions is a real plus and having a solid command of buoyancy, trim and a two tank configuration will let you focus entirely on the cave specific aspects of the class.
Side mount or back mounted doubles, you absolutely must be competent and comfortable in the configuration before you show up for class. You need to be proficient in your configuration in order to fully benefit from the training. And it's important to note that it is cave training, not a guarantee that you'll pass the class. Some things you can learn in open water include:
- proficiency in back mounted doubles or side mount configuration;
- precision buoyancy;
- level trim;
- a good frog kick and modified flutter kick;
- basic line running skills;
- the ability to maintain precise buoyancy and trim in no visibility;
- comfort in low visibility and no visibility; and
- basic cave related hand signals and light signals.
Once you start cave diving, it's easier if you live within a days drive of a cave diving location, or are willing to fly to cave country and store your gear in the area, because it is a very perishable skill. But if not, you can still practice all of the above skills in open water and maintain those skills between cave diving trips - it just takes a little dedication and discipline.
If you are not cave diving at least once a month, you will want to ensure you start out with a warm up dive and critically re-evaluate your skill level. Once you progress to the full cave level, you'll have the opportunity to see ample evidence that many full cave divers are seriously skills deficient and badly over estimate their ability - as evidenced by fin cuts and hand prints in the floor in areas of caves where only full cave divers should be. Some of them are just lazy, others just lack the self confidence to thumb a dive that is beyond their current ability to dive cleanly, some of them just really suck at self assessing their skills and some of them are just slob divers who don't care. Don't be any of those guys,
