I'm mad at Dive-aholic

Please register or login

Welcome to ScubaBoard, the world's largest scuba diving community. Registration is not required to read the forums, but we encourage you to join. Joining has its benefits and enables you to participate in the discussions.

Benefits of registering include

  • Ability to post and comment on topics and discussions.
  • A Free photo gallery to share your dive photos with the world.
  • You can make this box go away

Joining is quick and easy. Log in or Register now!

Not sure how this turned into a GUE / DIR / UDT conversation. Sidemount is an optional setup for diving, ie cave diving in this thread. At 20 something what looks like handicapped people that need to just go into their cave and die, will look much different when a person is 40 something, or 50 something and so on. (No flame or jab intended Gator). Our perception reflects our life as it is right now and as it was before now. Being pretty healthy as we get older doesn't mean our joints have not been through many more revolutions that they had been at 20 something when most of us were in our prime. Personally, I wanted to see some smaller cave, but I also wanted to make a pre-emptive strike on old age. By lightenting the load topside I can add years to my diving.

I am 46 years old. I was standing in a bayou the other day, putting bags on a car to raise and float it to an extraction point. I had a thought........."Mark you are almost 47 years old" I then thought that I can see myself doing this well into my 50's. It's not a young persons game anymore. If I have a bit more drag in sidemount, how many less feet of cave am I actually not gonna see? Is it that huge of a difference? Being completely optimal is not all that. If I can goose step down a large open cave in perfect trim, that's fine. If I can hover in the deco zone without moving, cool. I prefer to pin myself to the ceiling so I can rest on deco, but if I can't I can hover like a champ. But, many days I come out of a cave dirty as heck because I dived some small stuff, without damaging any limestone or formations. Pushing through sand and silt or such is the nature of the beast in smaller cave.

When team / goal oriented diving I can see a need for standardization. On the other hand, If I am not my own best buddy I can't be yours. I probably won't backmount anymore (doubles) but that is my preference. I have more options in s/m. Now, if there is a cave that is better dived in doubles, I can have my regs changed in a few minutes and I will rent a set for that dive. It would be the right tool for that dive.

Either way, s/m is not just for the handicapped or small cave. That way of thinking is too rigid and thinking that is too rigid is not safe, especially when there is a major problem. The more tools and options we have, the safer we will be. There is a lot to be said for thinking on the fly and the old Marine Corp motto, improvise, adapt, and overcome. But then, that is why I probably do most of my diving solo, or maybe it is because I am a PITA and not a social butterfly. FWIW
 
A trip back west could be arranged. I just need enough students and expenses covered.

One of the nice things about sidemount is that it ISN'T standardized. You modify the rig to fit your diving.

BTW, Danny Riordan is a sidemoount instructor. I'm not sure how much sidemount diving he does or how/why he even became a SM instructor, but he is...
 
Who friggin cares if SM gets embraced by GUE and/or makes its way into some convoluted DIR mainstay?
 
Well, Matt, I don't. I'm quite aware that this will be a step outside my five year old comfort zone, and I'm okay with it.

I'm never going to do a lot of really small cave -- as I told Rob, I'm only interested in going through small stuff if it opens up to big stuff on the other side. I'm a cave tourist, so I dive caves to look at beauty, and crawling through tiny places isn't beautiful to me. I personally had an intellectual interest in SM as a way to cope with diminished capacity to carry weight -- but my "crack cocaine" experience really had to do with freedom in three dimensions. My husband has talked a lot about how he dives because it frees him from gravity, and I agree with that; SM freed me from the tyranny of the tanks, and I loved it.
 
Exactly, SM is relevant. That relevance isn't affected by any agency, especially one thats so dimensionally challenged...and read between the lines. Thats some sigworthy **** right there. :wink:
 
For what it is worth, one of the speakers at the GUE conference was Steve Bogaerts and his presentation was on "Why Sidemount". So as someone already mentioned, GUE is aware of sidemount. Just like everything else, when the need arises adaptations occur...until then I have to side with, "Who friggin cares if GUE or DIR agencies embrace sidemount".

If you have a need be it physical, the feeling of freedom, or the cave your exploring or want to explore just got really small....have at it.

As a side note, Danny Riordan and Chris have explored and mapped thousands of feet of cave in sidemount, and then chose to not use it anymore...it was their choice.

(scootering away and hiding behind a large stalagmite now)
Karen
 
For what it is worth, one of the speakers at the GUE conference was Steve Bogaerts and his presentation was on "Why Sidemount". So as someone already mentioned, GUE is aware of sidemount. Just like everything else, when the need arises adaptations occur...until then I have to side with, "Who friggin cares if GUE or DIR agencies embrace sidemount".

Karen

From my perspective GUE offers consistent, high quality dive training that covers a lot of what people want to be able to achieve. If it wasnt for GUE then I wouldnt be where I am now, which is a great positive in my view. So, while I agree that whether GUE adopts it or not is irrelevant to SM in general, having them adopt it would, in my mind, make me more comfortable seeking the training, because I am confident that at least I would have an outstanding foundation.

There are numerous instructors out there with amazing reputations for education in SM though, and since I know of them it might be less of a big deal training wise. I would just hate to see what happened to OW education happen in SM. I think GUE would help avoid that and offer an oasis of quality where often there is a desert.

Anyway, I am really interested to hear about your experiences Lynne, because in a couple years I will probably be moving that way too. Perhaps I will get to try it even sooner than that.
 
Greetings Lyne and congratulations on your SM trial and upcoming training.
I have gradually built my rig and after training in OW then diving it in cave environments it really is as you say wonderful for a variety of reasons.
I chose to convert my TransPac with a butt plate and bungee down my Rec wing.
I use the standard bungees and love the Faber LP 85's that I dive with no additional weight. They trim out very nicely.

As for the DIR / GUE / UDT they all know that SM is making it's presence well known.
It matters not nor has it ever been a deal breaker what an agencies opinion of SM configuration.
It is simply a means to an end. Nothing more nothing less.
OW, overhead it is a matter of choice or necessity.
No worries enjoy your new pursuit and by all means keep us posted.

CamG Keep diving....Keep training....Keep learning!
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/peregrine/

Back
Top Bottom