Is Side Mount the new DIR??? Building resentment towards us as a group...

[kelemvor]

Notwithstanding odd situations like Clownfishsydney's , any diver should be 100% good to go by the time the boat hits the dive site. That's always my goal, regardless of my configuration. Most divers I was with last Sunday were ready to go the moment we got to the drop site. Most boats will give you an estimate on how long it takes to get to a site and most Captains will shout out a 10 or 15 minute warning.

This whole side discussion about how long it takes to gear up is totally overlooking the fact that there's oodles of time between leaving the dock and arriving at the site to get ready. If you're not doing it, something's wrong and it's not your configuration.

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

Notwithstanding odd situations like Clownfishsydney's , any diver should be 100% good to go by the time the boat hits the dive site. That's always my goal, regardless of my configuration. Most divers I was with last Sunday were ready to go the moment we got to the drop site. Most boats will give you an estimate on how long it takes to get to a site and most Captains will shout out a 10 or 15 minute warning.

This whole side discussion about how long it takes to gear up is totally overlooking the fact that there's oodles of time between leaving the dock and arriving at the site to get ready. If you're not doing it, something's wrong and it's not your configuration.

Could be your boat ... there's a lot of different possibilities depending on how the boat's configured. I've been on boats where it's impractical to gear up before you arrive. I've been on boats where there's only enough space to gear up one at a time. I've even been on boats where you put your gear overboard on lanyards, slip into your fins, backroll into the water, and gear up there. Every one of those situations requires a completely different set of techniques and expectations.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[Razorista]

...the fact that there's oodles of time between leaving the dock and arriving at the site to get ready. If you're not doing it, something's wrong and it's not your configuration.

Depends on the boat and the speed you are going.
A small speedboad requires you to load prepared equipment.

We should always remember how very slow beginning divers can be, sidemounters tend to repeat that.

They can't get their inflation hoses connected, forget important equipment, take a long time to leave the surface after jumping in...
In new sidemount groups there is often a lot of unintelligible yelling while drifting at the surface, often individual beginners break off the dive and get back on board...

The same happens when new groups with inexperienced leaders do their first backmount boat dives, but most problems can only be solved on the boat with those groups and group leaders understand the equipment and can help.
Sidemounters can look very disorganized in contrast, constantly fixing something or another.
Dive leaders often do not understanding the equipment of individual sidemount divers or buddy teams tagging along and cannot look for mistakes during setup.

I think it very important to really consider the details of the situation for comparison.
When you really compare individual steps sidemount proves it's effectiveness in theory, in practice individual divers often fail at some small detail.
Sidemount needs people to develop procedures for many situations and boat diving in particular is severely underdeveloped.

I was on a safari boat also offering sidemount-only safaris.
Crew and guides where about as much help as a purely backmount experienced crew - knew nothing, even less than crews I had met before.
Just before the last planed zodiac dive, however, someone recommended not clipping into the backward hip D-rings while sitting and climbing, but the forward ones.
Perfect solution! Something impossibly hard became manageable in the blink of an eye.
If we had those procedures sorted out, sidemount on boats would be a great experience for everybody, until we have and people can get access to that information however...?

 

[Tassi Devil Diver]

I agree with the assertion that side mount takes longer to gear up than back mount and have observed it many times. I dive out of relatively small boats usually less than 6.5m (21ft) and there is no opportunity to begin gearing up until the anchor line or shot is set. Whilst side mounters claim they can leave the harness on I find this is rarely the case with the harness and bladders seeming to take up most of the room in gear bins, where back mounts sit neatly in the tank racks ready to go when it is time begin gearing up.

I had an opportunity 5 or so years ago to do a side mount course with some of my regular dive buddies who got Steve Martin to my area, but gave it a miss because I could immediately see my manifolded twins which I had been using for the preceding 6 or so years was the best tool for the deep ocean and wreck diving I do and have always preferred the manifolded twins to indies. I was not prepared to compromise by doing away with the advantages that a manifold offers. So that was a deal breaker for me.

Once you start adding multiple stages and deco tanks side mount just becomes a cluster ****, and ends up being more stomach mount.

But all a moot point for me now as I have been diving a rebreather for the last few years.

But hey side mount is the latest fad and let’s face it for many people diving is more about the gear than the experience of actually diving and side mount probably appeals to those types.

 

[gypsyjim]

What a perfect description of how CCR appears to many other divers.

But hey side mount is the latest fad and let’s face it for many people diving is more about the gear than the experience of actually diving and side mount probably appeals to those types.

 

[nakatomi]

gave it a miss because I could immediately see my manifolded twins which I had been using for the preceding 6 or so years was the best tool for the deep ocean and wreck diving I do and have always preferred the manifolded twins to indies. I was not prepared to compromise by doing away with the advantages that a manifold offers. So that was a deal breaker for me.

A manifold is extremely useful for lifting the heavy twinsets in and out of the car, boat etc. I can't see hauling independent doubles all over the place being fun at all.

Once you start adding multiple stages and deco tanks side mount just becomes a cluster ****, and ends up being more stomach mount.

I'd have to disagree with that, assuming they are mounted correctly. On the other hand I would agree that diving SM with stages from a boat would feel like a major pain in the rear end to me. I would actually prefer doubles or a RB for that purpose too. For land access diving I would personally prefer SM, even with stages, but that's just up to everyone to decide.

But hey side mount is the latest fad and let’s face it for many people diving is more about the gear than the experience of actually diving and side mount probably appeals to those types.

True, a great number of people enjoy the tweaking and diving the latest and greatest.

 

[BDSC]

But hey side mount is the latest fad and let’s face it for many people diving is more about the gear than the experience of actually diving and side mount probably appeals to those types.

True, a great number of people enjoy the tweaking and diving the latest and greatest.

And that sorta goes back to my post earlier in the thread where the dive shop owners said introducing SM to typical recreational OW divers is more about selling gear than anything else.

 

[nakatomi]

And that sorta goes back to my post earlier in the thread where the dive shop owners said introducing SM to typical recreational OW divers is more about selling gear than anything else.

It is absolutely about gear and about training too.

 

[scubadada]

Interesting thread. I have over 500 dives in Boynton Beach and Jupiter, FL and am yet to see my 1st SMer on any boat I've been on. I did see one SMer underwater on the reef in Boynton Beach once. Funny, there are not infrequently folks diving BM doubles or rebreathers on these same boats. Perhaps its the type of diving I'm doing, mostly hour drift dives on the reefs, some wrecks, or the small sample of 4 boats that I dive on almost exclusively. I've never seen a SMer on any travel trip I've taken. From my experience, I would never know that SM is the new it.

 

[gypsyjim]

It was new quite a while back, but just like CCR it has begun to be more accessible and is gaining fans.

To some it is a fad, obviously, but I've dived with SM diver many times over the last 8 years or so and none of them were what id call Gotta Have The Next Big Fad sort of divers.
SM certainly has some advantages that appeal to some divers. To me it is simply another option that I may, or may not play with to see if it fits me.
Due to back pain, and a bad leg, which effects my balance, Doubles are very difficult to schlep around, and SM might be an answer for long, deerer, or solo diving situations.

We shall see. I do enjoy learning new uw skills, simply because it helps hone all of my other uw skills.