is Sidemount diving more safe?

[L13]

I mostly agree, but:

But have you tried boatdiving with sidemount? Especially when you have to put on the cylinders in the water with waves? All divers are waiting for that very slow sidemount diver.

I frequently SM dive from boats. Usually, I am the only SM diver. I am almost never the slow diver everyone is waiting for. And, I am far from the fastest SM diver, it is just that if you make it a priority and practice you can be faster than the slower BM divers on most boats.

 

[Stunni]

btw, sidemountainians do better kissing...

 

[billgraham]

My personal, extremely biased and inexperienced perspective is that it's safer.
People have fallen on their back in waist deep water wearing doubles and nearly (or actually) drowned because the valves were off. Literally a non-issue in sidemount.
People have gone OOA because of a forgotten isolator. Impossible in sidemount.

I learned in backmounted doubles but I feel safer in sidemount. I remember one incident where a diver died off NC after jumping in with their valves shut off, and I also saw it happen in person but the diver managed to reach the rubrail on the boat with two fingers and a friend was able to grab him.

 

[billgraham]

Difficult, but not impossible. Side mount sure is a floppy mess when you start adding more bottles or a rebreather.

Looks like wreck divers avoid it, and cave divers love it.


You dont have to run a manifold. You can have 2 completely independent sources, if you feel the need.




It's also sloppier on a boat or ladder. Your rig is always split and jiggles like a clocks pendulum, if that clock was made from jello.



I'd rather be tall, than wide.

Sidemount ain't without its own drawbacks.

Having done a heap of OC sidemount trimix diving in the ocean, I'd say you need to think about what you're doing. With sidemount, you can shove your tanks and gear underneath the bench and pull it out when you gear up, takes up less space. I always brought an equipment line with rings and a lead weight and strobe on the bottom, 40 feet long, rings spaced so you can pull the tanks on to the boat one at a time. Usually getting off the boat feels the same, but I'd swim over to the equipment line on deco and lose everything but the o-2 bottle and climb the ladder that way if it was rough.

 

[34109411]

Hey there,

are there any statistic works who shwos that sidemount diving is more or less safe than back mount?
cause of redundancy or similar?

check on annual DAN report you will get your answer.

 

[Stunni]

Having done a heap of OC sidemount trimix diving in the ocean, I'd say you need to think about what you're doing. With sidemount, you can shove your tanks and gear underneath the bench and pull it out when you gear up, takes up less space. I always brought an equipment line with rings and a lead weight and strobe on the bottom, 40 feet long, rings spaced so you can pull the tanks on to the boat one at a time. Usually getting off the boat feels the same, but I'd swim over to the equipment line on deco and lose everything but the o-2 bottle and climb the ladder that way if it was rough.

hey, thats really cunning... how much space between the rings? must look like you fished them like a line fisher

 

[Stunni]

check on annual DAN report you will get your answer.

got an adress / link?

 

[34109411]

let me look for it i will send it to you later.

 

[34109411]

got an adress / link?

 

[34109411]

get to dan website follow instructions to get report.