Learn Backmount First

[TSandM]

It's the stairs at Grand Cenote and Pet Cemetery that convinced me that backmount had its significant advantages! (It doesn't help that I can't carry an Al80 very easily in one hand, which makes getting them down stairs and trails difficult.)

 

[beanojones]

DO you carry them by the valves?

One of many reasons I like DiveRite's Nomad Ring Bungie system is that stage straps make them easier to handle, at least underwater.

Tanks are a bear out of water when shore diving no matter how you slice it, when there are slippery and slicy lava rocks.

 

[TSandM]

I carry them by the valves. I'm so short that I can't do it with my arm relaxed; I have to bend my elbow a fair bit to keep them off the ground, and that's uncomfortable fairly quickly. I can't put a tank on my shoulders because of old collarbone fractures, so I end up carrying them with one hand on the valve and the other supporting the bottom, which doesn't leave me a hand to help with balance when going up and down slopes. It's easier to have them on my back and be able to use my hands.

 

[Kevrumbo]

It was recommended to learn backmount before going to sidemount. I realize everyone has their own view and I do not think its "wrong" but I am wondering if anyone can shed some light on why that may be the case.

My recommendation -especially if you're going eventually to technical overhead wreck & cave- is to learn and be comfortable with backmount doubles first. Get a feel for your gas planning and actual consumption on a dive with a double manifolded set of conventional cylinders that are the same size & volume as the individual tanks that you will be using for sidemount (i.g. I used AL80's conventionally manifolded on backmount, and then used them individually for my sidemount dives on UTD's Z-system).

The idea is to intuitively get a feeling for how much your real-time gas consumption rate in nominal conditions will be over a certain time frame like 10 minutes at depth on doubles backmount, and then to understand and experience later on sidemount that your consumption rate in that same time frame & depth will then double, when using those same tanks individually & independently. You will alternate breathing off tanks on sidemount -i.e. like every 70bar or 1000psi- but again the motivation is to develop a time frame feel when to make the switch, before checking & confirming with your SPG's and then actually making the tank switch. . .

kevrumbo's Photos - Unified Team Diving

 

[beanojones]

I carry them by the valves. I'm so short that I can't do it with my arm relaxed; I have to bend my elbow a fair bit to keep them off the ground, and that's uncomfortable fairly quickly. I can't put a tank on my shoulders because of old collarbone fractures, so I end up carrying them with one hand on the valve and the other supporting the bottom, which doesn't leave me a hand to help with balance when going up and down slopes. It's easier to have them on my back and be able to use my hands.

That's really really common with Japanese as well. 80's are just too long for people under 5'xx" to carry arms extended, and then it's a real bear. I spent a couple of days trying to see what it would be like to have to carry tanks like that, and I realized that I would never have been able to become an instructor if I had to carry the industry standard 80's like that. Most Japanese instructors do OK with little tanks but 80's are a fight to handle for them.

On the other hand, to keep up with Japanese diving 80's, I need to carry 120's and those are a fight for me to carry in the arms or on the back.

And that is where sidemount shines. To match up divers, another 80 can be added to the mix for whichever diver needs it. I can carry 3 80's easier than twin 120's, and that is even with them hooked up SM or carried one by one.

How is it for you to carry two sidemount 80's if they are hooked up to your rig?

 

[TSandM]

I've actually never tried to walk a sidemount rig with the tanks attached . . . but if I have to walk them down attached to me, I may as well stay with the backmount setup I already know and own.

 

[Kevrumbo]

I carry them by the valves. I'm so short that I can't do it with my arm relaxed; I have to bend my elbow a fair bit to keep them off the ground, and that's uncomfortable fairly quickly. I can't put a tank on my shoulders because of old collarbone fractures, so I end up carrying them with one hand on the valve and the other supporting the bottom, which doesn't leave me a hand to help with balance when going up and down slopes. It's easier to have them on my back and be able to use my hands.

I've actually never tried to walk a sidemount rig with the tanks attached . . . but if I have to walk them down attached to me, I may as well stay with the backmount setup I already know and own.

Actually Lynne, with UTD Z-system sidemount, you can carry the tanks easily for a beach dive by the kit straps, and attach to sidemount harness at water's edge --a "no-no" for dedicated deco/stage bottles-- but for Z sidemount tanks it's not a problem because of the tight draw of harness tank bungee when looped around the tank valves (and no extraneous butt plate needed to stretch that lower bolt snap for attachment; just regular & standard hip D-rings to clip onto). . . so pre-dive carrying tanks vertically by the valves is not mandatory.

(Y'all didn't know that . . .huh???)

 

[beanojones]

Why is it a no-no for deco/stage bottles?

(One of the main reasons I use the Nomad Ring Bungie is because I want to be able to use the straps to handle the bottles underwater/topside.)

 

[Kevrumbo]

Why is it a no-no for deco/stage bottles?

(One of the main reasons I use the Nomad Ring Bungie is because I want to be able to use the straps to handle the bottles underwater/topside.)

Because when you use the straps as "carrying handles" out-of-the water, they may pull out of alignment and shorten your chord length between your top & bottom bolt snaps (this is especially true with non-permanent "travel" stage/deco tank kits). Generally may only be a nuisance --your stage/deco bottles may fit & hang tighter when clipped off to your shoulder and hip D-rings. Worst case, you may have trouble rotating bottles, clipping & unclipping, on gas switches with multiple stage/deco tanks.

Not an issue if you're going to mount kitted bottom mix tanks on a sidemount system like UTD's Z-harness system, where the harness bungee holds the top in snug, and the hip D-ring provides an attachment point for the bottom bolt snap.

For the OP, another option:
UTD Signature Series Alpha/Delta Back-Mount BCD system for Single Tank diving
This system is design for recreational divers who want to predominately back-mount their cylinders (steel or aluminum) on a standard backplate for either warm or cold water diving, although they can quickly convert to side mount cylinders now or in the future, if desired.

Unified Team Diving

 

[beanojones]

Because when you use the straps as "carrying handles" out-of-the water, they may pull out of alignment and shorten your chord length between your top & bottom bolt snaps (this is especially true with non-permanent "travel" stage/deco tank kits).

SO it is not specifically about the stage/deco tanks, but about the way they are attached to the bottles? That is understandable. But I use cam bands on everything, and given sufficient tightening they don't slip during a dive, or from being carried.

I guess I have just learned to make sure the bands are tight enough.