DevonDiver
N/A
The term 'British' isn't defined by the cylinder materials used. Sidemount actually originated in the UK, where cave explorers clipped on basic tanks for short underwater passages (sumps) on otherwise 'dry' cave explorations.
So the term 'British' represents an evolution of attaching tanks to a basic harness system, rather than a traditional style BCD.
The British style took favour with cave divers in Mexico... they used aluminum cylinders and, consequently, needed relatively little buoyancy capacity. They added that buoyancy by adding MSR bags or car tires to the minimalist harness concept. That eventually evolved into a commercial/retail rig was designed, the 'Razor'.
The British style can also be called the 'Mexican Cave style', as that's where the modern evolution tool place.
In contrast, American divers used steel cylinders... and the use of wetsuits was popular In the Florida caves. They took the sidemount concept from UK diving but needed more buoyancy than an MSR or tire could supply. That led them to start adapting regular diving BCDs (not harness based systems) for sidemount. Eventually, it led to a dedicated sidemount rig being available commercially.. like the Armadillo and DiveRite.
The American style can just as easily be called the 'Florida Cave' style..
As sidemount design evolution has progressed over recent years, the distinctiveness of harness versus BCD systems has lessened. British style rigs are supplying more buoyancy, with enough lift for high capacity steel tanks...and solving the problem of 'turtle shell' bulge in a sidemount buoyancy cell. The XDeep Stealth Tec is an example of that.
American style rigs are becoming more focused on the modular harness concept and moving towards a dedicated sidemount buoyancy cell on the back, rather than a donut or horseshoe type bladder. Take, for instance, the Hollis Katana and DiveRite LT...
