My venture into Sidemount.

[Dive-aholic]

:blush: Unfortunately, I'm kind of my own boss mostly and I really need to be here . . .

but if things work out, I might be diving a Fusion soon . . .


Hey, Rob; you're PADI, right? Do you do drysuit classes?

Yes, but I don't teach the PADI dry suit class. I do teach it through SDI, though.

Edd just got a great deal on Pinnacle Black Ice dry suits at DEMA. You should give him a call this week. It's a great suit! I have 2 of them!

 

[DwayneJ]

I got to attend a sidemount seminar put on by Hollis.

Is there anything you can share from this seminar? Any notes or presentations?? Someone I can talk to at Hollis???

Thanks,
Dwayne

 

[Jax]

You know...you're allowed to dive without a card for EVERYTHING

It's not about the card, James, it's about paying a professional for their time to teach and mentor! After all, if he's trying to 'fix' me, he's not off having fun dives!

And holy schizzel, there's a lot of fixin' to get done!

 

[Jax]

Yes, but I don't teach the PADI dry suit class. I do teach it through SDI, though.

Edd just got a great deal on Pinnacle Black Ice dry suits at DEMA. You should give him a call this week. It's a great suit! I have 2 of them!

SDI has a drysuit class???? :shocked2:

 

[Jax]

Edd just got a great deal on Pinnacle Black Ice dry suits at DEMA. You should give him a call this week. It's a great suit! I have 2 of them!

Unfortunately, I don't want a crushed neoprene, I want a trilam. I plan on using it for tropical diving, too, because I get chilled on my second dive even if the water is like 77 degrees.

 

[Jax]

I got to attend a sidemount seminar put on by Hollis. I got a few ideas from that (going to go swivel) and I have a few more of my own. I like the idea of putting a lot of my kit onto each tank. I'm not "there" yet, but I think I'll be mounting an HID on each tank as well as a long hose. I already am able to hang my spools and such on the extra D-Ring on the Cam Strap, and really like the idea.

Wow, I learned something before NetDoc!!! :dance3:

 

[paul19may]

Looks not at all bad. Some suggestions for you:

• Put the long hose on the right (same way you have it just on the right cylinder) this will:
  (1) keep you standardised and
  (2) importantly- when you gear up, put the left tin on first (short hose reg) with the reg bungee around your neck al la regular technical diving. Connect the LP inflator (the Armadillo LP inflator is on the right for those ready to pounce and I notice you are in a Nomad). Then, if on a boat you can enter the water at this stage having on you gas supply and buoyancy.
  (3) when you put your right tank on, the long hose will then be on top as it should be. The way you have it isn't at all bad, (I am sure that the long hose is on top in your format its a more elegant and easier to manage way as I suggest.
  (4) put your bag under your buttplate (bungee loops on the inside) Its neat and keeps the profile less cluttered.
  (5) there's a few points regarding cylinder position that will set you up nicely but I will save those for another time

Best

P

Diving Side Mount- recreational and technical instruction. Deep Down your training matters- Train Right! - Recreational Sidemount
Tec, Tech, Tek and Technical Diving Instruction.Deep Down, your training matters, so Train Right - Home

Can't wait to see pics of your setup, Brent!

In the meantime, this weekend:

1 - I swapped the bungees
2 - I shortened them maybe a 1/2", maybe more
3 - I played with the routing

Stills: 1st and 2nd are with regular routing.

2nd & 3rd - I pulled the tanks forward really hard, and released them gently. The kept settling backward.

On the last ones, I rerouted the bungees (assume an upright position) between the tank and me, and then around the neck and back to the clip. It was a heckofa struggle, but [-]you[/-] *I* can't get them any tighter. Then, (back horizontal) I pulled the spgs forward and held them.

BTW - this is with NO trim weight.

 

[paul19may]

Agree completely.

No, air in the feet doesn't solve the problem, it only masks it. Trim can be achieved in any set up. I got mrmccoy trimmed out with his bottom heavy Asahi HP100s in a wet suit.

Jax, you need to tell your boss to let you get some time off!

 

[Jax]

Looks not at all bad. Some suggestions for you:

• Put the long hose on the right (same way you have it just on the right cylinder) this will:
  (1) keep you standardised and
  (2) importantly- when you gear up, put the left tin on first (short hose reg) with the reg bungee around your neck al la regular technical diving. Connect the LP inflator (the Armadillo LP inflator is on the right for those ready to pounce and I notice you are in a Nomad). Then, if on a boat you can enter the water at this stage having on you gas supply and buoyancy.
  (3) when you put your right tank on, the long hose will then be on top as it should be. The way you have it isn't at all bad, (I am sure that the long hose is on top in your format its a more elegant and easier to manage way as I suggest.
  (4) put your bag under your buttplate (bungee loops on the inside) Its neat and keeps the profile less cluttered.
  (5) there's a few points regarding cylinder position that will set you up nicely but I will save those for another time

Best

P

Diving Side Mount- recreational and technical instruction. Deep Down your training matters- Train Right! - Recreational Sidemount
Tec, Tech, Tek and Technical Diving Instruction.Deep Down, your training matters, so Train Right - Home

Thanks, Paul; I have long hoses on both sides, FYI. Swivels en route.

 

[The Chairman]

Is there anything you can share from this seminar? Any notes or presentations?? Someone I can talk to at Hollis???

Thanks,
Dwayne

There were just a few epiphanies for me during this. I have been diving sidemount for about a year and have solved a number of issues for ME already. So a lot of it was a re-enforcement of how I rig my kit.

• He NEVER slings a tank underneath him. I agree. He uses a small tether from his extra tanks and flips them over the other tanks.
• He explained the "cantelever" phenomenon of the tank cam bands, but he never used that term. It's been hard for me to explain that and it really "gelled" as he discussed how to trim out tanks.
• He uses swivels on both second stages. I agree.
• I got a better idea of how to configure my SMS100 from Hollis. I think I have the bladder too far forward. It needs to be as far down as possible.

Like any excellent speaker, he made me think about my approach and I had a few independent revelations about how I want to set up my kit as well. Some of these evolutions have been brewing for a bit, and I have enjoyed both the mental as well as the physical challenge they have presented.