My venture into Sidemount.

[Cave Diver]

:mooner:

I'm looking for the 'how-to' to gain that skill!

My suggestion would be to get out of the pool and spend a week or so somewhere warm and clear doing moderately deep (60-90') dives.

Warm water will let you spend more time on each dive getting used to how things are supposed to feel and build the muscle memory without getting cold. The deeper depths will cause you to have less affect from minor depth changes while you work things out. A 3' change in depth at 80' is going to affect your buoyancy a whole lot less than a 3' change in a 6' pool. That keeps you from constantly fighting over corrections and gives you more time to anticipate what corrections you need to make. Once you get the feel for it, having 4,8,12 lbs or whatever difference on one side or the other wont even be noticeable.

 

[TSandM]

Well, diving with a slung Al80 isn't all that different from diving doubles with an 80 stage -- you learn to park extra gas in one side of the wing to compensate. One of the things I didn't like about the UTD Z-system when I played with it in the pool was that, since the wing was one big bag, you couldn't do that, and you HAD to dive left-side-down or fin constantly. Yuck!

 

[ucfdiver]

My suggestion would be to get out of the pool.

+1, I agree

 

[Jax]

My suggestion would be to get out of the pool . . .

+1, I agree

One works with what one has.

 

[nwbrewer]

Hey Jax, hope you don't mind me jumping into your thread. This is the report I posted from my SM adventure last night on our local board. I'm posting here to hopefully get some C&C from folks who've actually done some SM diving, we don't have many locals who dive in SM.

Disclaimer: I'm not a tech diver. I just really like the look (and now that's I've tried it, the feel) of diving SM.

About a year ago I saw this video on youtube YouTube - Steve Bogaerts Sidemount Skills demo in a Razor Harness . Pretty much ever since I saw it, I’ve been wanting to try it. The harness is so simple, I studied the pictures of the Razor and UTD Z-system and put one together myself with plastic plates for ~$50.

The first time I tried it, I used 2 al80’s, and hoses that were the wrong length, bungee’s for tank bands, and when I didn’t have enough weight, we clipped it to my chest D-rings. This basically resulted in a HUGE CF of hoses and weights and everything else. Even with all that, I was pretty comfortable and stable in the water.

The second time I tried it was yesterday, and I decided maybe it was better to get used to 1 tank first, then work up to 2. I made new tank bands out of elastic that grip much better and don’t roll around to let the hoses escape. I had a better idea of how much weight I needed, and was able to thread it onto the rig in pockets.

Overall I like this setup, it’s very comfortable, and this dive was much better than last time, but still a lot of stuff that needs tweaking. I can definitely see why people dive this way!

In a neoprene drysuit and cold salt water I need a lot more lead than I can just throw on a weightbelt, and this dive I had it in pockets on the rig, but that was REALLY floppy, I think I need to move the weights to just be threaded onto the rig, not in pockets. A few places in the video you can see the ones one by middle back are flopping around.

I also didn’t have the back strap adjusted right, so it was too loose, (again not helping with floppy weights) and it caused the waistbelt of the rig to ride way too low.

I also think my D-rings were a little too high on my shoulders. I’m not sure how you’re supposed to clip stuff off to the shoulder d-rings when they’re being held flat by the bungees. That pissed me off several times trying to clip off the lighthead or the camera one handed was not going to happen.

If you look at the video, the front of the tank is riding a little too low, I either need to tie the bungee in the middle, when using 1 tank, or maybe use heavier bungee.

I either need a longer hose for the bungee backup , or a 90degree adapter, you cen see every once in a while where it’s dragging more up to the side of my face and I had to pull It back around.

Lastly my BC isn’t working the way I had hoped. It worked ok, but there’s a reason they put the aircell in more rigid cordura cover and put a power inflator on them. Oral inflate is great for emergencies, but for OW diving I’m not a fan. V2.0 of my “BC” will have a PI in a cover that keeps it more flat on the back.

Anyway, feel free to critique, but please no “you’re going to die” crap. Yes, both dives were done in OW, but at a site I know REALLY well and very shallow/ In both cases I had a buddy I trust completely, and both times wearing doubles. Also both times I did some s-drills and stuff in waist deep water before I actually tried to dive it.


The video -
Single Tank Sidemount on Vimeo
Jake

[vimeo]20953365[/vimeo]

 

[Jax]

Welcome, Jake!!!!

I got tremendous help and support in this thread; I'm sure you will, also!

Getting familiar with the gear is great -- then go take a class in Marianna. Dive-aholic is a wonderful instructor - articulates his firm standards up-front and clearly , but has al the patience in the world so you don't feel rushed in trying to 'get it'. He let me try all sorts of ways to set up my rig so I could decide which ones work for me. I walked away knowing all the skills to master. Now I just need to keep training and actually become proficient.

Please post your progress here; so many can learn from our experiences.

 

[irishsquid]

Thanks for the post Jake.
I have a Razor harness; just had to have one after seeing a video of Steve Bogaerts diving with his. I haven't got to dive mine yet, I'm still getting gear together. I was wanting to wait and see what Steve was going to come up with for a BC, but have almost given up for now and trying to decide between a Nomad or Hollis wing. I hope to get my rig in the water this summer for testing and tweaking. The harness fits really well and comfortably. I'll need the lift from the Nomad or Hollis wing since I'll be diving steels. (Can't afford new tanks at the moment)
Like you, I plan on taking mine to the local water hole for practice after a few times in the pool. I know I would shave a huge slice of time off the learning curve in learning to dive this sytem by visiting Rob in Florida, but; heck, I love the process of trial/error and the satisfaction of victory. (That was for you Jax):blinking:
Also, I'm a cheap bastard! I'll keep lurking here until I can post photos of my progress (read: blunders and FUs).

 

[CamG]

Greetings other SMers i have to agree with the gp OW does help to put things in perspective when training specific skills.
ON the "take the class" motto it will save you much time and prevent the bad habits to form.
I started a long time ago 1.5 years on my journey into SM and it could have been easily accomplished in 1 or 2 weeks of focused training.
Gaining experience takes a lot more time but the core fundamentals remain the same.

Like any diving getting set up right for you personally and understanding the purpose behind the configuration will them let you build good clean skills.
I make this case and did just the opposite so my point is to do not waist your time struggling but start right out of the chute!

I am a very cautious diver and try to put things to the test before ever increasing the dive plan or involving extreme task loading.
I want to be certain I can handle the what if's that are a part of normal diving.

The Nomad is the platform for my serious SM dives that began in OW last season then moved onto Cave diving last fall.
It provides me with enough lift for whatever tanks I choose, dry or wet.
It has also as Rob mentioned been easily tailored to fit me and my style of diving.

My Razor clone I have put through the ringer in the pool and it functions well with AL 80's not so well with steels not a big shock.
I have only dove it wet but will be hitting OW with a DS soon as the ice is going off.
My overall thoughts I like it, it adds a option to use if need be but I am sticking with my Nomad for serious dives till a better wing options is available.
I have researched the UTD Z and I an sure it would work well for single 80 SM dives but the option of two AL 80's with 20lbs of lift is something you better think about very carefully.
If you are diving dry you always have redundant lift but I do not feel safe doing more advanced deep / cold dives without plenty of back ups.
I dive with dry, lift bags, plenty of lift in a wing.
I will not sacrifice buoyancy for anything it just starts the ball rolling in the wrong direction.

Cold water OW or cave environments need to be addressed with caution and plenty of forethought.
I am not trying to preach to anyone do what you like but one doesn't want to underestimate the difference in environments.
When a wing becomes available I will try it but it is going to have to have more than 20tbs of lift for me and my chosen dives.
The UTD wing will not be sold separately as I was told from DSS.
I love the design but it needs to be bigger to accommodate more lift.
Just my opinion.

Ah to join the other SM opinions out there now there is 100,000,001! Ha!

CamG Keep Diving....Keep Training....Keep Learning!

 

[nwbrewer]

@ thanks Jax. I live about as far form Florida as you can get in the lower 48. If I had the money, I'd definitely consider Marianna and a class with RN, but a few $k in travel, accommodations and training for something I intend to use on recreational shore dives isn't in the cards right now.

@irish I saw somebody with a webpage that had some pics of how to thread a Hollis wing onto a Razor. If I can find it, I'll post the link for you.

@camG in it's current configuration I wouldn't dive it with steels, there's just too much that could go wrong, and not enough lift. I may add a different wing and try to use steels, (that's what the buttplate is for) but as it is, 2 x al80's is more than enough gas for tooling around the local shore sites down to 130 or so. As far as the UTD wing, I'm certain they sell it separately, I think it's ~300.

Has anybody looked at the UTD Delta wing. It seems like it could be adapted very easily for sm, and 38lbs is what a lot of people use locally for a small doubles wing. With the way it's set up right now I wouldn't want any more lift up by my shoulders though, I had 8lbs of lead up there as it was.

Jake

 

[Cave Diver]

@ thanks Jax. I live about as far form Florida as you can get in the lower 48. If I had the money, I'd definitely consider Marianna and a class with RN, but a few $k in travel, accommodations and training for something I intend to use on recreational shore dives isn't in the cards right now.

You've got quite a few very good divers near your area. Maybe you can meet up with some of them and they can provide you with some pointers and direction.