My venture into Sidemount.

[olphart]

I'll be next to chime in here. I also made a razor clone. I have lots of 1/8" 6061 T6 (scrap from my current airplane project), and of course just about every tool known. I bought the soft webbing, (jury is still out on that), assorted sliders and d's, pulled the buckle off another BCD and went to work. A couple of hours of backwoods machining and I was set to go with my shameless copy. I bolted the plates directly to the Profile through the rec wing, keeping the inflator at the shoulder. I decided to use bolt snaps at the back to save my fingers
I already had the Profile hooked up to my old transpac/recwing for a delightful first effort in the pool. I was super impressed with the stability and comfort. the only thing that was difficult was unclipping and reclipping the bottles. (surprise, surprise)
Neverless less I was able to drop off a bottle, go tooling around for a bit on the single, then come back, pick it up, rehook everything up an carry on. I was one very happy diver!
Why not stay with the Transpac/Profile if it worked so well? I did notice that it was a fairly heavy rig, certainly not something I'd travel with and when it was wet, even more so.
Anyway, the rig was light and simple. I'm not sure exactly what I did to the lower snap attachments, but working the clips was pretty easy this time. I was able to swing both tanks forward and back to the rails without bouncing off the bottom. The only issue was trim weights. Wrapping ankle weights around my shoulder straps is less than optimal, plus carrying 6# of lead on the front of a belt in this rig makes rolling over on to your back really ugly...(I know, why would you want to do that anyway?)
My next experiment will be with the steel HP 80's from my doubles setup. My guess is that trim will be even easier with them being short...we'll see. Then I want to try my dry suit with this rig.
I'll be getting some training this spring that I hope will optimize my setup and skills. Then some practice at Whitestar before Brockville in August.

 

[Dive-aholic]

I'm going to be going of a boat, in sidemount, for the first time.

The expected waves will be slight, as we set up on the lee side of the island. Unfortunately, I don't know if our LDS will have 'splashed' his boat by then, and I maybe on a different (bigger) boat.

I plan on hooking up my right cylindar and bungeed reg and doing a giant stride in. Now, how to get the second bottle and two [-]pony[/-] deco bottles?

You lost me here. When you were here, you bungeed the left cylinder, not the right. And why are you bringing two deco bottles. That's not necessary for non-trimix dives. KISS.

I'm thinking to bring a 10' rope with a dog clip on it since my bottles have rings around the valves.

Do I have them hang it off the side, tied on a rail, and take the bottles one-by-one?

Yes, this is the easiest way if you don't want to jump in with all cylinders clipped onto you.

Do I have them hold the rope and hand them down one-by-one?

No, tied on is okay, but don't trust anyone to hold it. I wouldn't trust me to hold it!

Do I have them hold the rope until I take the rope from them, and put the rope in a pocket or bag? Separate rope per bottle?

See above.

My biggest concerns are

(a) I will probably be the first sidemount diver off the boat, and I want to leave them with a pleasant experience

(b) I want to be efficient in getting my stuff without being in the way of other divers.

(c) I don't want to drop any bottles!


Any tips for this newb's first-time boat sidemount discharge?

Easiest way is to clip all bottles onto yourself and giant stride with everything. If you don't feel comfortable doing this, then drop the cylinders down on one line (that's all that's needed for all cylinders) while everyone else is getting geared up. Gear up and splash last. Make sure you have gear lines tied off at the rear of the boat to clip your deco cylinders before you get back on the boat. Go slow in the water. Unclip one cylinder at a time and clip it to the gear line one at a time. It's not that bad. I did it with 2 108s, 2 40s, and a scooter. You can do it with a couple 100s and 40s.

 

[nwbrewer]

Nice work olphart!

On the lower plate, I'm not sure that I'd rig the harness that way. From the pictures it looks like it's coming over your shoulder, behind your back, around the outside of the plate, then back through the plate and around your waist.

This is going to cause the corners of the plate to dig into the webbing. It probably won't be very stable, as the webbing will always want to be on one side of the corner or the other. Try routing it through the plate the other way. (over the shoulder around the back, and through the inside (side against your back) of the plate like you would on a traditional BP setup.

Let us know how it works for you!

Jake

I'll be next to chime in here. I also made a razor clone. I have lots of 1/8" 6061 T6 (scrap from my current airplane project), and of course just about every tool known. I bought the soft webbing, (jury is still out on that), assorted sliders and d's, pulled the buckle off another BCD and went to work. A couple of hours of backwoods machining and I was set to go with my shameless copy. I bolted the plates directly to the Profile through the rec wing, keeping the inflator at the shoulder. I decided to use bolt snaps at the back to save my fingers
I already had the Profile hooked up to my old transpac/recwing for a delightful first effort in the pool. I was super impressed with the stability and comfort. the only thing that was difficult was unclipping and reclipping the bottles. (surprise, surprise)
Neverless less I was able to drop off a bottle, go tooling around for a bit on the single, then come back, pick it up, rehook everything up an carry on. I was one very happy diver!
Why not stay with the Transpac/Profile if it worked so well? I did notice that it was a fairly heavy rig, certainly not something I'd travel with and when it was wet, even more so.
Anyway, the rig was light and simple. I'm not sure exactly what I did to the lower snap attachments, but working the clips was pretty easy this time. I was able to swing both tanks forward and back to the rails without bouncing off the bottom. The only issue was trim weights. Wrapping ankle weights around my shoulder straps is less than optimal, plus carrying 6# of lead on the front of a belt in this rig makes rolling over on to your back really ugly...(I know, why would you want to do that anyway?)
My next experiment will be with the steel HP 80's from my doubles setup. My guess is that trim will be even easier with them being short...we'll see. Then I want to try my dry suit with this rig.
I'll be getting some training this spring that I hope will optimize my setup and skills. Then some practice at Whitestar before Brockville in August.

 

[Jax]

You lost me here. When you were here, you bungeed the left cylinder, not the right. And why are you bringing two deco bottles. That's not necessary for non-trimix dives. KISS.

:blush: Yes, I should have said the left cylinder! :doh: You're absolutely right!!!

I'm doing my final two cert dives for my AN/DP. My instructor has agreed to two bottles for training's sake. I've done all my dives with two.

Yes, this is the easiest way if you don't want to jump in with all cylinders clipped onto you.

No, tied on is okay, but don't trust anyone to hold it. I wouldn't trust me to hold it!

See above.

Easiest way is to clip all bottles onto yourself and giant stride with everything. If you don't feel comfortable doing this, then drop the cylinders down on one line (that's all that's needed for all cylinders) while everyone else is getting geared up. Gear up and splash last. Make sure you have gear lines tied off at the rear of the boat to clip your deco cylinders before you get back on the boat. Go slow in the water. Unclip one cylinder at a time and clip it to the gear line one at a time. It's not that bad. I did it with 2 108s, 2 40s, and a scooter. You can do it with a couple 100s and 40s.

Super! Thanks!

 

[Red Sea Shadow]

There's an article about sidemount diving in the second issue of Tech Diving Mag. I thought you guys might be interested.

 

[Jax]

There's an article about sidemount diving in the second issue of Tech Diving Mag. I thought you guys might be interested.

And written by Steve Lewis! Super!!!! k:

 

[olphart]

Nice work olphart!

On the lower plate, I'm not sure that I'd rig the harness that way. From the pictures it looks like it's coming over your shoulder, behind your back, around the outside of the plate, then back through the plate and around your waist.

This is going to cause the corners of the plate to dig into the webbing. It probably won't be very stable, as the webbing will always want to be on one side of the corner or the other. Try routing it through the plate the other way. (over the shoulder around the back, and through the inside (side against your back) of the plate like you would on a traditional BP setup.

Let us know how it works for you!

Jake

Thank you, I made the change and it feels even better, I haven't had a chance to get it wet since then yet. We'll see how it goes.

 

[Jax]

 

[Dive-aholic]

Trim and buoyancy are looking great! If you're going to carry your deco cylinders on top, though, you need to get rid of the stage hardware and use bungeed clips so they ride better.

 

[Jax]

Trim and buoyancy are looking great! If you're going to carry your deco cylinders on top, though, you need to get rid of the stage hardware and use bungeed clips so they ride better.

Thanks! This was a first try at carrying on top, because the 'front' gets so darned cluttered-feeling. That, and you should have seen my mask-switch to backup . . . :shocked2:[-](no, I'm not posting the video!)[/-]

Sadly, [-](no, I'm not posting the video!)[/-] when I unclip to present the markings to the "instructor" (video camera), trim & buoyance goes to Hades in a hand-basket! :chuckle:

Which, of course, is why I'm practicing it.