padi sidemount diver vs tec sidemount

[beanojones]

Make sure to check that sidemount is your instructor's primary rig before you sign up for a course

For instructors that dive 30 times a year, that might make sense, but really for people who actually dive for a living, we use all kinds of gear because work is work. I cannot dive sidemount when I am teaching intros or Open Water classes, so my "primary rig" is MFS, with the extra stuff matching the needs of the dive.

There are really good reasons for taking classes from people who train more and dive more regardless of rig.

 

[gekodivebali]

Lol, good on you for specialising on DSDs and OWs mate!

 

[tphelps]

Sidemount is one of the next things on my dive to-do/to-try list. I'm planning on taking Tec 40 sometime later this summer, and while I know it can be done in a single tank, if I progress further, I know doubles will be involved at some point, in some form, so I'm thinking I'd want to do Tec 40 in sidemount. Common sense tells me I'd need some sidemount training first... Trying to find out what's involved and the differences between Sidemount Diver and Tec Sidemount, the padi site doesn't really say much at all. Can anybody tell me what's involved in the courses and what extra is covered in the tech version that's not in the recreational course? I would ask the instructor who I'll probably get the training from, but he's out of town and my inquiring mind is impatient.

Hi Oreo,
Im a Sidemount Instructor and I did my Tec Deep in Sidemount with PADI. In the sidemount diver course, you learn the fundamentals of sidemount. Your tables, buoyancy, physics, etc are the same as in regular diving but you learn how to set up and play with your configuration, trim and the task loading aspect of switching regulators. As you might already know the benefits of sidemount include: full redundancy (two isolated air sources), 70% reduced drag from better streamlining, added comfort (you can arch your back!) and so on.

Your common sense is right! I did my Tec40 class when I had about 70 sidemount dives and when I had about 150 total dives. That being said, my other teammate in the class did his Tec40 after only 10 sidemount dives. There was no prerequisite for sidemount dives because at the time, there was no such thing as "tec sidemount." That being said, I was much more comfortable than my teammate and he struggled a bit more at first. More experience is definitely better.

I cant speak for the NEW tec sidemount class but I from my understanding diving the tec class is still fundamentally the same. You learn your S-drills and other emergency procedures, gas switching, following profiles, etc. The only difference is you do not have doubles! This is extremely advantageous because you don't have to reach behind your head for gas shut down drills!! It is much easier, in my opinion, to dive tec with sidemount.

So to sum up: going from sidemount diver to tec sidemount is the same as going from an OW diver to a tec diver. You still have to learn the fundamentals of tec regardless. The only difference is you have the advantages and comforts of diving SM. Do you learn anything new about sidemount in the tec class? Not really, aside from the gas switching and mastering your buoyancy and trim. Hope this helps, please feel free to send me a personal message if you want to talk about this some more!

 

[DevonDiver]

 

[oreocookie]

Having spoken to the instructor, my current plan is to do the rec sidemount specialty (there goes my chance to qualify for MSDT before qualifying for MSD ) and try to get in as many SM dives as possible before doing Tec40. I'm not in a rush to get into tech, but I would like to have a skillset that is definitely beyond what I'm qualified to teach. I'll also have to see what the budget will allow, because I might be ordering a drysuit in the near future as well.

 

[billgraham]

I think the real question should be open water sidemount or cave. If you REALLY want to learn, I'd go the latter route.