Question about getting into sidemount

[jacobf123]

I'm a fairly new diver and I was looking into getting into sidemount for mostly recreational diving but planning on moving up to technical diving. My question is pretty much do I really need to take the sidemount specialty or would I be ok just going for it or having someone mentor me?


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[Aquavelvet]

You're going to get answers both ways. I will recommend a specialty if you plan to combine it with another tech class. Otherwise, the configuration you use will depend on where you are diving. In that case a good mentor may be the way to go.


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[tbone1004]

the PADI course is likely a waste of money. If you're serious about sidemount, and serious about technical diving, the best money you will spend is going down to Florida, and spending a long weekend at Cave Adventurers. If you don't have nitrox already, they'll combine that, but you can do a sidemount course which is 2 days, and then take an extra day to make a sort of "intro to tec" type course. Reason to go there, is they stock most all of the commercial rigs with the exception of the xDeep and the Razor, neither of which work particularly well in high lift applications, and you will be able to actually dive all of the rigs prior to purchasing. This will almost pay for itself if you buy regs and a rig from them with the discounts you are likely to get.

 

[kafkaland]

the PADI course is likely a waste of money. If you're serious about sidemount, and serious about technical diving, the best money you will spend is going down to Florida, and spending a long weekend at Cave Adventurers. If you don't have nitrox already, they'll combine that, but you can do a sidemount course which is 2 days, and then take an extra day to make a sort of "intro to tec" type course. Reason to go there, is they stock most all of the commercial rigs with the exception of the xDeep and the Razor, neither of which work particularly well in high lift applications, and you will be able to actually dive all of the rigs prior to purchasing. This will almost pay for itself if you buy regs and a rig from them with the discounts you are likely to get.

I took a PADI sidemount course with my LDS, and it was exactly that: a waste of money. I swam around a bit first in the pool, then OW, did a few drills (regulator exchanges and air shares - the instructor couldn't even demo a working back kick), and that was it. My first few dives afterwards in sidemount were rather unenjoyable. I ended up doing an extra day before my cavern class with a good sidemount cave instructor to get this fixed.

 

[Dhboner]

Let me put it this way...I have quite a few friends who attempted to transition to sidemount without training and in every case they gave up in frustration. They ran into a host of problems with set-up and technique that frustrated them and sent them home to their backmount rigs. My two sons and I decided we wanted/needed to move to sidemount so we took training with Steve Lewis (Doppler). At the conclusion of our training we were in proper horizontal trim, had out hoses rigged and stowed properly and were comfortable with regulator exchanges and air sharing. Over time we have each refined our set-ups a little bit but I can honestly say without Steve's instruction and guidance we likely would have fumbled around for a few weeks then quit. Don't just take a course...seek out someone who dives sidemount exclusively and has done so for a few years. Contact Steve...he is often in your neck of the woods (or can be).

 

[bamafan]

You have been given so generally good advice. Nearly everyone has their favorite rig and they all have advantages and disadvantages. The first thing I would decide is what type of diving do you plan on doing? Are you going to be using steel tanks or traveling and will most likely be using aluminum tanks. There is a big difference and it greatly affects what rig will work best for you. The Florida cave diving style rigs work better with steel tanks while the Razor / Stealth style work better with aluminum tanks. Some of the instructors will tell you to put a weight on the camband of the aluminum tanks. This will work but in my opinion run from anyone who advocates this. There are some great sidemount instructors out there but there are a lot that really suck. I would ask the instructor how long they have been diving sidemount and what type of diving they do. I would also ask for a video of them in the water. If they have tanks hanging way down or kicked up in the back again run. It is called sidemount diving and this is where the tanks should be. I would also ask if the instructor sells gear. If they push a certain brand that they sell and all the others suck watch out. I personally would find me an experienced cave diving sidemount instructor that doesn't sale gear so they have no reason to be more concerned about the profit margin on a certain rig versus that of another rig. If you plan on diving steel tanks almost exclusively then Florida would be a good place to go. If you are looking at mainly diving aluminum tanks then Mexico would be the place to go. I do not know the instructors in your area so I can't comment on them past giving you my recommendations above.

 

[karstdvr]

#1 I wouldn't say the PADI sidemount course is a waste, the training agency is as good or as bad as the instructor teaching it. Find the instructor that meets your needs, and they will give you the certification from the agency they teach through
#2 Caveat emptor-there are instructors that will get their gear and certified one weekend, and teach sidemount the next weekend. Find someone that has been doing it awhile.
#3 You have an interest in technical diving,but it what area? Find someone that is teaching sidemount in that location, and your intro to sidemount will be a precursor to what you eventually want to do. For example learning Mexico sidemount with AL80s, won't have as much carry over if you goal is to use this tank configuration on Atlantic wreck dives.

 

[Dhboner]

Sidemount is unique in terms of dive training because it is more about understanding and configuring your equipment than actual in-water skills (although there are certainly some of those too). So you need to find an instructor who dives sidemount regularly and has done so for quite a while, not simply an instructor who took some additional training to deliver a sidemount course. Kartsdvr makes an excellent point...we dive cold water here in Toronto so it's drysuit and steel tanks for us so we needed someone familiar with the challenges of that gear configuration (hint: Try unclipping from the back rail and swinging a full HP 100 out in front, you will look like a submarine that just got depth charged to hell).

 

[Corleone]

I'm surprised that people think its a waste of money!! cause to me, nitrox, buoyancy and night specialties are all a waste of money !! I think they should be part of the OW let alone the AOW.

there are a lot of drills that needs to be learned in a structured process, stuff like, how to balance air consumption, how to deal with regulator malfunction, how to adjust tanks when they are half empty, how to remove a tank, do a few fins and come back to it and putting it on while hovering, how to deal with out of air scenarios ( donate or receive air ) this plus so many that I might have forgotten about. so having a proper course will ensure you cover all of them.

but then again, after you finish the course, you will be like " what a waste of money " . some agencies btw, don't do recreational sidemount, their sidemount course include a decompression procedures like GUI if I'm not mistaken!!

 

[Curt Bowen]

I suggest taking a course, but only from someone who knows what the heck they are doing, such as an experienced cave diver who has been diving sidemount for years.

Just because you put your cylinders on your side, in no way makes you a sidemount diver. There is MUCH more to it than that.
Most "sidemount" divers I see today are really what we call "stage divers".

Putting your tanks on your side with the valves dangling in front of your chest or shoulders, IS NOT sidemount.

Below is a sidemount manual I wrote a decade ago for the custom Armadillo unit.

ADVANCED DIVER MAGAZINE

I'm a fairly new diver and I was looking into getting into sidemount for mostly recreational diving but planning on moving up to technical diving. My question is pretty much do I really need to take the sidemount specialty or would I be ok just going for it or having someone mentor me?


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