I have been wanting to try sidemount diving for some time now so I figured what the heck. Now that I will be recieving the new rig in a few days, I though I would see what members on this forum thought of the idea of going it alone to set up the rig. . . . I dive back mount doubles regularly and have an assortment of gear that should adapt nicely to the new set up. Any thoughts or advice will be greatly appreciated....
I agree with DA and several others - you can do it yourself, although taking a class would expedite the process. However, if that is not in your immediate future, go for it on a DIY basis.
I was a BM diver who saw someone dive SM in FL 5 years back, and became intrigued. I watched him dive his rig, looked over his rig, talked with him, emailed him multiple times, and started diving SM - with a Nomad. I tweaked lots of things, and made my way though the initial steps. But, I then had a chance to go take a class with him in FL, and the rate of progress was amazingly greater. Of course, maybe that was because of all that I had already done. You learn the most from mistakes.
Fish-R-Man:
I would love to take a class, but I would have to plan a vacation around it and my dive buddy (wife) isn't too keen on the idea of my taking classes when are supposed to be vacationing. . . . I like figuring stuff out, but I know if I could find the right instructor, the learning curve would be a lot simpler.
Exactly. But, in reality, you can easily get started without it. What I truly love about SM is that it is a DIY paradise. Spend time getting familiar with it, watch the videos that Lamar has put on the Dive Rite website, spend a little bit of money to buy the video that Jeff Loflin and Jill Heinerth have produced (
http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/si...o-diving-guide-jeff-loflin-jill-heinerth.html - available here on SB through 57writer), go to Steve Martin's website, go to Steve Bogaerts' website, and you will find that you can get started. Plus, there are plenty of people here on SB who regularly post about SM techniques - just do a search. I won't mention specific people - if I mention 1, I probably leave out 29 others who have equally valuable inputs.
SM is not rocket science, especially for someone who has done a lot of BM. But, you can learn tips and techniques from more experienced folks, here on SB and elsewhere.