Side mount or Side mount? Which is a better option?

[Dive-aholic]

How "clean" back mount is compared to side mount also depends on the amount of air. It would be pretty hard to side mount 120CF of air to be as "clean" as my triple 40s.

Side mount excels more with larger volumes of gas.

I bet my side mounted 72s are cleaner than your triple 40s. Actually, I prefer smaller tanks in sidemount than larger tanks. Your last statement is absolutely incorrect.

Can you pls explain how sidemount helps people with ankle/back/etc problems ? Thx.

One of the reasons I went side mount was because of that. There isn't a day I don't have ankle and knee pain, and it's due to weight bearing. With side mount I place my tanks on a truck cart and roll them to the water. The tanks don't go on until I'm in the water. In the water, they only weigh about 10lbs each, not 50!

I'm worried about jumping in the water, and not being able to get my feet under me without the weight of the steel tanks. Or putting the very negative tanks on in 200' of water. Or getting all the hoses routed properly with thick drygloves on.

No problems. I find it easier to rig up my tanks in deeper water than in shallow water. Get in the water, grab a tank, reg in mouth, and go prone on the surface. The tanks are light enough to rig up and in better position since they're not pulling down toward your feet. And if you can do simple tasks under water with your dry gloves, then you should be able to get the hoses properly situated with them as well.

Madison Blue has a lot of low areas, but sidemount is overkill.

Back mount is a lot cleaner in my opinion and should still be the default unless you really need sidemount for the majority of dives you do.

I completely disagree. First, how is side mount overkill?!? It's a configuration. It doesn't mean you have to go into low, silty places. If you only dive side mount in low, silty places, then where will you get the practice in? To be proficient, you need time in the rig. That's better done in big cave, or OW for that matter!

Maybe the side mounters you've seen are not so clean, but I'd put my rig up against most any back mount rig in clean. The configuration is also much better suited to horizontal positioning. I recently started back mounting (have to for some of the classes I teach) using my Nomad and wish I had done it long ago. I have no idea why we wear our LP hoses off the shoulder. It makes so much more sense off the butt, with the dump on the shoulder...even in back mount!

 

[SuPrBuGmAn]

Dive with the WKPP ??

Several of them dive sidemount on occassion

 

[cerich]

With all the recent medical deaths, I don't really see that as a good thing

yeah breathing high CO2 is a medical death...

 

[Mark Michaud SELAUSAR]

With all the recent medical deaths, I don't really see that as a good thing

How is that? Most, if not all of those deaths, were middle aged (40-60 for this conversation), and I am not sure if any were in sidemount, not that I think you are saying s/m makes it worse. Quite a few were on a rebreather which can mean sensor issues, too much or too little O2 in the mix and not going to your bailout gas on the first sign of trouble, and maybe CO2 buildup from working too much. Maybe just their time.

I think your statement concerns age. Heart, blood pressure and PFO issues affect all of us as we age. PFO obviously can get you at 10 as much as 70. Either way, if my health allows it then I should be able to dive as long as I want. I know a guy here that is 78 and he still runs marathons. I dived with Forrest Wilson last year over the course of several days. Besides cave diving he teaches dry cave rescue. I hope to be in the shape he is in when I am in my 60's. I work with guys (police dept) that are in their 20's and I wouldn't want to dive with them. Overweight and very unhealthy is their motto. Age is subjective at best as a reason for dying while diving.

Bet you don't know what "other things" older folk still do either

 

[Dive-aholic]

With all the recent medical deaths, I don't really see that as a good thing

Tell that to Tom Mount...

 

[ucfdiver]

Tell that to Tom Mount...

Don't have his phone number handy, sorry Rob

But in all seriousness, I'm too much of a pansy to go much below 100ft on air, let alone 360ft. Our (Mount and I) skills and risk assessment certainly don't match up well at all, and he probly has more dives that I don't have the balls for than I have dives period, but that's ok with me!

 

[FishDiver]

Its interesting to see sidemount take off after I was nearly crucified for advocating independent doubles a few years ago. I gave up backmounted doubles for the orthopedic reasons mentioned. I plan to give sidemount a go when the configuration becomes more standardized.

 

[The Chairman]

I plan to give sidemount a go when the configuration becomes more standardized.

don't hold your breath. Side Mount is contributing to having a plethora of styles.

 

[BabyDuck]

i think that's the point - no standardization, more a 'do-it-yourself kit'.

 

[hudson]

I've never used doubles, sidemount from the get-go. Never considered task loading to be an issue, I keep track of my air anyway, and switching is super-easy. There are two things I like about it:

1-I don't have to worry about roll-off, S-drills, bubble checks (can do my own) or banging the ceiling. None of them such a huge deal, but the last one is nice. I can definitely go through restrictions faster than most people in doubles.
2-I don't have to worry about availability of doubles should I want to do that at a remote location...although the whole concept isn't very compatible with boat-diving (doable but definitely annoying I suspect)

Back mount is a lot cleaner in my opinion and should still be the default unless you really need sidemount for the majority of dives you do.

Well...you do end up with a second low pressure hose in front of you, and your waist area isn't as accessible, but that's not such a big deal. Where BM shines is it's definitely much faster getting into the water... well for me at least. I watched Lamar Hires get ready in under 30 seconds while he was yakking I have about 50 dives in sidemount so far and I'm still pretty slow about it. I can get to the water a tad faster than my buddies if I hustle, but then they end up having to wait for me 5-10 minutes (on a good day) depending on whether I can dump the tanks right by the water or if I have to reposition them just before entry, or have to hook them up to a line etc.

I'm worried about jumping in the water, and not being able to get my feet under me without the weight of the steel tanks. Or putting the very negative tanks on in 200' of water. Or getting all the hoses routed properly with thick drygloves on.

Getting your feet under hasn't been a problem for me, and the gloves do not make hose routing any more difficult. Getting the bungees on is definitely harder with dry-gloves, but that's not too bad either. Putting them on while floating is definitely a problem....what I do is get one regulator on then don't worry too much about looking like a complete fool as I flail about I think I'd definitely want to jump in with one of the tanks attached. Surface current could be a major problem, I think.

I used to think that sidemount meant longer gear prep times, then an extended wait in the water to hook everything up.

But if you leave regs on the tanks 24/7, then you can pull up to a site and immediately move your tanks to the water.

Well, yeah, but you still have to remove the regs and remount & stove the long hose etc if you are doing>1 dive per day or if you are getting fills in the morning. So gear prep is about the same, but there is a definitive in-water delay for me.

run the bungee around the neck in front

I find it pretty hard to stretch the bungee under the regs and clip on, so I keep the bungees attached and just stretch them over the valves. And since I had the bungee come off SEVERAL times during the dive if I just had them under the valves, I need to get them under the SPGs as well and the whole thing takes some effort, especially with drygloves.

hook up the wing, hook up my drysuit, pull both second stages into place, and clip one off and I'm ready to go.

For me that means routing the inflator hoses under the shoulder straps, putting the bungee on (what can I say, I'm too used to it to dump it), letting enough of the long hose out, getting the light cord out of the way etc. Takes a couple of minutes at least.

Ask me after another 50 dives or so, I might be singing a completely different tune