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

[WD8CDH]

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.

 

[SuPrBuGmAn]

Personally, I think sidemount is often a status thing. Sort of like getting the "cool" and "different" status of a rebreather without spending 10K.

Side mount is great in those places where you need it, or for divers who can no longer haul doubles in and out of unimproved sinks.

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.

No status event brought me to sidemount. Diving out of my inflatable and having to pass up on several sidemount caves brought me to diving sidemount. The true gas redundancy was also comforting.

I think there are certain situations that will work better with backmount, but overall, sidemount is a better default IMO. I'll dive it places big and small, why should I continuously swap setups?

 

[The Chairman]

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.

That goes without saying. If I were only to need 130 cf of gas or less, I would settle for a single tank with an "H" valve, and you can bet I would only be diving OW with a buddy. I might venture into the Ballroom with such a rig, but that would be the extent of it.

 

[b1gcountry]

I recently tried out a Nomad at Edd Sorenson's shop. It was pretty slick.

I do a lot of diving up in cold water on the great lakes. Dry gloves and thick undersuits. Argon inflation, two bottle deco. I have never seen sidemount up here. I'm just wondering how many people have tried out the configuration in these kind of conditions?

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.

Tom

 

[The Chairman]

I think OMS has thought a number of these issues as their system seems to be geared towards big water diving.

 

[ianr33]

There is nothing you can do with backmount, that you can't do with sidemount.

Dive with the WKPP ??

 

[Mark Michaud SELAUSAR]

Actually, if taskloading isn't for a person, then they shouldn't be in a cave. But you're right... I don't buy the "cleaner" comment. Backmounting is more traditional, sure. But you have the same gear (except for the isolator bar) and the same diver. Except for having to change regs every 300 psi, everything else is simply the same or easier!

However, reducing the total amount of weight you carry at one time does reduce the strenuous exercise needed to dive caves. This physical stressor is something that is good to limit, especially on extraction, where this type of activity can cause bubbling.

I can't tell you how many times I have overheard: "I'm gettin' too old for this $#@&!" when a caver puts on a large set of doubles. Brethren, this ought not to be!

I hope to have my rig fully operational by this weekend... just in time for the Florida Dive Show, where I won't get to use it at all!

Guess I should have wrote "extra taskloading". It was a long day. Even with that, when you "learn" your rig, it becomes normal and not extra, to the person diving the rig.

To me sidemount is another option that can be used (caves) anytime. Is it a fad? Sure as was backmount under Hogarthian and DIR. Regardless of that, I think that it is a great option that will bring safety to a new level.

If someone prefers backmount, by all means dive it. That is a good system and it works well. It can be said it is a simpler system. Personally, I feel sidemount will allow more cave divers to dive into their 60's, 70's and maybe further, all other things being equal. The amount of strain it takes off of a person in set up and upon exit is amazing. Being able to "ride" you bottles as opposed to carrying them in the water feels great too.

 

[Selachimorpha]

Here is a cool video of Steve Bogaerts demonstrating some skills in his Razor harness:

YouTube - Steve Bogaerts Sidemount Skills demo in a Razor Harness

 

[ucfdiver]

Personally, I feel sidemount will allow more cave divers to dive into their 60's, 70's and maybe further

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

 

[JahJahwarrior]

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. Check your backup lights, put on your drysuit, throw on your nomad or whatnot, grab your mask and fins and go! Once in the water, putting tanks on doesn't take much time at all. Clip them on in the back (once it is in your muscle memory, it's real easy, but the first few times can be a struggle), run the bungee around the neck in front, hook up the wing, hook up my drysuit, pull both second stages into place, and clip one off and I'm ready to go.

After pulling tanks off underwater a few times, I'm getting used to it as well. My 120s are huge, and unweildy, but even so I'm feeling comfortable with less than 10 dives.

You end up using different muscles with sidemount, to move tanks to the water. I prefer doing a single trip with my doubles than two trips with them as singles, generally speaking.



I use a long hose on both tanks, as I dive with people in a backmount configuration and want to be able to easily donate from either tank to them in an emergency situation.