Sidemount and helmets in open water

[Razorista]

Helmets give something for every 'dive site troll' to focus on.

I personally do not have a problem with that anymore.
Even only seeing a group of experienced sidemount divers descend shuts up most of those voices permanently.

 

[Razorista]

When people dive with me they mostly are grateful for the helmet.
With the Solas reflector strips on it it is the most visible part of my equipment besides the tanks even with the lights deactivated.
Since I wouldn't buy new fins just for the color, the solution is more reasonable to be recognizable to the group.
Since I am the most experienced most of the time, even with groups with decades more previous experience, I am always the most experienced sidemount diver, except when taking training myself - so I often have to be recognizable to the group even if I am not guiding.

 

[Patoux01]

Only for wannabe cave divers and fanboys.

How dense can you be...

 

[Bennno]

Many people do... and they're not necessarily bad divers. eg Tomasz at Sidemount Silesia..

Yeah, I don't think it makes sense to wear a helmet in open water. I also don't think it makes much sense to dive AL tanks in cold water. I think people that dive this style copied their style from youtube videos but they don't understand why it makes sense in Mx but not in nothern Europe.
To be honest, most of the Sm Silesia video just show playing around in a pool, IMHO.
They are nice videos, but his style is not practical.
If he would make actual dives that required this much gas, he would be using 18L or 20L steel tanks instead of 6 or 8 AL tanks.
Think about it, 2 18l steel tanks hold almost as much gas as 4 ALs, and they are more streamline, need less room and you still have more space for stages.

Try to do a real dive with 8 AL tanks... than try to dive large steels with stages and you will see it much easier. The helmet is only there for show, IMHO.
And look at his backup lights, they point to the side... what for? It does look good on picture, that's my guess.

 

[Razorista]

...If he would make actual dives that required this much gas, ...

From what we are told he is.
He is just unable to make high quality videos of that.

 

[Bennno]

How dense can you be...

You always chime in but you never have an argument, you are just trolling. To me you are just another youtube sidemount divers that blindly copies a style off the internet but doesn't understand why people do things or what makes sense on a REAL dive... not in some duck pond dive or some 60' lake dive you could do in a normal jacket bcd in a single tank.

Now bring it on buddy, try to make at least one point, instead of just trolling.

 

[Razorista]

...And look at his backup lights, they point to the side... what for? It does look good on picture, that's my guess.

Shows you have absolutly no experience with what you are talking about here.

Where to point the lights exactly is a long process for each individual helmet and light.
Often the chosen positions and angles depend on environment.

 

[Razorista]

... not in some duck pond dive or some 60' lake dive you could do in a normal jacket bcd in a single tank...

I really dislike that attitude.

The reason why I rarely do technical dives, the people you get sometimes... just horrible.

Diving is not a contest and not only gold medal owners are allowed to have an opinion.

 

[Bennno]

Where to point the lights exactly is a long process for each individual helmet and light.

Lol, I bet it is for you.

 

[Bennno]

The reason why I rarely do technical dives, the people you get sometimes... just horrible.

More LOL, you have never done a technical dive in you life.