Sidemount BC

[adutto]

Guys,
I'm starting my SM adventure, and obviously I need to buy my BC.
My first desire is to aquire a BC that can be used as well in the traditional way (with adaptation kits) with back singles and doubles.
Does such a BC exists? and if so... Recommendations?

Gracias!

 

[tbone1004]

Dive Rite Nomad XT, Hollis SMS 75/100, and the Golem Gear Armadillo are the only three I can think of off hand that will accept backmount singles. The XT and SMS75/100 will accept doubles with stabilizer plates. Doesn't mean it is a good idea, but it is possible.

You really need to determine your sidemount "style" for the rig, and then from there start whittling it down. The first three rigs above are VERY large rigs because they are designed for heavy steel tanks, in warm water with drysuits, where you need a LOT of lift. As such, while they will work with aluminum 80's in sidemount, they are very excessive and don't work nearly as well as smaller rigs like the Razor or xDeep Stealth 2.0 which were designed around the use of AL80 tanks. Those rigs don't work as well with heavy steel tanks, and don't accept backmount bottles, but they work much better for aluminum 80 diving.

so the answer is yes, however they are all dedicated sidemount rigs and will never work as well with backmount as a proper backplate and wing, and depending on the type of sidemount diving you are doing, will likely not be the best option for your sidemount needs.

 

[Coztick]

The rig I use is probably the only minimalist rig for sm or bm.
The UTD alpha/Delta wing is a modified doughnut shape on a "razor " style harness able to accept a single tank adapter for bm. The wing has wide webbing at the bottom to tune the lift for bm or sm. Lift is 30#.
No trim weight needed, just 8# on the belt with 2 al 80s.

 

[Bennno]

I have looked at the alpha/delta and UTD claims that thing has 37 lbs of lift. How do they come up with these numbers?

@adutto
Make sure you try the rig before buying and If you wanna use the rig with a drysuit, make sure the rig has a proper weight system.
I don't know of any SM rig I would use with BM doubles.

 

[Razorista]

Sidemount and backmount equipment is based on fundamentally different principles of weight distribution, as well as valve and attachment point placement.
All dual purpose rigs are equally bad at both.

 

[adutto]

ok, hard decision then heheh....
I'll investigate the options you gave me guys!

@Razorista I completelly get that whichever equipment that tries to do several things at one ends up not doing any of them at a descent level... I had to ask though! lol

 

[decompression]

I'll throw in, the UTD alpha/delta is a phenomenal wing when it comes to versatility. It is an excellent BM singles wing and a very good singles/doubles SM wing. It has adjustable lift so it can be trimmed/streamlined for low lift requirements (#20) or adjusted for up to #37 for cold water. Further, it can be mounted on a backplate as well as a simple harness, that gives it stability/weight for BM and flexibility for SM.
Yes, normally one wing rarely does everything well, and the alpha/delta is no different in that it doesn't do BM doubles very well. It's too streamlined to fit properly around doubles.
The inflator can be located in several spots to give optimum performance.

I have several of these in my fleet as I reduce the number of wings I need. I've been using them for about 8 years now, they are truly excellent. There is a UTD shop in Fort Lauderdale that you could get some hands on. If you were closer I'd let you demo one of mine.

I've rigged the SMS 100 for BM doubles and it's ok, but if it's not just fun recreational doubles then I prefer the stability of a traditional backplate rig.

Feel free to ask any questions, I own many SM rigs and teach several of them.

 

[Dive Right In Scuba.]

I personally use the Hollis SMS 75 for sidemount, and I like it just fine. I have never used it for backmount, so I can't comment on that.

You really do have a lot of options, and you should talk about those options and what is best for you with someone who has a breadth of knowledge. Many people really know only a few systems and don't really understand how others work. They can easily steer you wrong. A friend of mine purchased an SMS 75 and used it to complete his cave training in Mexico with a well known cave instructor who used a different sidemount system. The cave instructor looked at the SMS 75 and decided it wasn't right--it needed to look like his. So he got out his tools and cut and slashed, doing his best to convert it into a rig like his.

Last year that friend and I went to Mexico to dive the caves together for the first time. It was the first time my friend had really seen the SMS 75 set up as it was designed. He thought it looked pretty good, and he wished his cave instructor had not essentially ruined his by trying to turn it into something it was not.

Call our shop and talk to Mike or Chris. They will listen to the kind of diving you want to do (etc.) and recommend what they think will suit you best.

 

[decompression]

Here's a YouTube video explaining the delta wing, I would like to add the complete Z system (manifold, QC6 connectors etc) isn't necessary for traditional sidemount.
And just to make me look fanatical, they are on sale for $315, North America store. Diverightinscuba carries them as well and price matches.

 

[bamafan]

The first thing you need to decide is what kind of cylinders you are going to use. If you are just diving aluminum tanks then the minimalist rigs such as the Razor / Stealth are fine. You can dive these with just one aluminum tank on one side. It works really nice this way.

Now steel tank diving is another animal. You generally need a buttplate for it so then you get into the Armadillo, SMS's, Halcyon Contour, Nomad etc. They all have advantages and disadvantages. The donut wings are something I have come to loathe. They generally jack the back of the tanks up and people drop their knees to compensate for this. YouTube is littered with these videos.

Anyway I personally would get a backplate and wing for bm diving and get a sm rig that suits your style of diving for sm. As others such as Tbone have said the conversions aren't optimal.