Sidemount for rec diving?

[Scuba-Lad]

I went side mount for redundancy reasons and to be honest find it a lot of messing around rigging the tanks up and getting them in / out of the water - but 99.9% of what I do is shore diving in Indonesia so I can't really comment on the boat diving, though I have done it a couple of times and had to get the crew to pass the tanks down to me and clip them on one at once etc, fine in calm waters but can imagine that being hassle if choppy waters.

Conversely, I'm looking at moving away from side mount and going independent doubles (S50 or S63) or twinset - I just prefer the tanks on my back out of the way when entering / exiting - not flailing around everywhere as someone else eluded to. Also, with your SAC of 14L (which is considered good) I think two S80s (common tank size in warmer climate?) is going to be overkill - I get 4 or 5 dives from those and just couldn't justify lugging all that weight in and out of the water every time and started taking smaller tanks as a result, but YMMV.

If I were in your position I'd look into all 4 options first before deciding:
Staying with single tank
Independent Doubles
Twinset
Sidemount

Possible 5th option (open water?) is chest mount rebreather on single tank set up (DilOut) - but obviously big investment in cost, training and your approach / mentality to diving.

 

[happy-diver]

Not only is it if you have the time to apply another tool for your diving box it is quite an impressive artform



and it also comes with the appropriate accompaniment

and here's your course

Sidemount Diving Articles | Andy Davis

My sidemount diving articles aimed to deliver advanced knowledge on equipment setup, principles, gear selection and a host of other topics.

scubatechphilippines.com

It's not as simple as just strap em on and go, like that common backmount stuff, but always keep in mind

and double hernias

 

[Jai Bar]

At home I frequently dive SM or BM- depending on the circumstances. When going on a diving vacation/Safari, I stick to BM only. Mostly because I have almost never seen a guest diving with SM rig.

Only once on a Maldives liveaboard there was a couple of divers with non-rec configuration: one with doubles, the other SM. The crew had trouble helping them back on the Dhoni, I flinched every time seeing them struggling up the ladder especially when the sea was choppy. Theoretically, at least the SM diver could have unclipped and handed one cylinder at a time, but in practice with the boat rocking it was impossible, so he kept climbing up the ladder with both tanks clinging- not an easy fit. Personally, I wouldn't feel comfortable jumping from a high boat with both tanks clinging. Maybe when diving from a RIB it is easier.

For the crew it also meant more cylinder refilling- the equivalent of two additional guests- it adds up when doing 3-4 daily dives throughout the week.

Overall, It did not seem a good experience for either of them, and I am not sure what are the benefits of, or why insist on SM on a recreational vacation boat. I never tried a tech diving Safari, maybe in these cases the crew is more oriented towards divers with different configurations.

SM has many advantages for example if one suffers from back or knee pain, then bringing each cylinder separately to the water line and then clipping them on- is excellent. For solo diving, having visual on both valves and within easy reach is a big plus. For a diving vacation, except that in many cases a SM rig is lighter than a conventional BCD, I am not sure how much of a convenience it can be?

If I was you, I'd definitely do SM course I think every diver loves SM once he has experienced it. IT doesn't mean that one has to give up on BM for vacations etc. only that sometimes you can chose one over the other, depending on circumstances.

 

[lavatiger99]

I dive sidemount recreationally. I use rental AL80's both right handed, so you just have to be aware one of the valves will be near your chest. I do mostly shore diving though, so easy enough to walk one tank at a time down to the water then rig up in the shallows.

I will also just do single sidemount when pleasure diving. One tank on the left with long and short hoses on it. I will add a 2lb weight to the right belt on a bungie slider, start with it near my hip and slowly start moving it to my center as the left tank becomes lighter. I think it is a bit slower to gear up my tank with the bands and bungies than my single back mounted dive buddies who just slap one neck strap and tank strap on, but not significantly longer.