Question Sidemount in warm water?

[robbiny]

Just check with the liveaboard before you book them. Most won’t allow two tank dives as they’re not set up for it (many don’t have two tanks per diver they just refill the one tank). If you focus on tech liveaboards you’ll be welcomed with SM. You could monkey rig a single tank using SM wing but it kind of negates the point of SM.

Some recreational liveaboards will allow you to do SM as long as you discuss with them in advance and talk through what support you’ll need. For example, if they do most of their diving from very small RIBs having two tanks is an inconvenience, more so if there is big swell.

Steve Davis (of Speaking Sidemount podcast) only ever dives SM for all the right reasons, but he checks with dive centres / boats before booking and that’s the best way to manage it.

If the liveaboard allows BM Doubles then they should allow SM.

Thank you for the response. It definitely makes sense to use SM as a specialized tool for the right scene. But how do people practice and train on that? I was thinking to practice in a more familiar scene (the open sea in this case) so when I go back to the caves it'd be easier.

 

[MrBlenny]

Thank you for that. I was really thinking about the same scenario. Practice in open ocean and also be able to go back into the caves. I heard cave divers say it's "uncomfortable" for them to be in the ocean currents. Do you experience similar scenes?

FWIW not in my experience; I find trim is better than BM, so unless said divers don't have their tanks in good order, current is not any different. You should see what some SM divers consider to be acceptable tank position...

For example (compliments of beyonddivingscuba.com):

 

[rongoodman]

Is it the effort putting on both tanks or the unbalance?

A lot of extra messing around with equipment getting on and off the boat for recreational dives with no penetration or restrictions. It's bad enough sometimes waiting for single tank divers to get geared up and ready to go. I liked SM a lot when diving in the cenotes but see no point in it on a boat. OTOH, I'd happily dive a set of BM doubles on my upcoming Aggressor trips! (Maybe a special request in the Guest Profile?)

 

[LFMarm]

Thank you for that. I was really thinking about the same scenario. Practice in open ocean and also be able to go back into the caves. I heard cave divers say it's "uncomfortable" for them to be in the ocean currents. Do you experience similar scenes?

Yes, I have been in ripping currents. They are uncomfortable for everyone. I don’t think SM makes them worse. The only situation where I would go for backmount is boat diving in rough seas where you need to fully kit up before jumping in. I have done it and it’s feasible but not fun, especially if also carrying stages and a rebreather.

 

[KerrenL]

A lot of extra messing around with equipment getting on and off the boat for recreational dives with no penetration or restrictions. It's bad enough sometimes waiting for single tank divers to get geared up and ready to go. I liked SM a lot when diving in the cenotes but see no point in it on a boat. OTOH, I'd happily dive a set of BM doubles on my upcoming Aggressor trips! (Maybe a special request in the Guest Profile?)

I was told by aggressor that they do not permit double tank dives in any shape! I asked as I’m diving with them in Egypt in November (booked before I knew they wouldn’t allow SM). Their response was simply “we only permit single tank dives, you’re more than welcome to dive sm with a single tank”.

 

[grantmac]

I pretty well exclusively SM.
HOWEVER I do it multiple times a week and I'm very rarely the slowest diver to be ready even compared to single tanks. Trying to figure it out on a boat is trash behavior.
I've been known to monkey dive a single AL80 but dislike it.

 

[KerrenL]

Yes, I have been in ripping currents. They are uncomfortable for everyone. I don’t think SM makes them worse. The only situation where I would go for backmount is boat diving in rough seas where you need to fully kit up before jumping in. I have done it and it’s feasible but not fun, especially if also carrying stages and a rebreather.

If you’re diving stages in rough sea SM is no harder than BM imho as you still have to kit it all up on the boat and roll off / waddle to the back, however if you’re doing non-deco on rough sea and you need negative entry then BM is probably better, unless you are truly an expert SM diver like Tomasz Michura who makes it look easy!

 

[KerrenL]

I pretty well exclusively SM.
HOWEVER I do it multiple times a week and I'm very rarely the slowest diver to be ready even compared to single tanks. Trying to figure it out on a boat is trash behavior.
I've been known to monkey dive a single AL80 but dislike it.

Bang on… nail your donning / doffing skills on land / in pools / in a quarry. Unless you’re on a very forgiving boat then you should be well practiced before even considering boat diving SM

 

[robbiny]

I pretty well exclusively SM.
HOWEVER I do it multiple times a week and I'm very rarely the slowest diver to be ready even compared to single tanks. Trying to figure it out on a boat is trash behavior.
I've been known to monkey dive a single AL80 but dislike it.

That's impressive. Would you share your procedure / tricks?

 

[grantmac]

While everyone is hanging out with their BCDs in the racks I've got my rig on (it weighs nothing so why not) with my tanks set-up.
When everyone else is starting to gear up I've got my left tank on, I've got the right on before they are done. Then I'm off the boat.