Sidemount instruction - Raleigh

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CPRC

Contributor
Messages
110
Reaction score
29
Location
Raleigh, nc
# of dives
500 - 999
I’m seeking hands-on SM help/instruction whatever want to call it at local Raleigh quarry. Is there any instructor in the area willing to do a handful of dives with me (FOR PAY - not expecting free - lunch, gate fee, all the above, whatever) for a day of quarry diving, whatever is needed to reduce my endless adjusting in the wrong directions (I am assuming). Seeking hands on help with harness adjustment, cyl rotations, valve / hose placements, etc. My primary dive site is Mystery. I’ve tried the video thing - Viz always sux for video strategy for analysis by others.

basics of my gear: Katana2, drysuit (157 dives so far), got 2x hp100, and 2x alum n80, 2x mk25/g260. i practice mostly the 80s. Don’t laugh…got 84 dives in SM…still struggling. And don’t tell me to ‘hang it up’ i love it too much.
 
For you I wait :) I’ll keep at it. I’m quarry wet about 1x week.
Let’s go direct message. Not sure how to do that. maybe u can initiate?
 
I’m seeking hands-on SM help/instruction whatever want to call it at local Raleigh quarry. Is there any instructor in the area willing to do a handful of dives with me (FOR PAY - not expecting free - lunch, gate fee, all the above, whatever) for a day of quarry diving, whatever is needed to reduce my endless adjusting in the wrong directions (I am assuming). Seeking hands on help with harness adjustment, cyl rotations, valve / hose placements, etc. My primary dive site is Mystery. I’ve tried the video thing - Viz always sux for video strategy for analysis by others.

basics of my gear: Katana2, drysuit (157 dives so far), got 2x hp100, and 2x alum n80, 2x mk25/g260. i practice mostly the 80s. Don’t laugh…got 84 dives in SM…still struggling. And don’t tell me to ‘hang it up’ i love it too much.


I am guessing you never took a proper SM course and have been trying to self-learn?
 
For you I wait :) I’ll keep at it. I’m quarry wet about 1x week.
Let’s go direct message. Not sure how to do that. maybe u can initiate?

Just click that Quote in DM link at the bottom of tbone1004's message to you...

QuoteInDM.png
 
Officially I did. A padi guy up here. Nice guy and all that but in hindsight, wish I took it with a more technical minded instructor. But…what I learned was all I could get out of him in a short amount of time - the “class”, which was a couple few short dives. And yes since then been practicing on my own, reading SB, getting out there, trying diff things. etc.
 
Officially I did. A padi guy up here. Nice guy and all that but in hindsight, wish I took it with a more technical minded instructor. But…what I learned was all I could get out of him in a short amount of time - the “class”, which was a couple few short dives. And yes since then been practicing on my own, reading SB, getting out there, trying diff things. etc.


Yikes...this is why I tell people to take a SM course with someone who dives SM almost exclusively. I only dive STBM if I am teaching Open Water and even then, on dives three and four, I am in SM. Other than that, unless I am on the rebreather, it is SM.

I am finishing up a SM course today for a student with about 50 total dives. We spent an entire day on gear config including the harness setup and cylinder rigging. Then some pool time before heading to the ocean. 4 dives in and he is looking quite good. Today is his final dive. He doesn't struggle with setting things up, cylinder trim, etc because I have already struggled with that myself. He is learning from all the mistakes I made as well as all the things I have experimented with.

I had a good SM course but when I got my XDeep, I was the only one in that country diving it at the time. Set it up myself and had to make a ton of tweaks. This was before there were YouTube videos on how to set it up or a nice guide online like the one found on the Aqui Watersports website.

I don't think it is about the instructor being more technical minded but rather the instructor having real SM knowledge based on experience rather than self certification and few dives in SM.

I wish you luck and please let us know how it goes once you get a proper workshop. Would love to hear more about how it went.
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/perdix-ai/

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