sidemount, the new "DIR"

[rjack321]

Guess its not any worse than the whiners boycotting Indian because they can't use their CCRs, as if that's the only thing worth diving. Most of them are perfectly capable of switching back to OC for a day every once in awhile.

 

[Kevrumbo]

It's Z-system Sidemount that's "the New DIR". -and that's kind of how AG markets it at UTD.

Was fun alternating from conventional backmount doubles in the morning to Z doubles sidemount on the afternoon dives, for every day during several weeks stay at Truk Lagoon. Would have never fit inside the bulkhead hatch/restriction going back through the engines of the I-169 Submarine on backmount. . .

 

[rjack321]

It's Z-system Sidemount that's "the New DIR". -and that's kind of how AG markets it at UTD.

THAT's the most rediculous of all. If a mCCR diver, a backmount diver and a sidemount diver are all buddied up for a dive, SOMEBODY is either being stupid, stubborn, or both.

 

[Superlyte27]

THAT's the most rediculous of all. If a mCCR diver, a backmount diver and a sidemount diver are all buddied up for a dive, SOMEBODY is either being stupid, stubborn, or both.

Not really. Figure a dive into Ginnie, up Hill 400, to Double Domes and back down the gold line jump onto bone line, past park bench, back on the gold line. Easily doable in all three above mentioned setups. And there's no reason at all to use one setup over the other except personal preference.

 

[rjack321]

And there's no reason at all to use one setup over the other except personal preference.

There is if you're claiming to be a "unified team" (which is right in their name and endlessly hyped). I am fine with mixed teams, to a point. Just don't claim that the eCCR, mCCR, sidemount and backmount guys all understand what's going on and how their respective gear is supposedly unified etc and they are all ideally setup. Its not, admit it and move on. I certainly accept that to the outsider my sidemount rig probably seems like hokey, strokey, BS. That's fine, I tried 2 systems and like how my current one is working for the dives I'm using it for. If I am doing a 4 stage dive scooter I'd be a fool to use SM. I did once (because I hadn't even brought backmount gear) and its a pita. If I have to carry tanks 400m just to get to the cave and then 35m worth of crawling on my hands and knees to get to the water, doubles just aren't going to work. For easy dives anything works, but at some point there's ideal, do-able, and useless tools for an advanced dive. Doubles are useless when you have to belly crawl to the water, a CCR is a poor tool for a short dive with lots of shallow ups and downs, sidemount is suboptimal for diving off a boat, the list goes on and might be different for different peeps.

 

[NAM001]

and in a pool to boot

Jeesh all these people posting how they want to dive SM (and only SM) are frustrating. I mean seriously I dive backmount, I dive sidemount, sometimes I use a scooter, sometimes not, sometimes I use my own boat, sometimes a charter... All depends on the dive. Shoot I'd dive naked if I could and probably dive a CCR or an SCR if I thought it was the right tool for the job and I had the money for more toys.

I don't get these people saying one tool is the greatest thing for all dives. I also don't get the "you gotta stay proficient by diving the same setup all the time". If I accepted that logic I'd have 4 stages, 2 deco gases, an SMB, a reel, cookies and arrows, a scooter, and a boat for every dive...

Ok I'm done ranting now

 

[DevonDiver]

I also don't get the "you gotta stay proficient by diving the same setup all the time".

I think there's some merit in the concept of developing familiarity and muscle memory with a specific rig. That, however, doesn't mean exclusive use of one approach, but rather, a simple understanding that you need to spend significant underwater time in a rig to build comfort and innate skill with its use.

You can't transition from BM to SM and expect to simply translate all of your acquired skill to the new configuration. There will be degradation in performance until instinctive familiarity is developed on the new rig.

That said, there are many things which do (or can) translate. My hoses/regs are the same - same routing, same use. My harness is the exact same... That helps a lot with the transition.

I only know a few instructors pushing SM. Most seem to be divers who have no clue that they can do everything they aspire to in backmount (possibly easier on the learning curve, certainly for less $$)

I'd challenge that SM was more $$. I guess that depends on how you approach it. Set-up with BM doubles is hardly cheap - especially if cylinders are part of the equation.

As for "pushing SM"... I think it's justified that some instructors are making an effort to educate about the rig. BM config options are well known (or easily researched)... and more often encountered by divers. SM is still the 'new boy on the block' in the wider dive community. There's a bunch of common misconceptions about SM also... and some are addressing these publicly. The same pattern did occur when BP&W went 'mainstream' - a process of education and myth-busting. Now BP&W/BM is generally understood. The same is happening with SM.

Other than that, SM has attracted 'fans'. For most of the diving I do, SM has definite advantages and I much prefer it to BM doubles. That said, BM singles and doubles still have their place.

 

[Kevrumbo]

Unified Dive Team with mixed Underwater Breathing Apparatus (UBA) seem to be working just fine out here off the SoCal coast:

USS Moray (SS-300)

(John Walker was using a UTD mCCR)

". . .you gotta stay proficient by diving the same [base long-hose hogarthian/dir] setup all the time".

 

[TSandM]

One of my very favorite dive buddies dives sidemount almost exclusively at home, but when he comes to dive with us in MX, he dives backmount because we do. I've dived with him in both setups, and in both of them, he's a better diver than I am. I don't see any change in his skills from one setup to the other, but he knows both of them well. I think any of us, changing our gear, will suffer a period of depressed skills, until we get up to speed with the new configuration. In fact, I'd think it's probably desirable to switch back and forth with some kind of regularity, if you want to retain facility with both.

I can see the allure of sidemount -- it sure feels marvelous. I can see the advantages of backmount, too. I see no particular reason to say that one setup is highly preferable to the other. They both have strong points and weak points.

 

[chrisch]

SM is certainly generating revenues for the training industry here in the UK. I can't see the point for 90% of people doing it. We dive caves from time to time and the wife and I did a SM course for that but I really didn't like it and don't intend to use that configuration. The instructor (also a cave diver) said a lot of people are doing SM because it's the new fashion. (I don't think DIR was ever "fashionable" )

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