SM and rec charters

[Jax]

Honestly, the easiest way I found was to don the tanks right at the back of the boat and giant stride in... Trying to don tanks in the water with 4-6ft seas would not be fun...

Coming up is a different story, a short down leash is nice for clipping the tanks to when coming back up... unless diving a single AL80, in which one can easily walk up a ladder just like all the other cattle...

In my case, donning two tanks before going in is not an option. I suspect 4-6ft seas will not be, either.

Has anyone hung their tanks or had them handed down? I am unsure of the hand-down method, as it seems I might be blocking others trying to get it. Also, the boats I dive want the doubles divers in first.

 

[ianr33]

Has anyone hung their tanks or had them handed down?

Yes and yes. Works fine in a flat calm.Gets interesting with waves/chop.

My current favorite method is to put the left tank on while still in the boat.Thats the trickier one for me as it has a bungeed reg.
Walking with one tank is easy enough. I just hang it off bungee (not clipped to D ring) I can take most of the weight by wrapping my left arm around the tank. Once in the water I put the second tank/stages on there.If its rough and you are practised you could put the second tank on while descending.

Entering the water with one working reg is nice

If gearing up in deep water be careful not to drop a tank

 

[Jax]

Thanks, Ian! Those are very helpful!

Dropping a tank is one of my biggest fears . . .

 

[Tegg]

I got this in PM and thought I would bring it up as suggested by the author... I won't post the name of the author since this was a PM to me... but I am wondering the opinion of the fellow "monkey" (no bcd) divers on the board think.... I have already responded with my rebuttals, but I am wondering what others would think....

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Hi Joe,
Hope all is well. I'm new to the scubaboard and was just sorting through some of the side mount threads. I feel like I needed to state my case without trying to flame anyone in public concerning the use of any open water side mount configuration without the use of a BCD. I honestly feel that there is a huge safety issue when this configuration is used in open water without the addition of a proper BCD (and not a drinking water bladder).

Open water divers are exposed to strong currents on the surface, as well as the possibility of surfacing away from the boat or in rare cases coming to the surface and the boat being gone. This places the diver in an extremely unsafe situation.

In the event that a side mount diver were required to rescue another diver (or reverse) the lack of a BCD on either diver could have dire consequences. I hope that as a diving instructor, you can see my concern especially when posts like this are given to new divers by an experienced cave diver and instructor such as yourself.

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[ucfdiver]

I got this in PM and thought I would bring it up as suggested by the author... I won't post the name of the author since this was a PM to me... but I am wondering the opinion of the fellow "monkey" (no bcd) divers on the board think.... I have already responded with my rebuttals, but I am wondering what others would think....

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Hi Joe,
Hope all is well. I'm new to the scubaboard and was just sorting through some of the side mount threads. I feel like I needed to state my case without trying to flame anyone in public concerning the use of any open water side mount configuration without the use of a BCD. I honestly feel that there is a huge safety issue when this configuration is used in open water without the addition of a proper BCD (and not a drinking water bladder).

Open water divers are exposed to strong currents on the surface, as well as the possibility of surfacing away from the boat or in rare cases coming to the surface and the boat being gone. This places the diver in an extremely unsafe situation.

In the event that a side mount diver were required to rescue another diver (or reverse) the lack of a BCD on either diver could have dire consequences. I hope that as a diving instructor, you can see my concern especially when posts like this are given to new divers by an experienced cave diver and instructor such as yourself.

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Ditch the tank if full. At worst an AL80 near empty floats.

No big deal.

 

[DwayneJ]

In the event that a side mount diver were required to rescue another diver (or reverse) the lack of a BCD on either diver could have dire consequences. I hope that as a diving instructor, you can see my concern especially when posts like this are given to new divers by an experienced cave diver and instructor such as yourself.

The Razor harness will have a commercial "wing" early next year.

This is the technical forum for discussing such topics.

All divers should have training in their respective disciplines. Buddies should know each others configurations.

I believe Side Mount (somewhat like DIR) requires the diver to consider their overall weight/buoyancy requirements and to use a "balanced" solution which aloows for minimal weighting and minimal buoyancy. Much more consideration of what tanks to use with what thickness wetsuit/drysuit vs grabbing a steel 120, a drysuit, and a bunch of ditch-able lead. I also believe and practice buoyancy control via lung volume vs just driving my wing... I don't hold my breath.
Dwayne

 

[jimmy71]

why is everyone so scared of the stupid people? They are taking over the world. If i see another "do not attempt at home" disclaimer I will vomit.

Why do we have to teach and communicate to the lowest common denominator?

 

[Jax]

why is everyone so scared of the stupid people? They are taking over the world. If i see another "do not attempt at home" disclaimer I will vomit.

Why do we have to teach and communicate to the lowest common denominator?

Stupid people sue, and smart lawyers win.

 

[corvettejoe]

To comment on Tegg's last post, plus agreeing with the others... I'd say you need to be comfortable with the situation you're about to be in. You shouldn't be jumping off a boat for the first time in any setup you aren't familiar with. You should have already tried it in a pool or spring, a good shore dive with rough waters would be a great place to try it out before you ever set foot on a boat with something you're just learning to use.

I've dove many times in my monkey rig setup (shore diving) and on the boats I have just a little plastic backpack thing (no BCD) that I jump in with (all using AL80's). You should have already weighted yourself out in multiple situations, fresh, salt, carrying equipment, etc. I lobster with my monkey right and no BCD. I've dove deep wrecks with my little backpack harness and no BCD. But I've also tried these out in a calm environment first and tested different weights, and other various factors out and know what I'm getting into. I've dove pretty rough conditions in my monkey rig off the shore, so I know what to expect if I ever went off a boat in it.

It's not for everyone, but then again, there's a lot of diving that isn't for everyone. Don't do it if you aren't trained or comfortable doing it and always make sure your buddy is comfortable with what you're doing.

 

[jimmy71]

if you have done dives like that, i only have one question... how are you posting from beyond the grave???????? surely you are dead!

Yeah I think we are just going to ignore the stupid people (not talking about your joe, the people we are warning) and stop with all the disclaimers. Like i said before, I hate that we all have to post like a moron is going to read this and do moronic stuff. They seem to do that regardless if you help them or not.