Tech/Cave Gear

[DevonDiver]

Tips:

1. Do your research on kit. There's a range of options and some of them are environmentally specific. People often recommend unsuitable kit, based on their needs, not yours.

Article: A List of Modern Sidemount Diving Systems

2. Warm water (aluminium cylinder) sidemount has specific techniques and kit considerations compared to colder water (steel cylinder) sidemount.

Article: The Two Schools of Sidemount Diving Heritage

3. Quality of instruction is very critical. Sidemount isn't "just another specialty course"... it's a specialist approach to diving and requires an instructor that is extremely well-versed in sidemount diving. It should be their primary diving approach, for a considerable time, if they're to have sufficient attention-to-detail and knowledge.

Article: Fixing The Sidemount Training Disappointment

4. Scubapro Mk25 is a good sidemount reg. It should be DIN (can convert from yoke easily). You'll need two of them. The hoses will need to be replaced. Hose length is critical for proper operation, streamlining and reducing equipment task loading. There are general concepts in hose length, but they should also be personally sized and suitable: especially the short hose and LPI hose.

Article: A List of Sidemount Regulator Sets

There's a whole bunch of articles here, well worth browsing:
Sidemount Diving Articles and News

 

[Johanan]

Cuz it sucks.

Pride and prejudice.

 

[DA Aquamaster]

Regardless of whether you choose to do your cave training in back mount doubles or side mount doubles, you need to be competent in the configuration before you show up for a class. Otherwise, you'll be spending time fixing the configuration rather than actually learning cave diving skills.

Side mount versus back mount is something that still gets people's panties in a wad. The trend seems to be in favor of back mount, but the back mount die hards still insist side mount is a tool that should only be used in specialized circumstances where side mount doesn't work.

That kind of resistance to change thinking falls in the same category as double hose divers insisting that single hose regulators were a retrograde step, or non BCD divers insisting that a BCD wasn't needed for a properly configured and weighted diver, or J valve divers thinking that an SPG was a passing fad. Time will tell.

There are however still pros and cons to back mount versus side mount.

Back mount is highly standardized and in general it's pretty easy to get someone squared away in terms of weighting and trim with minimum effort. The system is also pretty adaptable and it'll work with multiple stages pretty easily and in a standardized manner.

Side mount is less standardized, particularly, in regard to hose lengths, but over the last several years more of a consensus has developed and there's really only a couple of opposing points of view. But in essence, it comes down to one thing. If you plan to dive in mixed groups (both side mount and back mount divers), then you'll want to use a long hose, on at least one of the tanks. If not, you can dive short hoses on each tank. Beyond that the long hose can be routed in a few different ways and you can adopt what works best for you.

This means however that it really helps if you have access to a side mount cave diver who can give you some assistance with our configuration and your initial hose choices and routing. It's not something that you'll be able to do based on internet videos, books, or even an OW SM instructor (since a significant percentage of them seem to churn out absolutely horrible SM divers.

In the past there were not many choices for SM rigs, and most of them were biased toward one use or another, with not many well suited to the middle ground. Now, there are several rigs in the 35-40 pound lift range that work well with steel tanks and a couple stages, which is common in Florida cave diving where the touristy cave depths run in the 60-100 ft range. There are also several that with less lift that work well with AL 72s or AL 80s and a stage or two, which is more common in places like Mexico, where the depths are usually shallower.

Consequently there are more choices to make in side mount and it requires a lot more knowledge to get a configuration that will work for your intended diving.

But with that said, diving in side mount is in most people's opinion more stable and more comfortable. It certainly leaves the diver with more flexibility and freedom of movement (when properly configured). I've prepped people for cave training, and given the choice of side mount and back mount nearly everyone opts for side mount, and the exceptions are divers who already have significant back mount experience. That however is also based on a diver having access to one or more side mount cave divers who can help them out and speed the learning curve. And properly done that learning curve can be a short as a half dozen dive. My most recent student started Cavern and Intro to Cave after just 4 OW side mount dives, and passed with no extra training days required.

 

[Tienuts]

I'm one of those who thinks sidemoint is a fad, but I get some people prefer it, and that's fine.

As DevonDiver said, if you go down this road, find someone who knows sidemount inside and out. Not some PADI sidemoint instructor who tried a diamond harness in a pool once, but someone like Ed Sorensen of Cave Adventures who is an absolute expert on it.

What makes me mental, is when I see divers with 4, 5 and 6 tanks all in a sidemoint configuration... on a boat. If you are carrying 4 tanks and not squeezing through a low restriction, than 2 of those tanks should be on your back. Not to mention most of these divers look like hell in the water.

 

[KevinNM]

I haven’t seen a whole lot of sidemount divers up close, but I’ve seen a guy who Edd trained through intro and he looked very good in the water.

 

[Johanan]

Just watch this.

 

[kensuf]

Why not? What reasons other divers have for diving twinsets?

I notice that most people find the transition easier from single tank backmount to double backmount rather than single tank backmount to sidemount. I have also noticed that many people who show up for a cave class in sidemount, without proper sidemount training from a decent instructor, wind up spending the majority of their cave class time fixing their sidemount setup rather than learning how to cave dive.

 

[Johanan]

I notice that most people find the transition easier from single tank backmount to double backmount rather than single tank backmount to sidemount. I have also noticed that many people who show up for a cave class in sidemount, without proper sidemount training from a decent instructor, wind up spending the majority of their cave class time fixing their sidemount setup rather than learning how to cave dive.

I fully agree that good training in sidemount before a cave course is a must. But once one has mastered the skills, trim and buoyancy control to the necessary level, sidemount is a good configuration for all kinds of diving.

 

[kensuf]

Once you've mastered balance and stability, riding a unicycle is a good form of transportation for all kinds of terrain.

 

[AJ]

Sidemount, backmount, no mount...it's just a tool you have to get used to. Once you understand trim and buoyancy you can dive anything, even a jacket