where to sidemount dive

[Normygenius]

I'm going to be the miserable contributor to this thread. I've been diving sidemount before sidemount was a thing. Absolutely it's for redundancy, cave, shore, folks with shoulder/back problems however there are limitations to be considered if you are a boat skipper, especially when it's necessary to drop you on slack and then recover you on tide. You take up more space. You are often slower to kit up. You'll need to don your tanks onboard rather than in water. You'll be slower to hand off your kit when you get back to the boat. You'd better be practised at fiddling with your p-clips because if I need to move fast on-tide to follow dsmb's I need you onboard without faff. If there's a consciousness problem you will be face down. Does your 6-10kg of back mounted irremovable weight prevent you from a rib entry. Lots of issues to consider when boat diving. Just my 2c worth...

 

[halocline]

I use sidemount when the dive calls for it, but I would never use sidemount on a dive that is normally done with single tanks, i.e a recreational dive boat. I’m frequently amused by divers that want to use double tanks on a dive that clearly is intended for single tanks, with other divers all in single tanks. I wouldn’t be amused if I was on such a boat and I had to wait around on the surface for 10 minutes while a new SM diver fiddled with getting geared up.

I love SM in Mexican caves; it makes total sense given the topography and demands of the dive. I took a SM cave class with Nat at Underthejungle and I was very surprised at how much there was to learn, given that I had been diving BM in those same caves for years.

 

[divezonescuba]

…crew doesn't know how to handle your equipment…

I once observed a crew member on a boat from the now defunct Scuba Club Cozumel resort attempt to attach a tank to the back of my XDeep Stealth.

As previously mentioned, you will probably have to tell them to leave your equipment alone and do everything yourself.

 

[Norwegian Cave Diver]

I once observed a crew member on a boat from the now defunct Scuba Club Cozumel resort attempt to attach a tank to the back of my XDeep Stealth.

As previously mentioned, you will probably have to tell them to leave your equipment alone and do everything yourself.

That's excellent!! hahaha

 

[Diver-Drex]

I use sidemount when the dive calls for it, but I would never use sidemount on a dive that is normally done with single tanks, i.e a recreational dive boat. I’m frequently amused by divers that want to use double tanks on a dive that clearly is intended for single tanks, with other divers all in single tanks. I wouldn’t be amused if I was on such a boat and I had to wait around on the surface for 10 minutes while a new SM diver fiddled with getting geared up.

I love SM in Mexican caves; it makes total sense given the topography and demands of the dive. I took a SM cave class with Nat at Underthejungle and I was very surprised at how much there was to learn, given that I had been diving BM in those same caves for years.

I get what you’re saying. For me, 90’ plus dives get redundant gas. There are plenty of rec boat trips where the first dive is deep, whether others have singles or not, it’s my choice.

I was diving a hole down in Nassau, whole boat full of tourist divers down to 115’. One woman was clearly not comfortable, having some kind of issue and going through gas quickly. I am glad to have been in position to help and still maintain a safety margin for myself.

I use DiveRite ring bungees, I’m ready to dive when I splash. I’ve waited for plenty new divers trying to settle in, equalize, add weight…. no one has had to wait for me.