Sidemount training

[RHolmesJr]

This may open a can of worms, but do you guys think paying for a sidemount course is worth the money?

Look at twenty different sidemount divers and you will see twenty different configurations. The trick is to see which aspects of which configurations work best for you.

I started with Dive-Rite's off-the-shelf system, and looked at every sidemount diver I ran upon to complete my setup. Also, whenever I see someone diving sidemount, I look for new things I haven't seen yet.

If you have several hundred cave dives, this approach may work for you. If, OTOH, you're relatively new to cave diving, a sidemount course may be exactly what you need.

Russell

[Cindy]

There are a lot of side mount divers who would be happy to show you a basic rig. I had mentoring from several people. If you don't know any side mount divers then a class is a OK shortcut. Personally if I had the money I would take a class from someone who sells the type of rig you want to buy. Cindy Butler

[DeWayne]

Good advice from those two. No matter how many dives you have in backmounted doubles, find someone who knows what they are doing to help you set up your rig and learn all of its nuances. You will like SM a lot better if you find someone to help you as opposed to just trying to learn it on your own.

[RHolmesJr]

thanks guys, I was planning on taking a course, but I've been told by a few folks that they trained themselves. Which these guys actually get to dive more than once a month and are much more proficiant divers than I am.

[CaptainSpeleo]

I was strictly a back-mounted cave diver until about 3 years ago. My long-time dive buddy encouraged me for a long time to learn how to sidemount so we could dive cave systems there are only accessible with sidemounts or are easier and safer to dive with sidemounts. When I finally put together my first sidemount rig, it needed a lot of modifying. He helped me modify it and make practice dives with it in large open cave passages until I got it right. Since then, we rarely dive with backmounts anymore. He's a very experienced sidemount diver, so I had no doubts about learning from him.

[BillGraham]

I think the most difficult thing about it is getting the trim right for you. That's where an experienced eye comes in.

[John L.]

I think the most difficult thing about it is getting the trim right for you. That's where an experienced eye comes in.

I'll second that. I kinda taught myself to sidemount, and got a lot of good advice from a lot of folks (thanks Cindy!). The most crucial aspect of attaining proper trim is the position of the cam bands on the tank. Too far forward and you will be ass heavy; too far back and you are shoulder heavy. One thing nice about the sidemount is you can take off your tanks and make an adjustment. When I was getting the bugs out of my trim, I brought a pencil with me, and made marks on the tanks for reference, and I stayed in the run at ginnie where if I needed to sink to the bottom to make a cam band adjustment I could. Configuring your regs is another issue I had trouble with at first until another friend showed me a great way to do it. PM me, and I will be glad to tell you. But if you can afford it, I would recommend going to an expert and take a lesson. Because setting it up and getting trim is one thing, diving it is another. Plus they have tricks to negotiate certain passages that you can learn. When I can afford it, I still may take a lesson.
John

[CaptainSpeleo]

John:

My left side tank has a right-side 2nd stage and my right side tank has a left-side 2nd stage. Both hoses criss-cross over my neck. I find it a lot easier than trying to route the hoses from 2 right-side 2nd stages.

One problem that I have is not being able to find HP hoses that are shorter than 6". I was told that they're not readily available and have to be special made.

Frank

[John L.]

John:

My left side tank has a right-side 2nd stage and my right side tank has a left-side 2nd stage. Both hoses criss-cross over my neck. I find it a lot easier than trying to route the hoses from 2 right-side 2nd stages.

One problem that I have is not being able to find HP hoses that are shorter than 6". I was told that they're not readily available and have to be special made.

Frank

Frank,
How are you doing stranger? We need to hook up soon and get in a dive. The way my hoses are routed are: I have a short piece of surgical tubing with a loop at the end like people put a mouthpiece thru attached to the upper right D ring. Also on that D ring is a brass snap. The left hose crosses my chest to the right. I make a loop in the hose back to the left, and the surgical tubing goes over the bend in the hose, and is held in place by the brass snap. I have a necklace on the mouthpiece that holds it in place, and the loop in the hose on the right side keeps the hose where it's supposed to be, and it's not trying to turn down in your mouth. The right second stage has a swivel on it, and it also has a brass clip attached right to the second stage. I just clip the snap to the bottom of the other snap on the upper right D ring. That way it's held close to your face, and when you make the switch, it just swivels out of the way, and you simply raise the other mouthpiece around your neck to you mouth. The never get tangled that way. I run both hoses under my chest strap to keep the hoses close to me.