Let's talk sidemount for a minute...

Alright, from all the previous post over the past while on this site, I see a bunch of info on sidemounting...something I've always been curious about, but have also been turned off to it because it seems so awkward and a bit confusing with all the different configurations people use...of course a backmount cave diver and all the gear they wear looked a bit odd to me as an open water diver some years ago.... so, lets get down to it, I'd love to learn to do it and set up a set of gear dedicated to this configuration... Whats the best way to learn...of course, a class right? what is the average cost? Time frame? How about cost of setting up a rig? Lets assume I have the regs and such, I just really need the BCD and hardware. how about tanks? I dive a set of 130's... the PST E8's that seem to be so hot over the past year....I think they'd be too big to dive sidemount, plus, I'd rather not split them up. I do have a set of steel 95's that I'd think would do the trick. Give me some feedback here...any suggestions? I figure if you don't understand something, learn as much about it as you can and then give it a whirl, so I figured I do that with sidemounting.
-Matt
(Iowa Cave Diver)

i took my class from Bill Rennaker. You will need a transpac. i bought mine from diverite. i dive with seel 130's. The class is about $450 is i remember right. I am not dir either but i dont have a problem if other people want to be

I never took any sidemount class. I learned from experienced sidemounters. They helped me set up my rig, and gave me the info I needed. Then I experimented. I ended up with a much different rig than I started with, and I'm about to change it again(slightly) based on a suggestion from somebody that has been doing sidemount much longer than I have. I'll give it a shot, and see if I like it.

There is no ONE right way to sidemount. It all depends on the person. My rig is different than the guys that I normally dive with. Theirs are different from each others, as well. Bill Rennaker has some great starting points on his website...check that out first.

If you feel better/safer taking a class, DO IT! I don't mean to detract from that learning experience at all, but I feel I got a better experience by learning from many different people rather than a single instructor.

95's will be fine for sidemount. That's what I dive most of the time, though I am looking to downsize to 85's. I also have a set of steel 50's for the smaller stuff, and steel 112's for the larger/deeper stuff. I don't have a set of doubles anymore...instead I have 3 sets of sidemount tanks, plus stages and deco bottles.

Mike

I sidemount with HP 120's. My basic setup started with a Dive Rite Transpack II. Everyone I dive sidemount with has a different setup. As Mike said, there many different ways.

A class is always a good place to start and Bill R. does a good job of teaching. As far as tanks, any of the Faber/OMS tanks work fine as do the HP 120's, PST steel 80's, aluminum 80's, even the old steel 72's. Your 95's will work, but the larger diameter, 8"... the same as the OMS 112's, and 120's, are a little more cumbersome than the slimmer 72's, 80's, and 85's. I dive 72's, 85's, and 120's depending on the dive. I have used 95's and 112's in the past with success. The tanks I would avoid in sidemount are the PST 104's and 120's and ther new E7 equivalents because they are too negative...but they are my preferred backmount tanks.
Good luck with your venture into sidemount.
Lee

A class will definitely speed up the process and give you a center to start from. If you could, it would benefit you to set up a rig and jump in a pool just to balance it out before the class.

How far are you from John McMacken? He is in NC somewhere now. He may be able to help you with a set up before your class.

7" and 7-1/4" tanks are better than 8" tanks. About the best tank is an 85, so anything with similar characteristics is good. I generally use 85's, I use 98's for longer/deeper stuff and 125's for deep mix (and 45's for small). Though I want to get some 112's for the deep stuff instead or split my 112 BM's.

Jay

I used my E8-130's, thought they would be too monster, but I had no buoyancy or trim issues whatsoever. They sunk me right to the bottom of the cave so I could walk out just like in backmount! No seriously, just kidding. They worked great sidemount.

Oh and Tami Thomsen up here does a great job building people sidemount rigs out of used rangers, contact her at [email protected] (or me if TJ edits this out due to rule 6) for more info. She also teaches that specialty and will be down this week through the 2nd (but she'll be busy diving a megalodon). If you want to see mine, i'll be down, hopefully at the CDF social.


Paul

Seems there is as many different ways to sidemount as there are divers. I just finished up a class yesterday, it was very helpful with the instructor doing some "tweaks" to the rig I had been diving about 18-20 times before class. Also the class showed me what I was capable of doing in a sidemount rig (Jesus, a couple of those holes were small :-D ) Too bad we can't give endorsements or reccomendations, because if we could I would tell you about the class I took with Brain Kakuk as my instructor. Very informative, very professional AND a whole lot of fun. Thanks Brian, I had a blast.

Matt, there are a bunch of us up here in the Raleigh area that are experienced sidemounters that could give you a hand and each one of us has a different rig that you can check out. We still get out on some weekends and go the the quarry so give us a call and maybe we can hook up for a day and help get you started. Joe

Joe...
I got an email from Jordan, an Olympus mate from last season, he is now working at dive rite and he said he'd be more than happy the get me started next time I head down that way. He is compiling a side mounting "shopping list" so I can get my gear together before heading down and if nothing else at least have the components needed to get started. Would you like to rally up a few guys to head down for a few days of caving in January? Drop me an email: [email protected]