sidemount discussion

[Shadowjack]

Walter, It would of been a lot cheaper to dive with you than get the AC fixed and you never asked about tonight did you? The WIFE isn't home till late... ( working in the lab )

SO! back on subject. My sidekick and I are going to be sidemounting someday, so looking at gear to get. What kinds of regs are good for this type of diving?

Sliding to side..

Eric

[Angie Reim]

Will do that to a guy. It's the shock you know! One day you think wow what a great day I think I'll go diving... Then wedding cake happens......
Then it's wow what a great day I think I'll go diving... See you later honey.........Didn't you jsut go diving last month..... did you mow the lawn first...... I need the truck to pick up a new antique..... Ummm Sorry Wow what a nice day to mow the lawn..........

Really? When it gets to be too much just do what I do....

Honey, can I go with you?
Honey, why don't you invite me to the pool game?
Honey, spend some time with me......

After about 3 weeks 'Honey' tells me to get the hell out of the house.

[BillGraham]

I've been sidemounting with the following for a few years:

Zeagle tech with weight pockets cut off, extra d-rings sewed on jacket, wing flipped over and moved down 4-5 inches, with a Rennaker plate and a mountain bike tire tube for a bungee. I run the inflator under my arm if I'm swimming, and over my shoulder if I've got stages.

Tanks: HP 100's, LP 95's or LP 125's, just because that's what I have. I like the 95's the best. Depending on whether I'm in fresh or salt water and what kind of suit I've got on, I might need weight. I put a hard weight on a cam strap just above the hose clamps on each tank (This works out differently for different people depending on your trim and body type).

Regulators: Poseidon Odins (because they work from either side), regular length hose (or a long hose if I'm diving with someone in backmount), short pressure guage hose and regular length low pressure hose.

Suit: Atlan California drysuit for cave diving, DUI CF 200 for cold water wreck diving.

[John L.]

I use an old Transpac with rec wings turned upside down, bolted inside the harness to protect the wings. I use LP 95's with Scubapro MK 20/G250 regs, TLS 350, no butt plate, I clip tanks to side D rings to keep the tanks up higher. Bicycle inner tube for bungee, and a pair of my daughter's t-back thongs.

[mfascuba]

I've not used my rig in a while, but 905 drysuit, home built harness with trek wing, steel 95's with plugged isolator manifold type valves, and Poseidon cyclon 300 regulators. The poseidons are cheap on Ebay, easy to rebuild, and a bit of cave line cleanly attaches the suicide clip to the back so they can be stowed. My rig is loosely patterned after the Jeff Hancock type rig, except I used a wing instead of OW jacket BC for lift. I also use a single 2" crotch strap with scooter ring instead of a 1" strap around each leg.

I've been away for a few months, for health and work reasons. With a little luck I'll be back to North FL in Sept-Oct time frame, and get to shake out this stuff again.

Mark

[DeWayne]

I wear alum 40s, 5qt camelback pack (lift), and Nike G-string.

Trims out great.

I guess someone eventually had to pick up the slack caused by SID's absence from the forum

[techdvr]

mine rig is a transpac with a super wing, turn around with inflators against my back, and a bunch of extra bungee that keeps the wing from balloning out. use oceanic omega regs, and 905 drysuit. tanks vary on where i'm going, but usually either hp100s or lp72s. of course i have to top off the outfit with the helmet and attached lights.

[lonestarfl]

I started sidemounting in a transpac with a trek wing and a Rennaker butt-plate. I found that the plate kept the tanks parallel to my body since I am built wider at my shoulders than my waist. When I tried attaching the tanks to my waist band by various means they always flaired outward at the top...not good. I use mirrored DIN valves with an H valve on the Left for a back up regulator. I found that I couldn't comfortably switch out a "bad" regulator on a single breath, so I started stowing a third reg for emergencies, pressurized then turned off. Initally I put it with the H valve on the Right away from any stage bottles, but the weight of the battery pack and extra reg/valve caused a slight irritating roll momentum. I also found that when Jeff H and I did long dives to reline the back of Devil's that the staged steel tanks not only offset the Right roll, but actually caused a Left roll. Please note that these roll momentums are much more noticable when diving wet than when diving dry though still detectable with either. My solution to these fine tuning issues was to switch to a dual wreck wing....OMG not a dual wing!!! Yes, but modified. I folded the front bladder over on itself so that it inflated the Left side only. Now when diving without stages the battery weight on the Right is offset by the extra reg/valve on the Left. Nothing changes with aluminum stages, but when I use the steel 85's or 120's for stages I can add lift to just the Left side using the Left inflator. I maintain "typical" bouyancy using the Right inflator. I also switched both inflators to plain elbows...no pull dumps.
For tanks, I sidemount anything from steel 72's to aluminum 80's to steel Faber 85's,108's,112's, 120's depending on the dive.
For regulators, I prefer omni directional such as the Poseidons or the discontinued Scubapro Air I/Pilots (which is what I am currently using) on Mk 20/25"s.
I put stages on the Right in "backmount" fashion in front of my sidemount bottles. I prefer aluminum 80's but will use steel 85's/120's if the need is there.
As I stated earlier, I sidemount either wet or dry depending on the dive. Small craggly tunnel can be hard on a dry suit. Very shallow tunnel is a "pain" in a dry suit. Long deco's and water below 65 degrees is better done dry. So you just have to evaluate each dive and dress accordingly.
I hope this gives you an idea of how I sidemount.
What I have described is definitely not the only way to sidemount ...as sidemounting is very similar and sometime the same as solo diving. The only person that has to be happy with your rig is YOU!!
Safe Diving,
Lee

[Cindy]

Bravo Lonestar! You hit the nail on the head. Basic sidemount gear to start with, it doesn't really matter. I started with a scuba pro "stab jacket" a pal loaned me and now have two rigs. One of the things I like about sidemount diving is that it produces thinking divers. I learned to not be afraid to adapt gear to my body.
I still have the doubles and long hoses for my friends who are more comfortable in that type of gear. I still guide on occassion. My personal gear changes now for the dive I need to get done. Cindy

[DeWayne]

I think Lee's last lines there sum it up pretty good 8)