Sidemount History
Sidemounting traces its roots
to the UK, where cavers would strap small air bottles to their thighs, enabling them to traverse sumps — short, water-filled
passageways that connected air-filled chambers, often far into a cave. Cave divers in the USA began adopting sidemount in
the early 1980s, as a means of passing through bedding planes — cave passages that can be several feet wide, but only
a few inches high.
The philosophy was expanded in Florida by cave divers, and most of the harness commercially available
today was developed in Florida.
Interest in sidemount is growing, by recreational, technical, wreck, cave divers alike.
In fact, there is a joke circulating in cave country about the veteran diver who shows up to dive with a much younger buddy.
Looking over this elder’s highly Hogarthian doubles set up, the younger sidemounter remarks.
PADI MSDT instructor Jon
Mace, now offers a PADI distinctive Specialty Diver course for recreational divers.
Basics
of sidemount scuba diving
Sidemount diving configuration essentially means you take one or two cylinders and
place them under your arm on either side of your body, instead of mounting them on your back. Sidemount scuba was initially
developed as an approach to gear configuration for advanced cave diving in unusually tight passages where traditional back
mounted twin cylinders were cumbersome. Due to the comfort, ease and simplicity of the system, Sidemount is now becoming very
popular not only in caves and wrecks but also in open water recreational diving.
Benefits of sidemount
configuration vs backmount
• Offers a greater comfort level as sidemount equipment and SMS 100 harness
can be custom fit to each diver. the advantages in comfort, ease of movement, simpicity, minimize drag, all life support equipment
reachable with both hands. Sidemount is the way to the future of diving.
• Enables superior buoyancy, balance and
trim control resulting in a more streamlined profile making moving through the water easier and more efficient.
•
Great for divers with physical limitations. You can put the tanks on in the water so no more walking to the dive site with
all that load on your back under the blazing sun. Putting tanks on in the water makes entries and exits much easier.
•
Safer option for air management as you have an easy access to your cylinder valve(s), first stage(s) and alternate regulator
should there be any problem.
One harness and BCD does it all. This is now true as the same sidemount equipment
can be used for more advanced types of diving i.e wreck, cave and technical diving.
• Dive travel is easier. Take
a lightweight sidemount harness instead of that bulky BCD jacket or backplate configuration. Most resorts provide rental cylinders
so strap those on, use their regulators or take your own and enjoy a comfortable dive with an unsurpassed safety margin and
spend more time diving.
• You can dive Sidemount even though your buddy would still be using the old standard scuba
system, like jacket BCD or backplate and wing. All you need to do when conducting a buddy check is go over the differences
of where your equipment is placed. Same inter-team-relation in regards to emergency procedures. One difference is that
you won’t be hindered by a short reg hose in an out of air situation through stress ascent as side mount adopts
a long hose reg, this will give you more relax ascent for both divers, better communication, better team awareness and environmental
awareness.
Sidemount courses at Aqua Diving School costs £275 and includes 4 dives and all theory.
SMS 100 can be rented for course at £100 for course duration Or why not buy SMS 100 kit and have course for £175!!
a reduction of a £100 on course meaning £100 going towards side mount kit.
Sidemount Diver Specialty Course
PADI TEC REC Diving Courses all in Sidemount Configuration
Conduct
all your future dives wearing sidemount equipment configuration.
• Be equipped wearing sidemount configuration
during your future training courses, provided that your instructor is certified to teach courses in sidemount For further
information on how to become a trained side mount diver, please contact us on 01983 408301 or 07855405401
