If sidemount will not be used during your cave diver training, then you should take our CDS Basics Orientation program.
Sidemount diving has become very popular in open water. It is more comfortable than having a tank on the back and allows you to have more fun.
The Sidemount setup for diving is slightly different to the backmount setup, and the equipment is also slightly different.
Sidemount diving requires only an Open Water Diver to begin. Although it's important to have excellent buoyancy and trim, you should also be able handle your equipment independently. Sidemount diving offers a whole new level of skill and equipment setup.
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When or why I decided to do my Sidemount course I don’t remember. As with most of my diving decisions, it was probably a case of – oh that looks cool, could be useful, I’m going to try it!I knew that Sidemount was going to be a useful certification and something that I could use in the future and build on. I also knew that I eventually wanted to do some proper cave diving and that a Sidemount certification would come in handy for that.
Sidemount also has clips and tanks bands. The clips will be attached to your harness. Once again, their positions are important for the location of your tanks.
As your goal in taking this course is to learn the basic set up and operation of the equipment you will use as part of your cave and/or tech diver training, you will need that same equipment for this course. This includes:
We offer the TDI course as an option, although we can also teach the SDI course if asked. This course can be taken on its own, or with the Apprentice Cave Diver course.
Sidemount diving provides an independent air source. Two tanks are used, each with their own regulators and first stage, SPG. This makes it much safer and gives little air-hogs (like me) a lot more oxygen. Sidemount's tanks can be easily accessed from the surface. There is no pressure on the back.
Consider taking the Tec Sidemount Diver Course. You'll gain additional skills related to tec sidemount diving, such as switching deco cylinders or staging.
While most Sidemount divers use two tanks as a standard, you can also just use one tank (I was told it’s called ‘monkey’) or more than two tanks for deco dives.
To make dives beyond 130ft, decompression divers will add Helium to the cylinders. Then they can explore the realm of the uncommon. Their experiences at wrecks and reefs are often less frequent than those of astronauts who visit the moon.
To dive beyond 130ft, decompression divers should add some Helium to their cylinders. This will allow them to enter the realm of the seldom seen. Sometimes, the reefs and wrecks they visit are visited less often per year than astronauts to orbit the moon.
According to experts, approximately 40% of technical divers enroll in additional education and training programs. This yields a reasonable estimate of approximately 160,000 active technical divers worldwide.
from 170 to 350 feet
While conventional scuba diving has a recommended maximum depth of 130 feet, technical divers may work at depths ranging from 170 feet to 350 feet, and sometimes even deeper.
The depth range of oxygen rebreathers (simple closed circuit) is limited to approximately 6 m, beyond which the risk of acute oxygen toxicity rises to unacceptable levels very quickly.