Sidemount Scuba Training

Next, it was time to do technical sidemount. This involves adding our deco 50-percent and 100-percent oxygen tanks on each side. You will have a higher profile underwater, so it is important to keep the tanks as close to your body as possible. There are two clips at each side of the waist. You adjust the tank position by inhaling down your tanks. This is where simplicity is key. You also need to switch between tanks every few minutes. This ensures that the pressure in each tank is at the same level, so even if one tank or regulator fails, there will still be gas for you to breathe. Building up experience is the key to comfort, enjoyment and success with new technologies. The next few days were spent doing sidemount dives, budding up with Evolution coowner David Joyce, a highly experienced Tec diver and Trimix instructor. One dive took us to the Japanese Mogami Wreck at 164 feet. I was captivated by the old gas masks, uniforms, and bones that we found.

Sidemount diving originates in cave diving and has since made its way into recreational, non-overhead dives. Simply put, you'll wear your tanks on the side of your body instead of one or two tanks strapped to your back. The tanks attach to the Sidemount BCD with clips and/or long bungee strings, giving you great flexibility. This flexibility allowed cave divers to get their tanks off the surface to make it fit through narrow spaces.

Sidemount diving can be done by anyone who is an Open Water Diver. While it is essential to have good buoyancy and trim, you will be able setup and handle your equipment by yourself. Sidemount diving is a great way to expand your skills and knowledge in equipment setup.

Backmounted doubles came into use in part because of the problems with backmounted independents and single orifice doubles, neither of which are as common in modern diving. Independents are two cylinders strapped to one’s back with independent regulators on each one. If a 1st stage was to fail the diver was down to one cylinder. Single orifice doubles were two cylinders linked together with a valve, and one 1st stage regulator. If a first stage failed on a single orifice doubles set all the gas would be lost. The isolated manifold doubles used today eliminate both of those problems. Each cylinder can be worked independently, but the diver can also breathe gas from both cylinders out of one regulator. This form of doubles is typically held together with metal bands and the valves are linked with an isolation manifold, allowing the two to be separate if needed. Backmounted doubles diving is similar to regular single cylinder backmount, offering a profile that is vertically the same.

If you want some diving classes alternative and lessons or want to know what's best next for your education, take a look at the three options below.

Know what you’re getting: Prices include instruction and eLearning fees. Bear in mind, the cost of eLearning, by itself, can be worth anywhere from $140 to $280 or more. Thus, a $640 course from us may actually cost the same as a $500 course from someone else if you have to pay for elearning separately.