I took my first sidemount and technical sidesmount courses. Sidemount diving, like the name implies, requires you to place your tank on your hands. My hands and knuckles were completely covered by cuts at the end. The idea behind sidemount diving is to unclip your tanks and then place them in front you, Superman style. This will streamline your workflow. After making some adjustments to my harness size, the afternoon dive went more smoothly. I was now comfortable unclipping my harness and "Superman-ing” with the tanks. Sidemount gives you an amazing level of freedom, even if you have doubles on your back. Matt put up obstacle courses. We were soon flying through them with tanks in front, barrel-rolling, swimming upside down and tanks at the rear.
Sidemount can provide a number of benefits for any diver, but is especially well suited for cave diving. (It was, after all, cave divers who invented sidemount.) Among these benefits:
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Mentality – Technical diving is still fun. It’s all about seeing cool things, just like sport diving, but technical divers see sights longer, deeper, and hidden to the sport diver. While technical divers are still fun-focused they also regular focused. Jokes can still be made, laughs can still be had, but a certain sense of serious must come about when it comes to dive planning and execution. All diving has risks, and those risks are increased if proper planning, skill practice, and execution are not done.
New gear means new techniques. Diving sidemount, if it's easy, require some new skills (easy to learn).
I'm not certain when or why I decided on Sidemount. As with many of my diving choices, it was likely a case of "oh that looks cool, could prove useful", so I decided to take the Sidemount course. It would be a useful certification that I could build on in the future. Sidemount would allow me to dive in caves, something I always wanted.
The Sidemount setup for diving is slightly different to the backmount setup, and the equipment is also slightly different.
The Sidemount dive setup is slightly different from the backmount, as is the equipment.
Computer-assisted instruction is an integral part almost every course that we teach. The Why? The answer is simple: eLearning makes it easier for students to get in the water quicker and spend more time there. That's why we offer all applicable eLearning courses -- which are usually $140 worth -- at no extra cost. This means that you will get an extra day of training in the water. How valuable is that? Priceless.
SDI/TDIIncludes 2 Open Water DivesMinimum 18 Years, 15 Years with parental Consent.
Sidemount is not something you'll be doing during cave diving training. Instead, you should look at our CDS Basics Orientation Course.
In addition, your Sidemount rig includes tank bands, clips, and probably some more bungees to stow away your regs nicely. The clips will be connected to your harness and again, their position is important for the position of your tanks.
Scuba diving requires a minimum level of health and fitness. Chronic health conditions, certain medications and/or recent surgery may require you to get written approval from a physician before diving.
Scuba diving sidemount is becoming more popular than ever in open water. You are more streamlined than having to carry a tank around your back.
To register for the PADI Advanced Rebreather Diver course, you must first: You must be a PADI Open Water Diver, but you must also be a PADI Advanced Open Water Diver to become a PADI Advanced Rebreather Diver. Have at least 30 dives under your belt.
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.
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.