How To Become A Sidemount Technical Scuba Diver Life Expeditions

How To Become A Sidemount Technical Scuba Diver No Experience

Twinsets on the other hand are two tanks attached to the back of the diver and are usually connected with each other thru a manifold. This means a diver can access to both tanks using a single regulator.

This course will require the same equipment, as your goal is to learn the operation and setup of the equipment you will use during your cave diving or tech diver training. This includes:

Cave —

The sidemount rig was initially created for cave diving. This allows the diver through small cracks (tiny holes) more quickly than the back mount rig.

Along with the Sidemount equipment that is specialized, you will also need your typical wetsuits, fins, masks, computer, compass, DSMB and other necessary equipment.

Cylinder

The entry-level tech diver will learn to optimize their gear to avoid drag and dangling objects. This allows for maximum propulsion efficiency and awareness.

Different depths require the use of different gas mixes. The maximum partial pressure of oxygen a diver wants to dive at is 1.4 which is reached on air at 56m. Due to the water pressure the pressure of each individual gas increases and therefore we need to use appropriate mixes if we choose to go deeper. In general, the more oxygen a gas mix has the less deep we can go. A tech diver will use low oxygen mixes at depth and high oxygen mixes coming up shallower to off-gas Nitrogen faster and decrease the mandatory decompression time overall.

How To Become A Sidemount Technical Scuba Diver Life Expeditions
Cylinder
How To Dive Sidemount

How To Dive Sidemount

Sidemount has many benefits, but it is particularly well-suited for cave diving. (It was cave divers who invent sidemount. These benefits include:

Technical diving means that a diver is not allowed to reach the surface from any point during the dive. It could be due to a ceiling in the form of a cave/wreck or virtual ceilings created by decompression obligations. To avoid decompression sickness, you must perform mandatory stops on ascent when the NDL's are exceeded. This usually requires the use special equipment like Sidemounts and Twinsets. Twinsets and Sidemounts require special gas mixes, additional training, and twinsets/sidemounts to ensure that you can perform these stops correctly on ascent in order to maximize Nitrogen offgassing.

Dive Shop
Dive Shop

Sidemount PCB offers assistance to those who have questions about their medical ability to dive.

Additionally, sidemount diving has become wildly popular even for open water diving. Why? It is because sidemount diving can be very relaxing and simple to learn.

Open Water

You will also learn how to use Sidemount regulators. Usually, you will have one regulator on a long hose as well as one regulator on a short hose with a necklace. Unlike your normal regs, Sidemount regs are also marked so you can easily distinguish which tank you are breathing from. During my training, this included a swivel joint for my short hose regulator. In addition, you will have 2 SPGs – one for each first stage.

Learn our SSI technical sidemount diver course and get the opportunity to dive with four+ tanks (cylinders) for extended dives. The technical sidemount diver course is an excellent way to get yourself into technical diving as it will train you to handle multiple cylinders on a single dive. Learn also on configuring your sidemount gear and setting up a tec sidemount harness as well as adjusting the sling tanks (cylinders) on your body.

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Frequently Asked Questions

5-6 days
Rebreather training classes are typically 5-6 days long, but can be longer depending on a variety of factors such as the training agency, your local conditions, your instructor, and your ability to meet the class standards.

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.

Technical diving (also known as tec diving or tech diving) is non-professional scuba diving that exceeds the agency-specified limits of recreational diving.