Sidemount is a scuba-diving equipment configuration that has a scuba set installed next to a diver, under the shoulder and along the hips, not behind a diver. It originates as a sophisticated cave diving configuration, as it facilitates the penetration of tight cave parts, enabling easy access to cylinder valves, providing easy and reliable gas redundancy, and tanks can be easily removed when necessary. This benefit to operate in confined spaces is also recognized by divers who perform the penetration of a technical crash dive.
Sidemount's dive is now increasingly popular in the technical dive community for general decompression dives, and is becoming an increasingly popular specialty training for recreational diving, with several diver certification agencies offering recreational and technical level training programs.
Video Sidemount diving
Terminology
- Sidemount diving
- Sidemount diving is a diving exercise with two or more cylinders secured on the sides of the body corresponding to the torso and without cylinders on the diver's back. A common characteristic of sidemount configuration is the use of bungee cables connected to the cylinder valve to remain tucked near the armpits. These bungees are usually directed from behind the top back of the diver to the D-ring chest. The underside of the cylinder is secured to the diver's harness near the waist or hips with bolts locked into the D-ring of the butt or waist rings.
- Sidemounting stages
- The Sidemount abbreviation is the practice of using a sidemount configuration (bungee loops and/or buttplate rails) as a means of storing a stage/deco cylinder in an efficient way against the sides of the torso, when otherwise diverging behind a double or CCR.
- Monkey diving
- Monkey diving is the use of sidemount configuration and procedure with one cylinder. This is presented as an option on some recreational level programs (dependent on agency) and may also be the strategy considered for some cave/wreck breaks. The use of a single cylinder may require counter-weighting to prevent lateral instability in the water, depending on the buoyancy of the selected cylinder, and not providing excessive gas supply.
- Diving without mount
- No-mounted diving is a special environmental-overhead strategy to handle very strict restrictions. This may involve divers who wear a very basic armor under an existing configuration, or just a hand-carrying cylinder. Upon reaching the limitations they can not pass, they will 'untwist' out of their main gear, handrails or pairs of cylinders/s into their 'no-mount' harness and move forward. A 'no-mount' harness can consist of nothing more than a heavy belt with multiple D-rings attached. The evolution of sidemount techniques and configurations has largely made this approach unnecessary, as the minimalist sidemount harness/BCD can be used under a double mounted rear, or even a CCR.
Maps Sidemount diving
Benefits
Flexibility
Sidemount diving offers several benefits in equipment flexibility. Cylinders suitable for dive sidemount are usually available for free for rent, unlike a pair of twin diverse for rear mounted use, which allows travelers to dive technical environments or overheads without having to source twin cylinder sets. When diving in remote locations, the transport of a single dive cylinder, especially by hand, may be less physically exhausting. Sidemount harness can be lighter and smaller than the alternatives mounted on the back - allowing for easier and cheaper air travel.
Accessibility
Unlike cylinders mounted on the back, sidemount divers have direct access to, and can see, their cylinder tank regulators and valves. This allows faster and more exact identification of problems and resolutions, without the need for a 'head off' exercise that requires higher connection flexibility and suitability and the ability to correctly identify and operate equipment that is not visible.
Low profile
Sidemount dive configurations place cylinders under the armpits of divers, according to their bodies, allowing divers to pass a smaller limitation than is possible with a cylinder mounted on the back. The ability to remove tanks and push them in front allows divers through very small passageways and holes when diving penetration - limited only by most of their bodies and wetsuits. Streamlining to reduce obstacles while swimming is not always achieved.
Security
Improved accessibility to first stage regulators and cylinder valves improves the efficiency and speed of critical cylinder closure procedures, enabling the identification of direct gas losses and providing divers with quick access to alternative contingency procedures, such as changing regulators between cylinders, manual operation of the cylinder valve to control gas flow through the regulator which flows freely, or to allow breathing directly from the tank valve.
Installing a cylinder on the side of the diver reduces the exposure of the valve and sets the first stage for impact and abrasion damage, or accidental death through roll-off against the ceiling. It also significantly reduces the risk of winding behind the diver, the most difficult to repair.
Convenience
Some divers will testify that sidemount dive configurations offer greater stability and more easily achieved trim and control in the water. It is also claimed to be less physically exhausting to carry, and goes into, the sidemount equipment of a double mounted behind - especially when operating from a small boat or rough beach entry.
The ability to install, remove and replace cylinders while in water allows the diver to avoid carrying twin cylinders. Reduced physical exertion while performing regulatory shutdown procedures is a major benefit for divers who suffer from shoulder or back discomfort or reduced mobility.
Redundancy gas
Technical divers generally use redundant gas supply systems, either self-mounted or self-mounted cylinders. Recreational divers are traditionally forced to use friend-provided gas, or relatively small 'pony tubes' or 'climbing bottles' for emergencies outside the air. Whether attached to the main cylinder, or draped over the chest, this cylinder often presents a problem with stability and downsizing, while not always providing more than minimal air supply for an emergency ascent. Sidemount diving with two equal-sized cylinders helps complete the stability and simplifies the problem, and can ensure that an adequate backup of air reserves is maintained, similar to the twin mounted on the back.
Back-mounted type cylinders provide easy access to the entire gas supply in case of regulator failure and shut-down. However, the manifold itself creates additional potential o-ring failure points, and a major leak in the manifold will eliminate the diver at least one-half of the remaining gas supply. The independent cylinders, when in-sidemount, provide more reliable gas redundancy, and allow greater access to all remaining gases by switching regulators between cylinders or breathing feathers, provided the diver is competent on the additional skills required.)
Problem
Sidemount Diving can increase task loading on the diver, and can cause more obstacles while swimming, depending on which alternative configurations are compared. Head diver may be more vulnerable to impact with overhead, due to lack of gas set back. This can be reduced by the use of helmets.
Sidemount for recreational divers
The benefits for diving caves and diving with tight penetration are largely accepted, but they are not so obvious to the typical recreational divers.
Most recreational divers rely on their friends to get a gas bailout, and do not carry excessive gas supplies. The position of the cylinder valve behind the head has proven to be quite safe in millions of dives, although some divers have the physical difficulty of reaching the valves while wearing sets, especially if the cylinder is mounted relatively low on the harness. In a single cylinder dive there is rarely any reason to close the cylinder valve while diving, and no need to replace a cylinder or manage a different gas. Recreational divers with a single cylinder should not enter the low overhead space, so a single valve behind the head of the diver is unlikely to come in contact with objects that may roll closed, as divers tend to avoid situations where the head may impact with obstructions.
Because many recreational divers prefer to swim with arms crossed in front of the chest, the cylinder mounted on the side may block. Carrying one cylinder on one side does not improve stability or control, especially when it comes to rough beach entries or exits and other situations when freedom of movement of the arm is required.
There is rarely any transport benefit because transportation that is detached from the cylinder mounted behind is possible, and carrying the load on the back is less emphasis on the spine than taking it to one side when out of water. Since backmount equipment designed for traveling is available, there is no obvious weight gain.
History
The 1960s - UK bah diving
The concept of a sidemounting cylinder originated from a cave diving in England, during the 1960s. During Wookey Hole's 'dry' exploration, River Ax and other underground systems, divers occasionally find submerged passages obstructing further exploration. These explorers began to integrate special dive gear to advance beyond the underwater area. However, since they operate in very limited space, and most exploration remains primarily 'dry', they start experimenting and improvising with very minimalist configurations, minimizing bulk, allowing cylinders to be easily removed and replaced, and retaining the capacity to squeeze through the most stringent. restrictions.
The nature of this 'diving' in a narrow bed does not prioritize the need for buoyancy or underwater propulsion control - so the minimum required is a mask, cylinder, regulator, method of attachment to the body and, only on rare occasions, a fin set.
Many of these early explorers adopted a robust belt-based approach, with cam-band mounted, allowing the cylinder to be dropped and carried on the side of the outer thigh. This allows them to crawl, or wiggle, through the dry cave part, while presenting a secure binding method for passing submerged areas. Pool efficiency, reduced water resistance, trim and buoyancy control are generally unnecessary due to the nature of the cave. At that time, this approach to 'wet' cave exploration is generally called 'English System'.
1970 - Florida
During the 1970s 'English system' began to be incorporated by American cave divers, operating in Florida. The cave systems were mostly flooded and involved a prolonged pool with SCUBA; thus more emphasis is given on the development of system dive performance, especially buoyancy and trim. Divers need a floating controller to lengthen the length and start shifting the cylinder's location from against the thighs, to the armpit and against the torso.
These exploratory cave divers begin by creating their own systems, using and adapting SCUBA 'off-the-shelf' equipment for their needs or making 'from scratch' configurations, based on improvised straps and bladders for buoyancy.
1990 - release of first commercial rig
In the mid-1990s, Lamar Hires designed the first commercial sidemount dive system and this was made by Dive Rite. Dive Rite focuses on the newly released 'Transpac' harness. Other cave divers continue to create their own DIY configuration.
At the moment, the use of sidemounted configurations is primarily limited to a small number of class-exploration cave pioneers.
The 2000s - the popularity of cave dive and sidemount evolution
In 2001 Brett Hemphill designed Armadillo Side-Mount Harness. The Armadillo innovates several features to be used in many future-mounted harness designs of the future; Butt anchoring rear attachment pad, Cylinder bungee attachment located under the wing, bungee crane location straps for bunge location and primary BCD inflation located at the bottom of the harness instead of above. The widespread popularity of the sidemount diving system did not really emerge until the mid-2010s, as the growing popularity of technical and dive caves became exposed to sidemount supporters on the internet offering an alternative approach that matched the minimalist and popular functionality of the 'DIR/Hogarthian back-mounted system , while offering advantages in flexibility, convenience, accessibility and a highly-debatable online - safety.
Increased interest in the sidemount diving configuration prompted some manufacturers and individuals to design and sell their own designs from sidemount systems. Hollis, CSO, UTD developed the equipment, while Steve Bogaerts (British-born cave pioneer, living and diving in Mexico) released the popular 'Razor' minimalist system and began teaching a special model training program for his rig.
At present, some technical scuba institutes develop official training programs outside state boundaries and incorporate sidemount diving configurations as equipment options in existing technical dive programs.
When the PADI instructor, Jeff Loflin, developed a special course of diving by the sea, it proved very popular, and was replicated by many PADI technical level instructors. This led PADI to offer a standard dive program at the recreational and technical level, making it a great choice for major recreational and technical divers. Other institutions, such as ANDI, IANTD, SSI, TDI, UTD and ISE (Innerspace Explorers) also provide cross-border training at various levels.
Typical design school
English/Mexican Cave
An approach that is usually minimalist and lightweight, commonly used with aluminum cylinders. Most popular with warm water/wetsuit and diver traveling. Most commonly seen in Mexican cave systems. This is an evolution of sidemount pioneers that initially use a mild hydration bladder (ie MSR) for their buoyancy requirements, by utilizing the base for the cylinder and heavy attachment.
- Harness
- A 'hogarthian' inspired, bare woven harness, using separate shoulder and lumbar plates.
- Lower cylinder cylinder
- D-ring on waist-belt back,
- Upper cylinder attachment
- Continuous and loop bunge,
- Wings shape
- Triangles, diamonds or bladder boxes (lift the focus above the hips, reduce the torso)
- Rig example
- Apex WSX, Razor 2.0, XDeep Stealth, UTD Z-Trim, Aquamundo, Diamond, Hollis Katana
- Influential Supporters
- Steve Bogaerts, Steve Martin, Garry Dallas
American/Florida Cave
It is a powerful 'big rig', commonly used with steel cylinders. Most popular with sidemount divers cold water in the US and Europe. Most commonly seen in the Florida cave system. This is an evolution of sidemount pioneers that initially used converted BCD/wing systems, usually in response to higher buoyancy requirements than the use of higher steel/weighing tubes required for protection of cold water exposure.
- Harness
- Usually a built-in harness to BCD, with buckles and quick release adjustments.
- Lower cylinder cylinder
- Butt-plate with rails
- Upper cylinder attachment
- 'Old-school', independent and ring bunge,
- Wings shape
- Donut and horseshoe horse (lift evenly throughout the body)
- Rig example
- Armadillo, DiveRite Nomad, Hollis SMS100, Hollis SMS75, Contour Halcyon
- Influential Supporters
- Lamar Hires, Jasper Woody, Mark Long, Wes Skiles, Edd Sorensen
Configuration
Various harness/BCD configurations have been used for sidemount cylinders. The choice between different configuration approaches is usually determined by the nature of the dive done (open water, technical, accident or cave) and by existing dive equipment, financial budgets and whether they have preferred dive philosophies (minimalist, DIR, Hogarthian, etc.). The size, material, and volume of the dive cylinder to be used also have a major impact on the sidemount BCD requirements.
Backplate and wing harness adaptation
Hogarthian backplate and wing BCD systems can be modified by adding butt-plates, bungee cords and special optional float compensators. The cylinder is supported at the end of the valve by a bungee loop that runs from the rear slab to the front-chest D-rings. The lower cylinder clip attaches to a D-ring mounted on a belt or 'rails' on top of the butt plate.
Sidemount divers who penetrate diving in tight environments will generally prefer a flexible backplate fabric, or just a webbing harness outfit, which is considered less likely to be trapped in a small restriction than a rigid backplate.
Examples of commercial backplate and wing harness adapters, including integrated butt plates and attachment points for bungee loops, are OMS Profile.
Custom and hybrid add-on
Custom sidemount add-ons are available 'off the shelf' commercially. Some are specially designed for sidemount only, but others are 'hybrid' designs, allowing divers to exchange between sidemount and cylinder mounted on the back, as needed.
Contoh rig dedemount khusus:
- Apeks WSX25 Day WSX45
- Hollis SMS50
- Razor 2
- DiveRite Nomad LT
- XDeep Stealth 2.0
- Golem Gear A2 day S
- UTD 'Z-system'
Examples of sidemount hybrid rigs:
- Hollis SMS100 or SMS75
- OMS Tesseract
- DiveRite Nomad XT or EXP
- Custom Rhino
- S-Wing White arrow
Some manufacturers now provide targeted sidemount rig for use of recreational diving. It is usually a variant of special sidemount dedicated rig, with a low pressure inflator (LPI) which is mounted on the top of the BCD (rather than in the bottom corner) for configuration 'over the shoulder' which is more familiar to divers sidemount transition from traditional BCD.
Contoh rig dedemount rekreasi khusus:
- Hollis SMS50 'Sport'
- DiveRite Nomad LT 'Blue Water'
Harning anyaman minimalis
Woven harness with shoulder straps, belt and groin, supporting multiple sliders and D-rings for cylinder and accessory installation, with or without integrated weights or separate heavy belts, and with or without buoyancy compensators mounted on the back, which can be attached to harness, or directly to the diver. Cylinders are usually attached to the shoulder or D-chest ring and D-ring waist belt on each side. Additional accessories may include tube lights and pocket clips for small appliances. This harness style may be outside the shelf from the manufacturer or retailer of the original equipment, or homemade, since most parts are available for free or are relatively easy to make.
Belt style 'Sump' harness
In the UK, diving caves is an additional skill studied by cave explorers to explore parts of the flooded cave system, rather than divers who choose to explore the cave. Initial equipment is nothing more than a cylinder equipped with a belt loop and slid into a standard belay or belt of a standard caver battery along with the additional weight required to achieve neutral buoyancy, and a battery pack attached to a caver belt. This simple sidemount configuration is very low profile and is suitable for small cylinders, and works well for low visibility, divers is usually pretty shallow, which is often over crawling or stretched though strictly boundary than swimming.
As the penetration distance to the cave increases, the base belt is replaced by a stronger bridle with a shoulder strap and bearing on the waistband to distribute the load more conveniently.
The disadvantage of this arrangement is that the lead cylinder and weight must be mounted on the harness before it is installed. This usually requires the diver to lie down to fit the harness, and if the cylinder is large, it should be helped to a standing position.
Tools
Cylinder
- Cylinder
- Cylinders of various sizes and materials can be used to dive sidemount. The optimal cylindrical choice will be determined by the water conditions and/or the exposure protection options used.
- Regulator settings
- Each primary sidemount cylinder requires regulator stage 1, second stage regulator and submersible pressure gauge (SPG). The left hand cylinder will also include a low pressure inflator (LPI) for BCD inflation. If dry clothing is used, the drysuit inflator will be fitted to the right hand cylinder. The most common regulator configuration mimicks the regulation of a hogarthian regulator, with a long interval (5-7 feet) on the right cylinder and a short hose on the left cylinder, where the regulator is contained in a bungee necklace. However, some sidemount divers prefer opposing configurations, two long laps or two short hoses.
- Cylinder straps
- The Sidemount cylinder is secured to D-ring rump or back harness plate via cam-band clamp or worm where bolt-snap is attached via cable. The placement of cam-band/worm clamp along the length of the cylinder is determined by the characteristics required to ensure the slim cylinder is in line with the body of the diver. The upper cylinder can be secured directly through a bungee strap, or by using a choker into a ring-bungee configuration.
- Choker (# 1)
- A simple circle of sturdy nylon ropes (often 440 ropes) tied around the cylinder neck. Double-ended bolts can be removed and replaced as needed, or a bolt-snap can be fixed permanently. The goal is to provide additional cylinder safety and stability when performing water entry with a sidemount cylinder in place. It can also be used as an emergency attachment, if the bungee fails.
- Choker (# 2)
- A small rope around the sidemount cylinder neck is used to pull the snap-bolt closer to the cylinder's neck. Mainly used in conjunction with the 'Ring Bungee' DiveRite installation method; this has the effect of limiting the top of the cylinder to lie closer to the diver's shoulder for a lower profile. The choker is passed through the snap jaw and tightened, then clip it clipped onto the bungee that is cut to the D-ring shoulder, allowing the clip to slide along the bungee.
Bungees
The use of bunge for attachment and trim over the cylinder is a classical identifier of sidemount configuration. The bungee is attached to the rear/BCD rear harness and routes under the axis of the diver to the front shoulder braids. The exact length and thickness of the bunge is essential to ensure that the sidemount cylinder remains in the horizontal trim along the side body of the diver with the valve under the armpits. Cylinders/s should not rise above, or drop below, divers when they are in a flat, horizontal trim position. Cylinders are secured by wrapping, or routing, bunge around the handle of the cylinder valve, rod and/or neck cylinder. In addition to providing the desired cylinder and trim positions, the bunge also provides the capacity to secure the top end of the cylinder to the diver while the cylinder is detached at the bottom and maneuvering to the front position.
- Independent Double Bungee
- This method uses two bungee lengths, usually attached to the back of the harness/BCD via a stainless steel quick link. They can be attached via a special D-ring on a diver BCD or a long nylon chain 'nylon chain that allows easy adjustment of bungee length/fit.
- Bungee Continuous
- This is a long bungee strap, directed from one D-ring shoulder to the other, through the back of the diver and under the armpits. This is also a popular method of backing up or bungee backups, carried in dive pockets and propagated if the main bungee fails during the dive.
- Old School Bungee
- This method uses bungee double threads that are secured in the back through a horizontal webbing strip. Route the bungees under the arm and secured to the shoulders of D-rings through the bolt-snaps.
- Loop Bungee
- The evolution of the old school bungee, the bungee loop is a bungee double strand that is secured to the rear harness and runs under the armpit. It is secured by a shoulder strap through a fixed, smaller bungee ring that is fastened through a triglide retainer.
- Floating Loop Bungee
- (also known as bungee shift loop ) This is a derivative of a basic bungee loop, except for a small circle on the free-floating shoulder harness. The attachment is usually just a small circle of bungee tied directly around the shoulder strap. Ring Bungee
- The 'Ring Bungee' introduces a metal ring along the bungee length (in the armpit area). This allows the use of choker to connect the tanks to the ring, making the bungee wrap unnecessary cylinder/neck valves. The popular configuration has a bolt connected to the ring with a fast link, with the bungee length of the ring to another quick link used to connect the assembly to the D-ring behind the harness. The snap bolts are cut into D-ring shoulders and snap the cylinder neck bolts cut into the ring. Choker is used to reduce the distance of the cylinder that can dangle away from the bungee ring.
Sidemount Buoyancy Bladders
The Sidemount system provides buoyancy through the wing-style bladder located behind the diver. The bladder is usually designed according to one of two concepts;
- Triangle, Diamond or Box Shaped Bladders
- This bladder design owes inheritance to the initial use of a converted MSR hydration bag for drift floating. This concept maximizes the supply of buoyancy in the hip area, with little or no buoyancy on the upper back. The bladder is usually attached at the top to the shoulder of plates or woven spine; and at base to woven waist-belt. They often 'wrap' in design and some use bungee lengths for connections around the dive area of ​​the diver and through the crotch. Notable examples are Razor 2.0, XDeep Stealth, and UTD Z-Trim.
- Donut or Horseshoe Bladders
- The design of this bladder concept comes from a sidemount pioneer that changes the jacket style or BCD wing to be used as a homemade sidemount system. The buoyancy conditions run along the rear area. This bladder typically provides greater buoyancy than the triangle-style design. Notable examples are Armadillo, DiveRite Nomad, and Hollis SMS100.
Sidemount Accessories
Most sidemount accessories will suit the environment and diving tasks, as is common for scuba diving. None of the items listed below are unique to sidemount diving - they are generally the penetration of diving accessories used by sidemount divers because sidemount is generally associated with penetrating penetration penetration.
- Cut the device
- Sidemount Divers, especially those operating in overhead environments will carry two or more cutting devices. These should be kept where they can be easily accessed, even when in the tight section. Popular storage locations include; the sheath is installed in the armor or forearm. The redundant/back-up device can be carried in a pocket. Bladed short blades, trauma scissors or emergency channel cutter are the most popular choices for primary and back cutting tools.
- Lights
- Sidemount divers entering the overhead environment will usually carry the main torch, often from an umbilical/canister design, along with one or two back-up torches. A specific umbilical/kanister flashlight is now on sale, with a 90 degree angle for the umbilical that allows it to be mounted on the rope or the groin on the top of the back. The backup torch is usually a robust LED design, with battery life/burn estimated at 2-3x of planned dive duration.
- Rolls and coils
- Sidemount Divers will usually carry one or more rolls/rolls. In open water this can be used for dispersion of delayed surface marking buoys (DSMB). In an overhead environment, this will include major guidance and safety/jump spikes - such as with cave or technical crash dive protocols. These are usually attached to the diver behind the D-rings, usually on the rear-platters or back waist straps, to prevent them from hanging under the diver.
- Arrows and line markers
- The Sidemount diver in the overhead environment will bring the selection of the (arrow) and non-directional (cookie) marker. The use of Referencing Exit Markers (REM) has also become popular with sidemount divers.
- Helm
- Helmets are popular with sidemount divers, as they provide a convenient mounting point for headlamps and/or backlights. The main function of the helmet remains to provide head protection in the overhead environment. The Sidemount configuration can mean that the more typical rear mounting methods under the D-ring of the diver's shoulders become less profitable. This area is mostly filled with bungee attachments and deco stages, reducing access to back-up lights stored from D-rings. Installation of headlights on a helmet can be advantageous because it frees the hand in very limited space and/or when heavy duty is loaded with other equipment. The appeal to helmet-mounted lights is that it can increase the risk of helmet jamming and increased potential for unintentional and fascinating dives. Sidemount Divers can choose to create their own helmets by adapting existing climbing, kayaking, or skate-boarding helmets, or can buy cave helmets/leaflets off the shelves.
- The pocket is useful for carrying accessories and small parts. A small nylon bag with a clip, through a double-ended bolt to the back of the D-ring has the advantage of simplifying, while allowing easy access to the contents by removing or replacing the required pouch.
Training
There are three main levels of sidemount training:
Level 1
Training "recreation", "Record", or "Basis" is offered by most agencies, and aims to develop familiarity and operation of the initial equipment. At this level, students are taught to customize, adjust and operate a sidemount rig, while diving with one or two maximum cylinders.
This training course then develops core diving skills that are particularly relevant for the use of sidemount equipment - namely: set-up equipment, diver and trim cylinders, buoyancy controls, alternative propulsion techniques and cylinder handling in water. Many of the basic courses also teach additional diving skills, such as DSMB deployment and variations of open water skills, such as reversed (reversed) and an inverted net mask. Knowledge development covers topics such as: gas management, diving planning, and equipment considerations/options.
Level 2
"Technical" or "Tech" (sometimes called "advanced") sidemount programs develop higher level sidemount skills with a focus on diving decompression techniques with 3 or more cylinders. A higher level of equipment expertise and diving skills is required; as an additional cylinder deco will be added to the rig, allowing the gas-mixed procedure and accelerated decompression to be performed.
These courses generally require the student to have been certified as a technical diver (when crossing from a backmount technology qualification), or students first learning tec sidemount as a prerequisite for completing further technical decompression training in a sidemount configuration.
Level 3
"Advanced", "Overhead" or "Cave/Wreck" sidemount is the highest level of sidemount training that develops special skills for penetrating heavy dives within the upper cave or shipwrecks environment. These courses are focused on maximizing the benefits of sidemount for passing limited and restricted areas; and also teach some diving techniques (extra tanks from bottom gas).
Access to coursework at this level is usually reserved for qualified divers or qualified shipwrecks, who have significant experience and skills.
Procedures
One advantage of the sidemount system is the easy access to the cylinder valve, and the protected position they occupy compared to most reinstalling systems, where the valve is relatively susceptible to impact with overhead and being "rolled over" (covered by rubbing against overhead).
The default setting for sidemount is that all cylinders are independent, and each is equipped with a single request valve, SPG, and at one or two, low pressure inflator hoses for float compensators and, if used, dry clothing. This means that if the gas is shared in an emergency, the recipient will breathe from a different cylinder to the donor, unlike the more common settings with the backmount, where the two divers are breathing the same set.
In the case of recreational sidemount, with only one cylinder, the regulator will have an octopus demand valve for air division and the procedure will return to much the same thing as for a single dorsal cylinder.
Gas management
Sidemount divers usually operates two independent tanks for 'bottom gas' during the dive. Compared to double back-mounted cylinders and insulating manifolds, the use of independent cylinders requires additional gas management skills. Sidemount divers must trade regulators at planned intervals to ensure that gas usage is balanced from both cylinders - thus ensuring a good balance and slimming in the water, while maintaining adequate air supply for emergency division.
In 2013, the only sidemount system that offers manifold systems is UTD 'Z-Manifold'. This equipment provides a connection between the cylinder and the discharge with the need to exchange regulators and balance tanks. In all other cases, the diver in addition will follow a gas management strategy, allowing the same gas consumption of both sidemount cylinders and maintaining the minimum reserves required in both cylinders to allow out/dividing air out of the dive.
The basic principle of gas breathing management never runs out of breathing gas while under water. The implications depend on the size of the team and the profile of the dive, and ranges from very simple to situations where divers can make safe free climbing at every diving point, becomes complicated, when teams of two or three diver are constrained from coming soon with loud decompression or overhead obligations , and are dependent on each other for emergency gas supplies at each planned dive point, especially when various gases are carried out which are each suitable only for a certain depth range.
This is a standard practice to allow for the possibility of total failure of the gas supply from every single cylinder at each diving point, and to change the dive if the gas supply is disrupted beyond the planned limits.
Third rule and gas reserves
Most technical divers and divers overhead will defend the third rule as the least conservative option when diving sidemount. Since the air division will remain a possibility while the second diver is present, it is considered good practice that both cylinders maintain an independent reserve of sufficient gas for both divers to reach the surface safely from any point on the planned dive. one third of the cylinder capacity is considered a simple rule of thumb reserve enough for most circumstances, but there are times when it is not enough and the time when it will be more than enough. The rule rule of thirds is that one-third of the gas supply is available for penetration, one-third for returns and a third is a reserve that allows the gas distribution to return. Therefore, dives are changed when the cylinder drops to two-thirds of the total capacity.
It is not safe to dry a single cylinder, keeping all reserves on the other side, in case of catastrophic failure from the second cylinder supply. Sidemount divers are trained to maintain a balance of approximately the same gas supply in each major cylinder throughout the dive. This ensures that they always have the same gas reserves to donate to the exhausted divers; and also helps maintain their stability and lateral trim by maintaining the same buoyancy characteristics in the tanks on both sides of their bodies.
- Diverting Incremental Regulator
- This is the main method taught to sidemount divers to balance the gas in their cylinders. This involves switching between left and right side regulators is a predetermined increase in pressure. The smaller the increase, the closer the pressure ties between the main cylinders. A typical increase may be 30bar (metric) or 500psi (imperial).
- Replace after 1/6
- The less-used method of maintaining cylinder balance is by swapping the regulator for every 1/6 cylinder gas consumption. This means that each regulator is inhaled twice, before reaching the gas turning point (2/3) and two more switches on each regulator until reserve (1/3) is reached.
- Swapping after 1/3
- The sidemount diverge may also choose to replace the regulator with every 1/3 of the gas consumed (on each cylinder). This means that each regulator is used once, before it reaches the gas turning point (2/3) and again, per regulator, before reaching reserve level (1/3). This method does not promote a delicate cylinder buoyancy balance across the torso.
Regular switching regulators also help to confirm that both the left and right regulators remain fully functional. Rescuers of the overhead environment find this a very wise move when sidemount dives through restrictions in muddy and muddy conditions.
Skill
The following is a summary of the skills taught by agency samples at different levels of diving out there:
Level 1: "Recreation (Record or Sidemount Basics)"
- Equipment and assembly configuration
- Pre-diving security checks
- Installing the tank on land and on the surface (shallow and deep water)
- Descent Procedure
- Crop and float
- Propulsion techniques - kick frogs, modified flutter kicks, rear kicks, helicopter rounds
- Gas planning and management (independent cylinders)
- Switch regulators
- Air sharing - donors and recipients
- Positioning and tank settings for continuous good trim
- Removing a single tank while swimming
- Removing two tanks while swimming
- Inverted and/or vertical mask cleaning
- DSMB installation landing procedure
Level 2: "Technical (Tec or Advanced Sidemount)"
- Equipment and assembly configuration
- Bottle stage configuration and installation
- The water entry procedure
- Descent Procedure
- Crop and float
- Propulsion techniques - frog kicks, modified frogs and flutter kicks, back kicks, helicopter rounds, walking fingers, drag and glide
- Sidemount diving mobility - reversed propulsion, rolls, loops etc.
- Gas planning and management, including decompression gas
- Team exercises and development
- Guidance/penetration contingency exercises
- Sidemount shutdown settings
- The breathing feathers of the non-working free-flow regulator (Manually operate the cylinder valve to supply the air on demand from the cylinder with a malfunctioning demand valve).
- Swap regulators between underwater cylinders
- Plug-in, removal, and substitution of water bottles
- Sidemount decompression procedure
- Practice from all sidemount skills (Level 1 & amp; Level 2) in a particular over-head (cave/wreck) environment
Compatibility in mixed diving configuration team
Basic sidemount configurations require different techniques for gas sharing, compared to twin configuration configurations with manifolded back attached. This means that a set of standard safety procedures is not possible while diving with team members using tanks mounted on the back.
The Z-UTD system provides an approach to mimic the reinstalled Hogarthian configuration by connecting two primary gas supply sidemount tubes to the manifold block mounted behind the shoulder in the Z-harness system, from which the primary primer valve and the secondary request necklace valve are provided, reducing the demand valve setting to a standard Hogarthian configuration functional approach at the expense of additional component complexity.
An additional point of failure may not be required when using more than one bottle at that time. Additional earthing cylinders are mounted on the side with independent regulators.
References
Further reading
- Heinerth, Jill (2012). Side Mount Profile . Heinerth Productions Inc. ISBNÃ, 978-0979878954. Ã,
- Hartmann, Alexander (2014). Sidemount's Guide . epubli GmbH. ISBN: 9783737502962.
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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