How To Become A Sidemount Technical Scuba Diver Dies

Tao Thailand

Sidemount Diver was one of my most challenging courses. This was due to the fact that my instructor Fiona, from Big Blue Tech, a trusted dive center in Koh Takao, included more skills and dives than I needed. My task load was always manageable so we practiced skills repeatedly. This included mask removable, tank removable underwater, out of air drills, and SMB deployment. We also kept our trim.

Sidemount Diver Specialty dives may count toward Advanced Open Water Diver certification. Ask an instructor.

There are three components to certification: skill practice, knowledge development and open water diving. All three parts can be completed locally or on vacation, or you can split them.

The very general definition of technical diving is to be exposed to a ceiling that does not allow a diver to ascend to the surface at any moment of the dive. This might be due to a real ceiling, in terms of a cave or a wreck, or a virtual ceiling created by a decompression obligation. In this case, by exceeding the NDL’s, mandatory decompression stops have to be performed on ascent in order to avoid any case of decompression sickness. In most cases this requires the use of special equipment, e.g. Twinsets or Sidemount, special gas mixes and of course additional training to be able to perform those stops accurately on ascent to optimize off-gassing of Nitrogen.

How To Become A Sidemount Technical Scuba Diver 900

At first I was not interested in technical diving. I vividly remember chuckling at the Tec divers who I saw and wondering what made them want to take more equipment. I love the sense that you can be close to nature while feeling free and connected. Tom was a well-respected teacher. I felt it only right to give him a try as I was working in a dive shop offering Tec courses.

New gear means new techniques. If you are able to dive sidemount, it is easy to acquire new skills.

How To Become A Sidemount Technical Scuba Diver 900
How To Become A Sidemount Technical Scuba Diver Book Pdf

How To Become A Sidemount Technical Scuba Diver Book Pdf

The advantages of Sidemount diving are an additional independent air source as you are diving with two tanks each with a first stage, SPG, and regulator. This makes it a lot safer and gives little air-hogs like myself a whole lot more air. I also found diving with Sidemount to be incredibly comfortable because you can easily don tanks on the surface and there is no pressure on your back.

One of most significant changes to the equipment cave divers use since the beginning is the shift from using backmounted doubles towards sidemount. While a large number of cave divers are now sidemounting, it is possible that there are many more sidemount cave diver than backmount.

Octopus Demand Valve

Technical diving is a combination of passion, training, and experience. Technical diving is not for those who lack any of these three.

Sidemount rigs also include tank bands, clips, bungees, and likely some more to store your regs. The clips are attached to your harness. Also, their position will affect the position of your tanks.

What should you not eat before scuba diving
What should you not eat before scuba diving

International Training, the parent organization for Scuba Diving International (SDI) and Technical Diving International (TDI) offers both SDI and TDI versions of their Sidemount Diver course. Both courses are very similar. Both use the same learning materials (which, by the way, we wrote). So what’s the difference?

You will need your standard wetsuit, fins and mask as well as a computer, compass and DSMB.

How To Become A Sidemount Technical Scuba Diver Dies
I Want To Be A Scuba Diver

Computer-aided instruction forms an integral part of most courses we teach. The Why? The reason is simple. eLearning helps students get in the water earlier and spend more of their time there. We offer all applicable online eLearning programs at no additional charge. They are typically $140. This can translate into an extra day in-water instruction. That is an incredible value. Priceless.

Sidemount diving stems from the cave diving world but has also found its way into the recreational, non-overhead diving world in recent years.Simply put: instead of wearing one or two tanks mounted on your back, you will wear your tanks on your side. The tanks are attached to a Sidemount BCD with clips and/or bungee cords allowing for great flexibility. Initially, it was this flexibility that allowed cave divers to take their tanks off underwater to fit through narrow spaces as well as making their overall profile smaller.

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Frequently Asked Questions

- Increased Bottom Time A Closed Circuit diver is not concerned with running out of gas because they are only limited by decompression. This can also be reduced by selecting an oxygen partial pressure that provides the diver with virtually limitless bottom times in 60 feet or less of water.

2-3 hours
Even with small cylinders, you can usually dive for 2-3 hours (rebreathers typically have two 2/3l cylinders or one 3/5l cylinder).

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.