Sidemount diving
Overview
Sidemount is a special configuration for scuba diving . In contrast to the well-known backmount diving, the diver does not carry breathing gas on his back, but one or more bottles only on the side.
Applications
The sidemount configuration found its origin in cave diving . When diving in caves, the diver is dependent on being able to move through narrow rock formations. With the sidemount system, the diver can remove his bottles from his harness at any time under water and transport them flexibly through the water . Usually the bottles are transported to the water individually and only put on at the beginning of the dive. Bottles can also be picked up from bottle depots during the dive or exchanged within the diving group (e.g. in the event of a defect).
A sidemount configuration also gives the diver better access to his valves and the 1st stages.
The sidemount system is now becoming more and more popular not only in technical diving , but also among recreational divers .
The training guidelines of most diving associations are aimed primarily at backmount diving, especially for beginners. Often, sidemount diving is viewed as more complex in many ways, so that it only offers real benefits for appropriately trained divers.
Regulator configuration
If only one bottle is used for diving in the sidemount system, it must have two regulators so that a simple gas donation is possible in an emergency. If several bottles are used, they are basically independent of each other - unlike in backmount diving, where double bottles are often connected to one another via a possibly closable bridge. A single defect, such as the bursting of a hose, cannot result in the loss of all breathing gas when sidemounting with two cylinders, but rather a maximum of gas from the cylinder concerned. In order to minimize the consequences of such a worst-case scenario, the breathing gas supplies from both cylinders must be used equally. This is achieved in that the diver regularly changes from the right to the left bottle and vice versa. This also ensures that the diving partner can be provided with a sufficiently filled bottle in an emergency.
If more than two cylinders are carried, the other cylinders are referred to as stage cylinders, as is the case with backmount diving.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Sidemount Diving, Thomas Gray, ISBN 978-3-8442-9476-7
- ↑ Sidemount Diving, Thomas Gray, ISBN 978-3-8442-9476-7