What Is Side Mount Diving?
Side mount diving is a configuration of two cylinders, one on each side of the diver, rather than on the back. Originally, this system was designed to allow easy access through restrictions in underwater cave systems. With the sidemount diving configuration, one has the redundancy of two sets of regulators, one on each cylinder.
Side mount diving, soon, came to the interest of wreck divers, as well. Due to restrictions in wrecks, wreck divers could implement the same strategies as cave divers.
Technical divers have also become interested in the configuration, as well as the recreational dive community. In both areas, divers can see the advantage of having extra redundancy of gas. It removes the heavy cylinders off the back, and places them on the side. With a specially designed BCD system, heavy tanks can be clipped on the system, after the diver enters the water. This eliminates a tremendous amount of work load for the diver! Many recreational divers even use the system for single cylinders, because of the ease of workload, and the greater control of buoyancy. PADI and other training agencies, now have training programs available in side mount diving.
Side Mount Diving Early History
Sidemount equipment was originally used in the early 1960’s. These configurations helped cave enthusiast in England when dry cave exploration would end with a sump. Cavers would use a very minimalist system that would be required to enter the sump. The goal was to reach another dry area of the cave, to continue exploration.
During the 70’s, Florida cave divers saw the need for improved equipment to allow them to penetrate restrictions inside wet caves. This system design was more functional. More detail was given to placement of the cylinders, and the importance of buoyancy. In the 90’s, the first commercial rig for side mount diving was released. From there, greater popularity of the system prevailed over time. By 2010, side mount diving systems have been designed by many scuba dive manufacturers, such as Dive Rite, Hollis, and OMS. The increased popular demand for side mount training now extends to recreational divers as well.
Discover Side Mount Diving Sunday, August 9th
Come try out side mount diving at Hastings Lake YMCA on Sunday, August 9th. The time for the event is 8:00 AM. You will get a chance to try on the equipment in the pool, and do a short dive using the side mount configuration. The price is free and spots are limited. So don’t wait! Come see what all the excitement is about!