How To Become A Sidemount Technical Scuba Diver Harness

There is a wide variety of equipment that is used by technical divers the biggest impact on the decision is the environment a diver is exposed to. Many cave divers prefer to use Sidemount which means, independent single tanks are mount to the side of the divers’ body and attached by clips on a D-Ring on the waist band on the harness and on the shoulder. This allows the diver to detach and don tanks to fit thru tiny restrictions and have a lower overall profile to go to places unreachable for divers who chose backmount. During multiple trips, additional tanks can be placed in a cave or a wreck to allow the diver deeper penetration dives and to pick up tanks when leaving the cave or wreck.

Sidemount cylinder mounting was first used for cave diving. It has since become more popular in technical diving. They take the dual cylinders apart, one for each, and place them on either side. The diver can't breathe from either cylinder if the regulator fails, but this allows for easier access to valves. Sidemount diving gives the diver an increased horizontal profile and a smaller vertical profile.

While technical diving is still for fun they aren’t for people wanting to go deeper, just because. There is a higher risk associated with cave and decompression diving. This risk is mitigated, in part, by thorough dive planning and training. As such, divers doing these dives are held towards a higher standard. It will take practice to become a technical diver. No amount of research and reading can supplement that in water time. Divers will notice that the minimum standards are often exceeded during training courses and individual technical instructors often do this. Technical training teaches a diver redundancy so that problems can be successfully solved 1500ft inside a flooded cave and an exit to the surface can be executed. While that sounds complex and scary it’s a necessary aspect of diving in that environment. Technical training is not only challenging but it’s fun and at the end of it the diver has a golden ticket to see parts of the world that are totally closed off to other people.

Skills (general): The introductory tech diver will practice the use of new equipment to trim and control buoyancy. This helps to build the foundation for efficient diving. Once you have a solid foundation, you can start practicing locomotion or move on to more advanced skills.

PADI Training is available for both Android(tm), and Apple(r), iOS devices. Devices should not be older than three years old and have the latest OS (operating systems).

Becoming a technical diver is equal parts training, experience and passion. If any of the three are lacking the added risks in technical diving aren’t worth it.