It takes passion, experience, and training to become a technical dive instructor. Technical diving comes with additional risks, so it's not worth taking on if you don't have the right combination.
I'm not sure when or why I chose to take my Sidemount course. It was, as with many of my diving decisions. I think it was a case where I thought, "Oh, that looks cool. Could be useful. I'm going for it!" I knew Sidemount would be useful and something I could continue to use and improve on. Sidemount certification would be useful for me if I ever wanted to cave dive.
Twinsets on the other hand are two tanks attached to the back of the diver and are usually connected with each other thru a manifold. This means a diver can access to both tanks using a single regulator.
To dive, you must have a minimum of fitness and good health. Before diving, you may need to be cleared by a doctor if your health is not in good condition.
Cave passage formed over millions of years of water erosion that stretch thousands of feet from the entrance are reserved for those trained in overhead diving. The unique beauty and tranquility that these sites offer is only surpassed by the incredible timescale with which they formed.
Sidemount and technical sidemount were my first courses. Sidemount diving is, as its name implies, where you place your tank in front of you. By the end of the session, my hands were covered with cuts. You can remove the tanks from their clips and place them in front of yourself, Superman-style, to streamline your life. The afternoon dive went much smoother after some adjustments to the harness. I was now comfortable unclipping the harness and 'Superman-ing" with the tanks. Sidemount is a great way to have more freedom than having two people on your back. Matt created obstacle courses, and soon we were flying around them with tanks at our fronts, barrel-rolling, and swimming upside down.
The next day, technical sidemount was underway. This meant adding our deco 50 percent oxygen and 100% oxygen tanks on either end. The tanks will make you appear more prominent underwater. Each side of your waist has a few clips. As your tanks become buoyant from the air you exhale, adjust your tank to the second clip. You want to make your life as simple as possible. In a matter of minutes, your breathing is switched between the tanks. You can breathe easily because the pressure in each tanks is equal. Like all new things, experience is crucial to comfort and enjoyment. The following days I spent deco diving with the sidemount rig. My buddy David Joyce, Evolution co-owner and Trimix instructor, was with me. We went to the Japanese Mogami Japanese Mogami shipwreck at 164 feet. There, I was charmed and enthralled by the remnants of gas masks, uniforms, bones, and other old items we saw.
Don't worry if you are worried about how everything will fit together. You will learn how to set up your Sidemount equipment. Also, how to measure and adjust your bungees and clips so your tanks stay in line next to your legs. Your instructor will guide you through all this!
Divers who decompression dive use oxygen mixtures of every kind to prolong their time on the seafloor looking for wrecks and corals. The sport diver might only get two dives at 100ft, but a decompression diver can cruise for up to 60 minutes and still get the best bang for their buck.
Consider taking the Tec Sidemount Diver Course. You'll gain additional skills related to tec sidemount diving, such as switching deco cylinders or staging.
Although we can teach the SDI course if specifically requested, by default we offer the TDI one. It is possible to take this as a standalone program; however, our students generally combine this with our Apprentice Cave Diver course.
Backmounted doubles came into use in part because of the problems with backmounted independents and single orifice doubles, neither of which are as common in modern diving. Independents are two cylinders strapped to one’s back with independent regulators on each one. If a 1st stage was to fail the diver was down to one cylinder. Single orifice doubles were two cylinders linked together with a valve, and one 1st stage regulator. If a first stage failed on a single orifice doubles set all the gas would be lost. The isolated manifold doubles used today eliminate both of those problems. Each cylinder can be worked independently, but the diver can also breathe gas from both cylinders out of one regulator. This form of doubles is typically held together with metal bands and the valves are linked with an isolation manifold, allowing the two to be separate if needed. Backmounted doubles diving is similar to regular single cylinder backmount, offering a profile that is vertically the same.
While most Sidemount divers use two tanks as a standard, you can also just use one tank (I was told it’s called ‘monkey’) or more than two tanks for deco dives.
Sidemount also has clips and tanks bands. The clips will be attached to your harness. Once again, their positions are important for the location of your tanks.
- 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.
To register for the PADI Advanced Rebreather Diver course, you must first: You must be a PADI Open Water Diver, but you must also be a PADI Advanced Open Water Diver to become a PADI Advanced Rebreather Diver. Have at least 30 dives under your belt.
The depth range of oxygen rebreathers (simple closed circuit) is limited to approximately 6 m, beyond which the risk of acute oxygen toxicity rises to unacceptable levels very quickly.