Scuba Sidemount Setup

Sidemount Instructor

Nowadays diving sidemount became popular even in open water as you get more streamlined than having a tank on your back, it is not hurting your back, and you can get a lot of fun as it is extremely comfortable to dive sidemount.

Consider taking the Tec Sidemount Diver Course. You'll gain additional skills related to tec sidemount diving, such as switching deco cylinders or staging.

How To Become A Sidemount Technical Scuba Diver 80 Feet —

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

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.

How long can you stay underwater with oxygen

Learn our SSI technical sidemount diver course and get the opportunity to dive with four+ tanks (cylinders) for extended dives. The technical sidemount diver course is an excellent way to get yourself into technical diving as it will train you to handle multiple cylinders on a single dive. Learn also on configuring your sidemount gear and setting up a tec sidemount harness as well as adjusting the sling tanks (cylinders) on your body.

I have just arrived in Malapascua Island on the Philippines. Over the next two months, I will work my way to becoming a Tec dive instructor. I've been a recreational dive instructor in Bali for two years. I would like to add more experience to my portfolio. Sidemount PCB was my first experience with technical diving. Tom West (PADI instructor-trainer) made me a certified Tec-50 diver.

How long can you stay underwater with oxygen
Scuba Gear

Scuba Gear

The Sidemount Diver Specialty course dive may count toward your Advanced Open Water Diver certification – ask your instructor about earning credit.

Sidemount divers typically use two tanks, but you can use just one tank (I was taught it's called "monkey") or more than two tanks to do deco dives.

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Do you want to share the experience? PADI eLearning (r) can be purchased online and shared with a person of your choice. You can purchase the course for a gift or assign it to family members. It's easy!

The Sidemount diving setup differs from that used for backmount diving.

Scuba Sidemount Setup
Open Water Dives
Open Water Dives

I'm not certain when or why I decided on Sidemount. As with many of my diving choices, it was likely a case of "oh that looks cool, could prove useful", so I decided to take the Sidemount course. It would be a useful certification that I could build on in the future. Sidemount would allow me to dive in caves, something I always wanted.

Sidemount diving originates in cave diving and has since made its way into recreational, non-overhead dives. Simply put, you'll wear your tanks on the side of your body instead of one or two tanks strapped to your back. The tanks attach to the Sidemount BCD with clips and/or long bungee strings, giving you great flexibility. This flexibility allowed cave divers to get their tanks off the surface to make it fit through narrow spaces.

Skills

Being a technical diver requires a lot of training, experience, and passion. The added risks of technical diving are not worth the risk if any one of these is missing.

Certification cards: We issue these only when earned. Simply taking part in a course does not guarantee certification. For cave courses, certification cards from multiple training agencies may be available. C-cards generally cost around $30 each, depending on agency. Your instructor can tell you more.

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Frequently Asked Questions

According to experts, approximately 40% of technical divers enroll in additional education and training programs. This yields a reasonable estimate of approximately 160,000 active technical divers worldwide.

Technical diving (also known as tec diving or tech diving) is non-professional scuba diving that exceeds the agency-specified limits of recreational diving.

- 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.