Sidemount wreck diver
technical and recreational sidemount diving
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Webmaster - Stan Elliott (info@sidemountwreckdiver.com)
Sidemount diving is another way to dive. Sidemount started in cave diving quite a while ago, but is very quickly becoming a common method in both recreational and technical diving. Most recently this technique was used for ice diving. In ice diving redundancy is paramount, sidemount setups provides this redundancy just as in wreck diving.
Some of the benefits for both recreational and technical divers of sidemount are direct access to valves, completely redundant air supply, easy shore entry, less restriction and greater comfort in the water.
Technical Diving - In technical diving the term “virtual overhead” is often used. This refers to the fact that if there is an issue underwater you must be prepared and trained to deal with the issue at depth. This is exactly the same situation whether you are open water decompression diving, penetrating wrecks or ice diving. There is no rescue from the surface, there is no safety diver waiting to dive down and save the day. The calvary is not coming. You enter the water trained and ready for the task or you do not enter the water. This is not recreational diving, you do not dump your weights and ascend. If there is an issue you and your team deal with it (in the wreck, under the ice or on the line) or you can get in serious trouble pretty quick...
Disclaimer
For the record, I am not a sidemount instructor and I am not a sidemount expert. I have been diving sidemount for just over three years. I am a technical wreck diver. My current highest level of training is TDI Decompression Procedures and TDI Advanced Nitrox.
The trials of establishing a good setup for me took some time. I struggled to understand the setup, to configure my gear and made many changes. I am still tweaking my rig even now. The information available on the net is varied with many opinions. This site is intended to be a starting point for new sidemount divers to see what one diver did to get into sidemount. I believe I am pretty much in line with the majority of sidemount divers out there. If you have specific questions email me at:
The information on these pages are my personal opinion and a snapshot of how my gear is setup and how I dive. Many others have their own opinions and many configurations exist. Sidemount is a developing configuration...
The author accepts no responsibility for any information used from this site. There is no replacement for training by a qualified instructor. Do not dive unless you are adequately trained to do so by a recognized agency. Dive safe.
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