Basic Sidemount Class – Day 1
This past February, I took a cave diving sidemount course with Steve Bogaerts.
I’ll profess that it was curiosity rather than necessity that got me to sign up for a sidemount class. While I do like to peek my head into small holes, I have plenty of backmount friendly caves yet to explore. However, the possibility of staging cylinders instead of carrying everything on my back was of interest. I’m lazy and only getting older every day. Plus this definitely has its perks for more remote sites where hiking tanks into the uneven jungle is the norm.
The selection of instructor was easy. As Steve conducts his exploration in sidemount and admits to staying up at night thinking of how to dive sidemount better, it made a lot of sense to take the course with him. Plus, Steve had trained me from Cavern to Full Cave, and is an exceptional instructor. My wife hearts Steve as an instructor and I have to convince her to take classes from other people, it’s becoming a small issue.
In our previous courses, we have always found Steve thoughtful, demanding, and very thorough. What we particularly liked was that his courses follow the format of him teaching, us learning, and then us repeating. During the course, you work on the skill until you’re comfortable and have proficiency.
While his courses require more time commitment than others, it allows for the skills to really sink in. And it doesn’t pressure one to “practice for the class.”
Day 1 – Theory and Equipment
“Just hanging tanks on the side of your body does not make you a sidemount diver!”
The day started at 9am at Cafe Ole in Puerto Aventuras. We then proceeded to Steve’s place for lecture. There were three students in class, including myself. All of us were active divers – one taught and guided locally in the area.
My last trip to Mexico was in November, but have been diving on a weekly basis at home in Northern California. Normally, I would have preferred to spend a day before to sort any issues out with equipment or weighting. But since sidemount was completely new, I decided to forgo any pre-course configuration work. Or at least this would be my rational if I really flubbed the course.
Day 1 plans were to conduct theory, work on equipment, and then proceed into OW. After introductions, we gathered around Steve’s kitchen table and began the theory section. For the next 4 hours we discussed the history, then the whys, the hows, and the what ifs of sidemount diving.
Steve has 3 sidemount courses – Basic, Advance and Exploration. Basic focuses on diving the sidemount configuration and performing all necessary cave and self rescue skills in the new set-up. The expectation is that Basic sidemount graduates dive in the same backmount friendly caves (most likely with mixed teams) for at least 25 dives before moving to Advance. Advance course is focused on skills required to dive only sidemount accessible passages. (Hans has a detailed advance sidemount class report.) Exploration course is … exploration skills and techniques.
The Basic, Advance, and Exploration curriculum is a departure from the 2-day specialty course that’s offered by most agencies. Even after my 3 day Basic course, I can’t imagine trying squeeze through sidemount restrictions. Okay, I can imagine trying to squeeze through the sidemount passages. But in no way could I be confident that I’ll be able to do it safely if an issue arises and without significant effects to the cave itself. Ok, I’ve been tempted to stick my head in and look around in my sidemount rig but that’s it, I promise.
The theory section began with history – UK to Florida to Armadillo to Nomad. Each sidemount style and configuration was developed to tackle the environment they were diving and was a reflection of the biases of their originators.
We then proceeded to discuss the pros and cons of backmount, independent doubles, and sidemount. Not only from a gear perspective but from an individual and team perspective as well.
After this comparison, we delved deeper into sidemount specific details – safety skills, gas usage, weighting, tanks, buoyancy requirements, trim, etc. In each area, Steve offered the pros and cons of the various techniques and ideas as well as offering his preferred method. In these discussions, it was apparent that I was receiving years of knowledge and thoughts on the subject matter.
It was good to review each component in detail, as it forced me to consider things that I didn’t rationalize before. For example, we discussed 200 Bar vs 300 Bar DINs, and the preference for 200 Bar. I’ll admit that I like 300 Bar DINs manifolds, but for cosmetic reasons only.
With theory complete, we took a lunch break and prepared for equipment discussion and set-up. In retrospect, I should have asked even more questions during theory. However, since everything was quite new, it took a little for me to absorb and process. Fortunately, there were 2 more days of class.
Equipment took the rest of the afternoon. Only one student came prepared with harness and helmet rigged. At least I had my regs in order with the proper hose lengths. Everything else was either in plastic wrap or had to be constructed.
First thing was tanks and regs. In the Basic sidemount course, the regulator configuration is quite similar to Hogarthian backmount set-up. There’s a 7′ long hose as wells as a short hose with a necklaced regulator. The benefits when diving with mixed team is obvious – the OOG procedure remains exactly the same.
Next, we tackled helmets. After initial comparisons of each others’ helmet choices – construction, climbing, and kayak, we began work. Steve provided a drill, a jig saw, some PVC piping of various sizes, sandpaper, and plenty of zip ties. Since I like tinkering, this was a lot of fun.
Following Steve’s instructions and details on why he set-up his helmet, we started fabricating. Measure twice, cut once and soon we were underway. In the end, I failed to tighten my zip ties enough (did not use pliers to really tighten). But overall things looked good on land.
Once helmets were sorted, we proceeded inside to put together a Razor sidemount harness. All three of us elected to use Steve’s harness for class. Even though basic set-up is theoretically similar to an Hogarthian harness, it felt like I was getting clothes tailored. Steve more or less measured the harness length and made adjustments to plates and D-rings while I stood in the middle of the room. Since one of the students already had his Razor sidemount harness built before class, he assisted our other classmate in kitting up.
The entire adjustment process felt like the first day of an Essentials or Fundamentals course. Check harness tightness, check the D-ring positions, and adjust as necessary. All of it ends with the ceremonious and familiar burning of the harness ends.
With our gear sorted, we were ready to hit the water. By now, it was late in the day and a trip to Ponderosa was unlikely. We opted to do some basic weighting and swimming in Steve’s communal swimming pool. In 3′ of water, we got ourselves situated as best we can.
While my weighting appeared good, it was obvious that my kayak helmet was too buoyant. It’s an odd sensation to have your head being lifted to the surface while your body wants to stay submerged. To take care of the issue, I ripped out most of the padding. With minimal padding remaining, the helmet was now neutral.
After getting personal buoyancy dialed in at neutral, we donned tanks and started to play. Once submerged, it was obvious that all of us immediately enjoyed the sidemount set-up. I couldn’t help smiling while doing backwards kicks, helicopter turns, and frog kicks around the tiny pool. Following another classmate’s lead (I’m only slightly competitive), I did S-Drills, and then started to manipulate my tanks.
Out of the water, all of us were beaming. If things were this good in 3′, we couldn’t wait for the upcoming days.
We concluded the day by finalizing weight requirements and insuring that each of us make the necessary modifications to our gear that we did not complete during the day. Tomorrow, we meet at Cuzel.
Read More:
Basic Sidemount Class – Day 2
Basic Sidemount Class – Day 3
[...] April 17, 2009 – First cold water sidemount dives. We saw this fella near the tire by Hole in the Wall. Never seen them in the cove. The closest has been in the sand channel in 30′ a couple years ago. __________________ Don Scuba Diving blog 1. Horizontal Trim 101 – Levers 2. Horizontal Trim 101 – Uses of Levers 3. April 17, 2009 – First cold water sidemount dives [...]