Monday 23 April 2012

Side Mounts Diving

Diving Sidemount  

The Natural Way of Diving


Diving sidemount means you take one or two cylinders and place them on either side of your body, rather than mounting them on your back.
Sidemount equipment has been the preferred choice for cave divers. It is now becoming very popular for many recreational divers, including wreck divers & technical divers. Personally I have found that diving sidemount with one or two cylinders is more enjoyable and gives me greater freedom.

Why I use Sidemount equipment

 Buoyancy control is better and a more streamlined profile reduces drag which makes fining and moving through the water much more efficient. This reduces air consumption resulting in longer dive times.
There is a much greater comfort level because the sidemount harness and equipment is custom fitted to each individual. This accommodates divers of all shapes and sizes.
Much easier for divers with any disabilities or back problems because you carry the cylinders separate from your harness .Once in the water you attach your cylinders negating the need to carry cylinders from the kiting up area to the dive site.
Safer option in terms of air management as you have an easier access to your cylinder valve.
One harness and BCD does it all. The same sidemount equipment is used for more advanced types of diving.
Can My Buddy Still Use Standard Equipment
Yes .All you need to do is note the differences in equipment setup on your pre dive check.

The Hollis SMS 50 review 2012


The long awaited arrival of the Hollis SM50 finally came to an end with some help from Hollis and Hollis UK,  Kelvin Richards and his team including PADI regional Manager Richard Howes,, Still currently unreleased Till June with only a few test models existing in the world, I was honoured to be one of the first to test the new sleek unit. Which I found to be a brilliant unit.. I got given the unit like it would come out the box,, with a few Easy changes I like to do to any unit for the way I Side mount.. (Although this unit comes ready to go) I like a continues bungee,, fixed D rings ect..

The Hollis SM50 is the new, sleeker smoother, and more streamlined ‘sidemount only unit. Unlike the SMS 100 the SMS 50 is aimed at the recreational market of SM not the technical sidemount diving. I did dive it in the shallows of Capernwray with my dry-suit steel 10s and ali 80s,,
The SMS 100 (the multipurpose unit and big brother to the SM50) is the unit I choose to do my technical sidemount diving on, and is also great for recreational sidemount diving too.

The new design and low profile of the SMS 50 wing and harness makes for an INCREDIBLY comfortable, streamlined, and easy to use unit underwater,, it is a smooth unit that is small and supportive unit.. I went in to the cock pit of the plane with ease and threw the escape window with ease.. Hovering around in all orientation was easy, all my finning techniques where easy, with the help due to the less drag,, even when fully inflated had little drag unlike the RAZOR which when inflated seems to be like Turtle Shell creating drag.. There has been a lot of thought gone into this unit even the little weight pouches which are great..

Hollis has seemingly taken over the sidemount market for me having dived a lot of the other units on the market, I will be using Hollis all the way..

 Thank You Tony Cooper (UK)
www.divesidemounts.com