Choosing a Sidemount CCR

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I got asked recently about choosing a Sidemount CCR. Of course, this is a subject that will lead to war on social media, but I thought I would put my reasons into the mix. 

 

Manual v E-CCR

 

Many cave and very experienced (old?) CCR divers favour a manual unit. It makes sense in a lot of ways being able to manually control loop volume and PO2 in an environment with a lot of depth changes. The thing is, if you stop doing this on a manual unit it can go hypoxic, or if a constant flow valve type even hyperoxia. As any CCR diver will tell you both those situations are very, very bad. 

 

E-CCR’s and the associated components and electronics are these days very reliable. It is technology that will keep you alive in the event you are distracted by an incident or task loaded. Good E-CCR’s can also be run as a manual unit to manage failures, but also as a choice, say to control loop volume in changing depths, but with a low safety set point so the unit will automatically maintain a breathable loop if the user does not, say 0.4. So, all the advantages of manual, without the risks specific to manual. 

 

To my mind manuals are yesterday’s technology with no functionality or benefit and considerably more risk over an E-CCR unit. Run the E-CCR manually over a low setpoint and you keep all the benefits of manual with a significant safety net. Manual CCR is really stepping back 10-20 years. If you think todays electronics risk of failure justifies a manual unit you haven’t really looked at the reliability of today’s electronics. 

 

If this argument makes sense to you then units like the Kiss Sidewinder, Sidekick and Golem Flex amongst others need huge advantages in other areas to overcome their manual basis.

 

Counterlungs

 

This is a big challenge on Sidemount ccr’s. The units desired position means that it is difficult to get counterlungs that are in the right place relevant to your own lungs to minimise hydrostatic differences between the two and make breathing easy, known as work of breathing or WOB. There are really 3 main solutions that Sidemount ccr designers have used. 

 

Bellows/ Accordion style counterlungs

 

The benefit of these is that they fit nicely into a cylinder type tube. Because they act as both inhale and exhale lung, you are effectively transferring a breath from your lungs to outside your hip or chest. This causes buoyancy changes. These changes demand a cross tensioning of the unit to stop it moving as it becomes alternatively positive and negatively buoyant. If done well the unit does not move, but this fixation means the diver must compensate for the buoyancy change at the hip with each breath.  

 

It is also a challenge to make bellows lungs flood tolerant. Any unit that is not flood tolerant is a massive risk and puts a big mark for me against units with these lungs, I could maybe cope with the irritation of my hip being lifted and dropped with each breath… I’d rather not!  These lung types have another big issue, they will not breathe at all when vertical and as much as we aspire to flat trim all the time, some wrecks and caves are not very accommodating to this need!

 

External lungs

 

The most popular unit with these lungs is the Kiss Sidewinder, it really helps work of breathing, probably best in class, but means both the lungs and the breathing hose (over shoulder routing) are very exposed. Demounting the unit to pass a restriction is also challenging. 

 

Inhale/exhale lung

 

As far as I know only the Liberty, Proteus and T Reb have proper inhale lungs with good water traps. This means they are flood tolerant and have no buoyancy change or hip lift for the diver with each breath. The Liberty lung position is especially good for work of breathing. This design allows water to be purged from the exhale lung making a flood recovery (say someone kicked out your mouthpiece briefly) possible.

 

In summary a flood tolerant solution with good work of breathing in all positions is paramount. If achieving this means more plumbing routed around the body to offboard lungs and creates an inability to demount the unit, then why even bother using a side mount unit, unless you dive flat, height restricted bedding planes!

 

Onboard v Offboard Gases

 

Almost all the Sidemount units on the market today rely on offboard gas connections to O2 and/or diluent gases. Some of them look like a home plumbed bathroom with the amount of connections and hoses routed across and around the body. I have seen divers in ‘Sidemount’ that have o2 and diluent bottles mounted on a backplate defeating many of the advantages that Sidemount was developed for.  Commonly O2 bottles are butt mounted along with suit bottles and torches. Now I have a fair amount of real estate on my butt… but all that is too much! Any offboard to lungs or gases makes mounting and demounting the unit a pain.

 

The only unit I know that has all onboard gas is the Liberty. Now, you want the ability to offboard gas in case of primary supply failures, the Liberty needs some mods to make this work, but they are simple and easy to do.

 

Size, Position on Body, Streamlined

 

Open circuit sidemount’s main advantages are that cylinders are trimmed and tight to the body, that they have no protrusions and are unmoving. Equally important is that they are quick and easy to don and doff. This achieves a flexible torso for the diver allowing twisting and bending. Demounting the cylinders in a dive creates a profile allowing gas in front and gas behind for restrictions, as well as leaving a very small profile for the diver.

 

This open circuit sidemount flexibility is compromised in any Sidemount CCR that is bigger than a 12-litre steel in height and circumference, has offboard gas feeds and blocks or external components like scrubbers or counterlungs.

 

There are only a very few units that to my mind are streamlined and the right size, two are the T Reb and the Liberty. As the T Reb has offboard gas I am afraid it gets crossed off my list. 

 

So, there you have it, my criteria for a Sidemount CCR

 

  • No offboard Components or plumbing
  • Full ECCR Electronics
  • Easy to run Manually with a low setpoint
  • All gases on board
  • Flood Tolerant
  • Easy WOB in all positions – so no bellows counterlungs
  • Ability to have offboard gases added in an emergency

 

and the Liberty is the only unit that meets all the requirements.

 

Others will argue, though justifying the downside of manual units, bellows or offboard lungs, offboard gases etc is going to need an original and well reasoned argument if I would change my mind!

 

 

Matt

Matt Jevon, M.Sc. F. IoD is a Full Expedition level Trimix and Cave instructor on OC and CCR with TDI and ANDI. He is the JJ-CCR and Divesoft Liberty Sidemount instructor and dealer for Ireland. Matt’s personal diving has included cave exploration in the Philippines, wreck projects in Croatia and Ireland as well as being one of the inaugural dirty dozen in Truk! Matt has held accreditations as an interdisciplinary sports scientist, sports psychologist with BASES and was a British Olympic Registered Strength and Conditioning Coach and invitee on the Olympic Psychology Advisory Group. Matt works in high performance business as a board advisor and non-exec, high performance sport and is a partner in South West Technical Diving in Ireland. www.swt.ie and writes the Facebook page Psychological Skills for Diving

#tdidivecentre #andifacility #Apekstechnicalcentre #caveinstructor #jjccrfactoryservicecentre #JJCCR  #ANDI #nolimitsexploration #cavediving #Apeks #divesoft #sidemountccr #southwestech #nautilus #othree90ninety  #divemorepostless #xdeep #TDI #technicaldiving #scaleolights #rebreathers #seacraft #kubidrygloves #sidemountessentialsinstructor #sidemountccr #libertyccr #jjccr_official #wedontsellwhatwedontdive #nobubbles #diving #deepdive #techdiving #technicaldiving #ccrdiver #underwater #trimix #wreckdiver #cavediver

 

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Sidemount Essentials

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Training that will forever change the way you dive!!

Sidemount Essentials ...Steve Martin's signature training courseThe training I offer is based around the following concept…

  1. Diver develops the essential skills (which every diver needs)
  2. Diver needs a truly balanced equipment configuration (sidemount gives this)
  3. Diver needs a cutting edge training course (backed by years of experience)
  4. Diver is capable of deciding what’s next (now experienced & ready)
  5. Diver is able to learn advanced/technical levels (correctly due to foundation training)
  6. Diver gets the return they expected!! (for the money & time they invested)

This concept is what I am 100% behind. That is why there are no short cuts in learning to sidemount with myself, the training you will get will not leave you thinking of going back into a backmounted (twinset). If it does, then I would look at giving you your money back (seriously)!! You getting the right sidemount training course and instructor will make all the difference..

You would not believe the amount of emails I am starting to get from newly certified sidemount divers who are complaining that sidemount is not working for them and they do not look like or can dive like they see students in my photos and YouTube videos.

My short reply to those emails is… So, sorry to hear that, now let’s have a Live Chat (see icon bottom right of screen) or Skype call this way I can easily explain why this happened to you and ways to remedy it. Usually it is down to the equipment selection, the amount of time spent learning and the instructor’s knowledge/skill level is questionable. If you are looking for sidemount training then please save yourself this problem, contact me before you learn (it will cost you nothing but time).

I will happily give anyone 15-30 minutes of my time and if you still train with someone other than me, at least you will have a better idea of what training you should be getting.

Training conditions and detailed course information..

  1. All students must have completed my online training prior to any in-water course (reasons why shown above on this page)
  2. All divers must use approved training equipment (listed below, equipment will be provided for you)
  3. Training must take place over a minimum of 3 full days (recommend 4 days)
  4. This training course will not be the cheapest out there, this is for good reason

My training equipment;

  • Sidemount Harness and BCD = Razor, Apeks and XDeep Stealth Systems (if you use another system, let me know)
  • Sidemount Regulators = Apeks Sidemount Package or mtxr / rc sidemount regs (if you have your own, let me know)
  • Sidemount Cylinders & Hardware = (Selection of LP Steel and Aluminium)

Firstly, you do not need to go out and buy any sidemount equipment, if fact I recommend against it !!

Unless you have taken a training course and you know sidemount is the way you want to head why invest so much in equipment..? How about instead pay more for your training and then make an informed decision on equipment selection (thus saving you time, money and frustration in the long run). All sidemount equipment will be provided for you during training, if you have your own you can bring this.

Sidemount Essentials is a 4 day training program that does much more than teach you how to sidemount dive, it makes you into a well rounded and capable diver.

During the program you will develop and be tested on the skills every diver should aim to have…
Sidemount Essentials ...Steve Martin's signature training course 2

  • Diving in a team, how to deal with diver emergencies
  • Develop the correct reflex responses to surprise equipment failures
  • Essentials skills like advanced navigation techniques and SMB deployment
  • Develop advanced buoyancy, trim & propulsion (finning) techniques
  • Learn dive planning and discussing the what if’s and pre-dive problem solving
  • Learn how to adapt to varying conditions, like current, surge, being lost
  • Adapting to different dive sites and boat diving techniques
  • Learn advanced navigation and underwater awareness techniques

Some benefits for the recreational diver;

  • Diver will develop the essential skills set.
  • This course is a lot more than just an “intro to technical diving”
  • Easier to learn twin cylinder diving using sidemount than a backmounted twinset
  • Course stays within recreational diving limits, increases safety and allows more in water time for learning
  • Best thing to do is contact me and we can talk through your diving experience and together make suggestions on your best way forward.

Some benefits for the technical diver;

  • Enables access to dive sites that taking a backmounted twinset is either difficult or impossible.
  • Your cylinders are put on and taken off in water so no more straining your back and body.
  • A system that offers a “true” redundant and independent air source (without carrying additional cylinders).
  • Having the cylinders at your side enables better trim and buoyancy control (than with a twinset).
  • Have easy access to your cylinder valves should a problem arise (fixes the can not reach behind the head twinset problem).
  • Same equipment is used during more advanced technical training e.g. “wreck penetration” and cave diving in “restrictions”.
  • Having this speciality enables you to take further training using sidemount equipment during any PADI TecRec technical courses.

What will we do..?

There will be; theory, equipment workshops, surface land drills, training dives and open water dives. All will include detailed feedback and daily video debriefing sessions.

Sidemount Essentials ...Steve Martin's signature training course 3

  • Cylinder Setup Workshop
  • Regulator Configuration Workshop
  • Sidemount System Workshop
  • Accessories Workshop
  • Surface Land Drills
  • Propulsion/Finning Techniques Workshop
  • Review and Practice Valve Shutdown Procedures
  • Review and Practice Gas Sharing Protocols
  • Advanced Buoyancy Training
  • Navigation Workshop (Correct Compass Use)
  • Advanced Dive Planning & Underwater Simulation
  • Team Diving Protocols & SMB Deployment

Suggested schedule;

  • Day 1 – Equipment workshops & skills training dive 1.
  • Day 2 – Complete theory, surface land drills & skills training dives 2 & 3.
  • Day 3 – Open water dives 1 & 2 (& skills assessments)
  • Day 4 – Open water dives 3 & 4 (& skills assessments)

What do I need to start..?

You need to be; PADI Advanced Open Water Diver (or equivalent rating) and at least 18 years old with 25 logged dives (minimum).

  • Mask & Suitable Fins
  • Suitable Exposure Protection
  • All Sidemount Equipment (will be provided)
  • Compass/SMB & Spool (contact me for my recommendations)

Sidemount Essentials can be combined with technical level upgrade options..Sidemount Essentials ...Steve Martin's signature training course 4

  1. Sidemount Essentials = 3 to 4 days
  2. Sidemount Essentials + Tec 40 = 4 days (minimum)
  3. Sidemount Essentials + Advanced Nitrox = 4 days
  4. Sidemount Essentials + Advanced Nitrox + Deco Procedures = 7 days
  5. Sidemount Essentials + Tec 40, Tec 45 = 6 days
  6.  Sidemount Essentials + Tec 40 Tec 45 Tec 50 = 8 days
  7.  Trimix Training Course(s) for PADI and TDI available – please contact me for details, a lot is based on your current experience and qualifications.

Please note: additional PADI/TDI training materials and certification fee(s) apply (pre-study required).

What can I do once certified and what to try next..?

All future technical level courses can be done whilst wearing sidemount once you have done the initial Sidemount Essentials training.

Here is a test I suggest you try, it should prove how good the sidemount essentials program actually is… I suggest you visit my fan page, then look at all the sidemount essential divers and view anyone of their facebook profiles and you will see if they are still using sidemount or not 😀

I look forward to your questions and the chance to train you in sidemount. If you are an experienced instructor and want to offer this Sidemount Essentials Course to others then read my instructor level training courses below.

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Further Information

Enquires regarding sidemount training should be made to Matt Jevon by phone +353-21-471-4992 or contact him by email: dive@swt.ie

Course Information

Course Prices

150.00 per day

Prerequisites

AOW diver or equivalent.

other pre-requisites apply for advanced courses

18 years old

Student to Instructor Ratio

3:1 (maximum)

No. Sessions

min 2 max 12 dives

Equipment

On joining we will send you a kit list, full kit can be rented for the course

Related Courses

Cave

Advanced Wreck

Mixed Gas Courses

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Challenging and a lot to learn but a great course

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TDI Technical Sidemount

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TDI Technical Sidemount

[/box] Who is it for
The TDI Sidemount Diver Course is the ideal specialty for any diver wishing to use this increasingly popular equipment configuration; either as a stand-alone course OR in conjunction with one of TDI’s other open circuit technical specialties such as Decompression Procedures, Extended Range, Trimix, Advanced Trimix, and Advanced Wreck. If this course is combined, the requirements for BOTH courses must be met. The TDI Sidemount Diver course teaches students how to utilize side-mounted primary cylinders as an alternative to the traditional back-mounted method
What you can expect to learn:
 
The TDI Sidemount Diver Course takes an in-depth look at all of the following
 

  • Gas matching procedures to include dissimilar volumes
  • Gas management utilizing independent cylinders
  • Psychological considerations of technical diving
  • Equipment considerations including:
  • Cylinder options
  • Regulator options
  • BCD/harness options
  • Proper weighting
  • Equipment configurations
  • Communication (light and hand signals)
  • Problem solving in a sidemount configuration
  • Diving in tight or confined spaces
  • Conservation
  • Water entries/exits
  • S-drills specific to sidemount diving

Course Skills

  • Propulsion techniques such as the frog kick, modified frog kick, modified flutter kick, backwards kick, helicopter turns, and hand pulling if appropriate for the environment.
  • Demonstrate adequate buoyancy control; ability to hover at a fixed position in water column without moving hands or feet
  • Demonstrate adequate trim; ability to maintain proper position during the descent, bottom, and ascent portion of the dive
  • Perform the following exercises maintaining trim and buoyancy:
    • Unclipping and attaching sidemount cylinders
    • Perform gas switches with and without a mask
    • Demonstrate the ability to safely manage gas in independent cylinders
    • Demonstrate conservation, awareness, and back referencing techniques
    • Deploy a lift bag

What’s Included
The course fee covers instructional time, manual, use of facilities including pool. Students are expected to cover boat and accommodation costs but we have packages available. Only after the successful completion of the course do you pay your certification fee – “you pay for training – you earn the certification”

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Prerequisites
Advanced Diver or equivalent, Nitrox recommended, minimum of 40 dives
Student to Instructor Ratio
4:1 (maximum)
No. Sessions
2 x theory; 1 pool practical kit setup session; 3 x open water dives.
Equipment
On joining we will send you a kit list, full kit can be rented for the course
Related Courses
Wreck & Advanced Wreck
Cavern, Cave
Advanced Nitrox
Decompression Procedures
TEC 40, 45 & TEC 50
Foundations of Safer Diving

[/et_pb_text][et_pb_testimonial admin_label=”Testimonial” author=”Kirk K, Kerry” job_title=”Rec Diver” url_new_window=”off” quote_icon=”on” use_background_color=”on” background_color=”#f5f5f5″ background_layout=”light” text_orientation=”left” portrait_border_radius=”90″ portrait_width=”90″ portrait_height=”90″ body_font_size=”14″ use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid”]

I’ve been diving for over 20 years, including instructing and Matt was able to bring my diving skills and knowledge to a completely new level

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