#3720
tstormdiver - 10/06/2015 9:44 PM
I am a tech diver & I will do backmount 95% of the time I dive Open Circuit. I do sidemount my bailout bottles for my rebreather, but feel that sidemount is more or less just a tool. I do not have any real desire to go into places small enough to require sidemount. To some degree, I can understand someone needing double cylinders & having a bad back may need this configuration,... but not for single cylinders.

The pro’s- easier to get equipment to the water’s edge (if you don’t count the multiple trips), easy to see leaks & bubbles, easier shutdown of an offending valve or regulator & is generally more of a solo type configuration.

Cons- Gas management can be a pain, to keep the cylinders balanced, if the regulator blows (even though rare), you have just lost 1/2 of your usable air (unless you have a regulator on an additional stage bottle that can be swapped out underwater)- However this is only needed in overhead environments (Tech diving).

Sidemounting was originally developed by technical divers to get into tight places on wrecks & caves. If one has desires to do technical diving in side mounted cylinders, then going into them early-on may not be a bad thing,... the optimal thing would to be to get proper training on them. For simple, recreational diving a single cylinder is sufficient. I even dive a single cylinder for recreational dives.