"Do I need a sidemount instructor..?"   Back to why sidemount 

This is an extension to another article titled, My experience in becoming a cave diver (full report click here). Please read this to find out more about me Steve Martin (PADI Course Director) and Steve Bogaerts (Cave Diving Instructor) who is responsible for getting me into the world of cave diving.

I have written this article to provide more information on the subject of sidemount scuba diving and to show you just how valuable taking instruction from a highly experienced sidemount instructor actually is.

My experience in becoming a sidemount diver.?

Just before I left Mexico in March 2008 after first learning to cave dive and then learning to use DPV and stage cylinders for diving further into this overhead environment, Steve Bogaerts invited me round to talk to me about the sidemount training courses he offers and the new sidemount harness he is designing.

I had a look at some pictures of the harness being worn in and out of the water, it looked really interesting it had a very minimalist/streamlined design and quite different to the other two types currently on the market. I then watched video clips of Steve doing demonstrations of the underwater dive skills that you will learn during the sidemount course options (basic and advanced level). After that I finally got my hands on his actual Razor Sidemount diving harness..!

Let’s just say when I left, there was no doubt in my mind that this course is something I will have to come back and do!

Alright it is now 6 months on and the UK winter is approaching fast, perfect time to go back to Mexico and learn sidemount diving before leaving the UK to move to Australia. I emailed Steve Bogaerts and asked him when his next course was running and how he was getting on with finishing the custom razor harness and developing his own training materials for the sidemount diving courses. Steve replied with an option of dates and a detailed list of equipment I would need with his recommendations on what to get and from which manufacturers. He went on to say that the harness is complete but he is still working on a modular buoyancy device and his training manual won’t be ready for my course but will get one to me when it’s published.

After completing both courses I decided to write this article, to follow is a quick overview of each course as I do not want to give too much away, then my final thoughts (if you want more information please email me or skype me with your questions)

There are currently four sidemount course options offered by Steve, Intro to Side Mount, Level 1 Basic Side Mount Diver, Level 2 Advanced Side Mount Diver, Level 3 Exploration / No Mount Diver - the first two are for people learning to cave dive the others act as continued education after certifying as a qualified cave diver. I decided to do both courses with some days spare in between to practice skills learnt before starting the advanced. I would highly recommend this option as it is important to allow time for the practice dives in between, in my opinion the more dives you do the better.

Basic Side Mount Diver (Level 1)

My thoughts

There was one another student called Peter joining me on this part of the course, unlike me who was going to be getting a Steve Bogaerts custom fit Razor sidemount diving harness, Peter was using a off the shelf Armadillo sidemount harness. Both theory sessions lasted approx 2 hours each and I suggest you take a notepad as I made a lot of notes! The equipment workshop was a great part of the course, we got to drill holes in are helmets to mount the dive lights onto. I got a custom harness fitted and Peter got his Armadillo harness customized to fit within the high requirements set by Steve.

What you should know is that Steve Bogaerts has spend over 10 years exploring the caves here in Mexico, trying to find new routes that join up say two different cave systems. To do this he has had to equip himself in sidemount configuration to allow him to remove his cylinders to pass through small restrictions within certain parts of the cave enabling him to now find a route through, most people would not even believe it is possible to fit a person through some of the passages! Please remember this is only one of the reasons you might want to dive in sidemount, not the only one.

Main reason for telling you this is to make it clear that someone who pushes the way forward in sidemount exploration diving puts a high demand on the equipment they use. Due to wearing out many of the commercially available products on the market today, Steve had no choice but to design something that is better situated for the type of caves he was diving in. As he says “necessity is the mother of all invention” this has led to him designing a custom fit harness that will be going on the market soon and believe me having dived with someone else on the course who was using a brand new current top of the line product then compare this to the custom razor harness I had, for me there is no comparison to what I would recommend... Razor all the way!

Ok back to the equipment workshop, with Steve’s guidance we modified nearly every piece of equipment that we would need in a way, that made sure the item was easily accessible during the dive but would be kept out of the way when not needed, enabling you to pass through smaller parts of the cave easily without impacting the environment. During the second day we modified anything that needed more tweaking.

Now onto the best part of the course the skills and cave dives, we watched video clips of the skills we would learn and Steve would do a live demonstration in water before we repeat. Two of my favorites were hovering face down/up and swimming in that position, another was moving thought 360 degrees (head to toe) whilst staying neutral in the water column, very cool not really possible in backmount! There were many more skills and drills and we learned how to deal with many possible equipment failures. The basic course finished with two cave dives on the last day, as always Steve was giving feedback all the way through – the biggest thing for me at this time was to practice and work on doing all the finning techniques you learn whilst cave diving whilst keeping my legs straight not the usual bent at 90 degrees, had to be able to do this in all orientations meaning swimming upside down and on each side.

Advanced Side Mount Diver (Level 2)

My thoughts

The course was now one-on-one training as Peter left to see the rest of Mexico (think the girlfriend dragged him away ;) In the advanced course the heat really gets turned up so to speak.

During the additional theory session you really learn the potential of diving in sidemount, learn extra dive skills and safety procedures that could enable you to safely dive solo as many cave explorers often do. You carry some additional safety items and learn drills & skills that allow you to deal with any potential problem that may occur and at any point in the dive. As for the dive skills well now you start removing and replacing the cylinders and doing gas shutdown drills whilst inverted with your mask flooded, yep its good fun! You will also do a line circuit in the open water that goes under boulders and through tight restrictions that require you to remove cylinders to pass through, not to difficult with my eyes open, alright repeat the circuit with eyes closed simulating a no visibility situation, bet your interested now.

After that you get the chance to dive in some quite small caves which have areas that require you to think a lot about your positioning and orientation, all the time Steve is there with advice and feedback. I learnt the most from watching Steve while he dives, I suggest along with the course you book in some additional guided dives with Steve and ask him to lead pay close attention to how he moves and orientates himself in small parts of the cave and try your best to repeat. I believe that having done these 2 courses and some guided dives it has put me a year or so ahead of all the other people out there who are trying to teach themselves sidemount diving.

Ending thoughts

If you are asking yourself "should I to try sidemount diving or not?" I would say that you should definitely take the Intro to Side Mount or Level 1 Basic Side Mount Diver, as these are for anyone, they concentrates on getting your buoyancy and trim correct whilst diving in sidemount configuration. It is the advanced course that takes it a step or two further by going into more advanced theory and skills like removing and replacing cylinders and becoming more self sufficient.

I am sure by the time you actually take your course with Steve, he will have a complete custom sidemount harness with a modular buoyancy device and he will have published his own training manual with a pre-study section to complete before you start the course and the video clips I watched will have been integrated into the course powerpoint presentations that you will be shown during your training. Having been through both the basic and advanced sidemount courses these are the only improvements I would like to see.

Being a PADI Course Director myself, I have reached a high level in diver training and have been on and run many training courses, so believe me when I say honestly you will not find a better instructor to teach you sidemount diving than Steve Bogaerts. To book on a course with him visit his websites www.aztecdiving.com and www.gosidemount.com

I hope you found this article useful and wish you the best of success with your sidemount cave training, I am now offering "open water" sidemount courses myself using the Steve Bogaerts razor harness - please look around the rest of my website, especially check out the photo & video section and why sidemount.