Sidemount BCD Guide

[@shawnskiver1341]

Recently ordered the Hollis Katana ll with daul bladder. For a reg. set I'll be using the Apex xtx50 sidemount package. Can't wait to get it in the water

[@ivoryjohnson4662]

I have the Katana II dual bladder. It’s worth every penny I am a wide guy with big chest and shoulders I had to get longer straps installed but other than that every thing works out. Because it’s so configurable you need to be patient while setting it up. It has plenty of lift and lots of flexibility for AL80s or whatever tanks you are using. It works as advertised you WILL be in trim. My biggest challenge was making the dump valves work for me. After some practice I got it figured out.

[@danjcla]

What is the advantage of getting a side mount BCD rather than going to a backplate system, which can be configured to do either configuration if my understanding is correct?

[@E_Clampus_Vitus]

The location of the buoyancy.

[@aleksdogush4275]

Hi can I use Hollis sms 75 with single tank on the back, if so do I need to buy a back plate or I can use original one?

[@edwardlyden7902]

Love my Hollis 75 use it strictly for cave diving

[@chrishiggins8875]

I recently purchased the sms100. I will be diving it with 2 steel tanks and a AL pony with a dry suit. I took my new unit in the pool with the 2 steel tanks and no exposure protection to tune tank straps and hose routing. I have two questions. First is about weight. When I removed one tank underwater even with wing deflated I was very buoyant with exposure protection I will be more buoyant. Should I add weigh so if I lost a tank or had to donate it I could maintain buoyancy? Second question is the inflator. The SMS75 shows inflator coming from the lower left side and the 100 from the top. I flipped the inflator and dump. This seamed to be more out of the way, however it was much harder to dump air. Thoughts ?

[@RyanMcLean]

I'm using the Diamond Sidemount System IMO you need to test the gear with the dry suit, as your attachment points will move affecting your trim. With regards to buoyancy no you do not add extra weight, as with backmount your cylinders are part of your overall weight, you don't "remove" a cylinder in sidemount as it is always attached or held. More so when you have a dry suit as one cylinder will be attached to your bcd inflator and the other to your suit. Inflator positioning is personal choice, mine is on the lower right attached to my right cylinder and crosses my chest to my left side. When in the dry suit my bcd is not really used for buoyancy except at the surface. I dont use it to dump, I roll to my right and then use my left dump valve. Your instructor should be able to help you come to a decision, based on their experience and working with you in the water.

[@Yggdrasil42]

With steel tanks you shouldn't really be taking them off. Donate the long hose, not the full tank. The chance of losing an actual tank is negligible. If you compensate by bringing more weight you're making yourself severely overweighted just to allow for that remote possibility, while being overweighted has impact throughout your dive. It makes you use more air (both for inflation and increases your SAC rate), decreases your comfort and makes a BCD inflation failure more dangerous. Stage tanks should always be alu, precisely because you want to be able to don and doff them on the go without affecting your buoyancy. I personally dive mainly in the tropics with a wetsuit so I use alu tanks. Without a drysuit inflator needed and the tank being virtually neutral I could doff my right cylinder and leave it on the seabed. I've never felt a need to do that though. On shallow rec dives I sometimes bring only the left cylinder and leave the other on the boat. You may want to look at the excellent video training series on sidemounting.com which deals with a lot of the issues you can run into when sidemounting or tek diving. Their paid, but well worth it.

[@E_Clampus_Vitus]

Leg loops, When ?!?!