With 23 Years Of Hindsight – Rigging Options For Diving By Rosemary E Lunn

A recent post on a diving forum stated “sidemounting is just a fad”. New(er) divers to the sport could be forgiven for thinking this style of scuba diving is a recent phenomenon. Sidemounting was actually invented in the 1960s by the Brits. They were exploring sites such as Wookey Hole, Swildons Cave and other underground systems, …

EGO – A Diver’s Best Friend or Worst Enemy?

I remember a time when tec divers were taught that ego was a good thing. Nobody was implying that we should all be arrogant, but, at a time where most people thought that tec divers were (literally) stupid, that a healthy ego could give you the confidence, desire and determination needed to stay alive in a …

Mythbusters part three

This is the third in a series of articles, click here for Part One Myth – You have to do skills to pass courses, once you have the card you never need to do them again. Fact – Training courses are designed to teach you the skill and knowledge you need to start diving at …

PADI Tec Sidemount in Ireland

PADI Tec Trimix & Tec Sidemount Instructor Trainer Firas Jundi conducted the new PADI Tec Sidemount course at Scubadive West (http://www.scubadivewest.com/). The course took place from May 12th – 20th. The facility, situated in the beautiful Connemara of West Ireland, also provided superb conditions for confined & open water training with house reef that offers …

PADI Technical and Recreational Sidemount Courses

Giving divers a new and alternative way to configure their tanks - Sidemount diving offers an innovative way to streamline in the water, offers easier equipment transportation when topside (instead of hauling double tank configurations around the boat), helps in reducing lower back strain and gives a redundant gas supply. The PADI Tec Sidemount Diver …

Mixed Teams, Sidemount and Backmount

By Steve Mortell, Director of Cave Diving, PADI Technical Diving Division The term mixed teams is broadly understood as a team of divers in different equipment configurations.  Typically this is a team of divers where one or more divers is in open circuit equipment and the other team members are in CCRs.  Given the great …