The Who’s Who of Sidemount

Garry Dallas

Garry Dallas, principal of Simply Sidemount & Simply Tec  is known as a consummate sidemount diver and instructor. His in-water skills particularly developing what he refers to as “the hover” are world class and he is passionate about supporting his students to master this foundational skill. Garry is a RAID Instructor Trainer and a Divesoft Factory CCR Instructor and Ambassador. He is also an ambassador for and test diver for Fourth Element, Nautec Valves, Ammonite Systems, XDeep, Dluxe Dive Gear, Ocean Reef and Otter Drysuits.

What is sidemount to you?

Sidemount has always been a personal choice for me, as it is for many people around the world. It’s simply a fine art and the finesse of everything I value in diving. As well as repositioning the cylinders on your sides, maintaining maximum control of your equipment and gas supply, it’s being able to effortlessly hold any position in the water and glide efficiently and gracefully. The dedicated rig takes the minimalistic approach, configured through streamlining equipment, balance and buoyancy, profile and trim resulting in lower air consumption, total control and complete self reliance.

Cries and concerns from around the world debate: standardization has and will always prove to be difficult to conform to. There are also many different types of Sidemount rigs out there, tried and tested by diligent seasoned professionals, as well as various types of cylinders that may only be available in certain parts of the world. The route to a decent configuration is varied, but as long as we stay true to the ideology, we have a good system globally. From a training perspective, there’s various ways to achieve a good level of competence to compliment a streamlined ‘balanced rig’. As long as there’s efficient true redundancy, streamlined with the correct skillset, we are diving safe.

Every time I change in and out of different systems through teaching days, I am constantly reassured that Sidemount has a definitive edge over other systems in the water. When you know what you can really do with it, rather than just diving it, it always puts a smile on my face. The balance and stability is immediately obvious, knowing how flexible and modular this system really is. At the end of the day, back in the 60s, it was safe enough for a cave divers, right?

Does sidemount help achieve better trim and buoyancy? How?

Good trim is achieved through correct distribution and amount of weight for any system. Remembering aluminum 80 cuft and 12 ltr high pressure steel cylinders (mostly these, as well as every other cylinder) have very different characteristics. But once the divers weighting is sorted, the weight of gas required for the dive (including redundancy) is equal to the volume of buoyancy needed.  Of course, the cylinders, valves and first stage regulators in sidemount are considerably much lower than a twinset would be. This immediately shifts the balance of weight. Then we add the lead weight accordingly relative to maintaining good trim. Accessories like bum mounted batteries, spools etc, including fins can also have a significant effect on a diver’s trim (weight). In the end, everything gets balanced out, then the wing mounted in the correct position and/or drysuit lifts the diver evenly in the water column.

How does one become better every day as a sidemount diver?

First of all, get the best training you can. We don’t know what we don’t know. Then dive the rocks off it! We can only improve by practicing good practices. We can only use good practices to become better than we were. Decipher the good from the er… not so good on the internet. We can only learn from those with more cultivated experience than ourselves.

Return to: The Who’s Who of Sidemount

DIVE DEEPER

Speaking Sidemount E006 – The Importance of the “Hover” – Garry Dallas Interview Part 1

Speaking Sidemount E007 – Garry Dallas Part 2: Bell Island & SF2 Sidemount Rebreather