Tec Sidemount: Is This PADI Course Right for You?

Walk into any tec diving forum and you'll eventually stumble across a heated debate about backmount doubles versus sidemount. At Diving Academy we teach both, but sidemount has become one of the most requested courses on our Reading schedule, and for good reason. If you've been eyeing up Tec Sidemount but aren't quite sure whether it's the right next step, this guide walks through exactly what the course involves, who it suits, and what you can expect from the training itself.

What Is Tec Sidemount, Really?

Sidemount diving started life as a cave diving configuration, developed by explorers who needed to squeeze through restrictions too narrow for a single backmounted set of doubles. Instead of two cylinders strapped to your back, each cylinder clips to a D-ring at your hip and tucks along your side, roughly under each armpit, with the valves reachable near your shoulders. The result is a lower profile in the water, independent gas supplies you can monitor and shut down individually, and a set-up that many divers find genuinely more comfortable once they've built the muscle memory.

Our Tec Sidemount course teaches the configuration properly as a technical diving skill, not just a gear swap. You'll learn how to rig cylinders correctly, trim yourself in the water so you're not fighting the equipment, manage gas from two independent sources, and handle the specific emergency drills that sidemount demands. This isn't recreational sidemount for fun and photos, though plenty of divers do go on to enjoy it that way. It's built as a genuine technical skill within our Tec Academy pathway.

Who Sidemount Training Suits

Sidemount attracts a surprisingly broad range of divers. Some come to us because standard backmounted doubles feel unwieldy or physically uncomfortable, particularly divers with back or shoulder issues who find that distributing weight along the sides rather than the spine makes long dives far more manageable. Others are drawn in by the flexibility of independent gas sources for redundancy without the bulk of a full doubles rig. A good number are simply curious explorers who've heard sidemount opens up wreck penetration and cave-style routes that backmount can't easily reach.

If you're a keen wreck diver who wants to go beyond the open swim-throughs, or if you've got your eye on eventually training in cave or advanced wreck diving, sidemount is often the more practical route in from a UK training base. It also suits divers who travel frequently and would rather carry a compact harness in hand luggage than rely on hiring doubles rigs that don't fit properly at every destination.

We also see a lot of interest from divers who simply want to feel more in control underwater. Backmounted doubles can be heavy and awkward to shoulder on a boat or a slippery quarry pontoon, whereas sidemount cylinders can be clipped on once you're already in the water, which is kinder on the back and makes solo kitting up genuinely manageable. If early spring is when you're starting to think seriously about upgrading your skills and your kit for the season ahead, sidemount is a popular choice precisely because it changes how comfortable long, cold-water dives feel.

Prerequisites and Where It Fits in Your Training

You'll need to be a certified Advanced Open Water diver (or equivalent) with a reasonable number of logged dives behind you, and comfortable with your buoyancy and trim before you start, since sidemount amplifies any bad habits rather than hiding them. Many of our students complete Tec Sidemount as a natural extension after finishing their core recreational qualifications through the Scuba Academy, using it as a bridge into the wider world of technical diving covered by our Tec Academy.

Sidemount sits nicely alongside other Tec Academy courses. Some students take it as a standalone skill to improve their diving and open up wreck penetration opportunities. Others use it as a stepping stone toward full technical certifications, decompression procedures, or eventually cave training abroad. Our instructors will talk through your goals before you book so the course genuinely fits into where you want your diving to go, rather than being treated as a one-off gear course.

A Typical Tec Sidemount Training Day

Training usually starts in the classroom or our briefing area, working through the theory of sidemount configuration, gas management principles, and the specific failure points you need to plan around. From there it's into confined water, often our local pool session, to get comfortable clipping cylinders on and off, adjusting trim, and practising valve drills without the pressure of open water conditions.

Once the basics are solid, we move to open water sessions, typically at a local inland site where visibility and conditions are predictable enough to focus purely on skills. You'll practise gas switches, simulated cylinder failures, buddy checks specific to sidemount configuration, and general trim and buoyancy work until the rig starts to feel like a natural extension of your body rather than something bolted on. Most students find the second and third dives noticeably smoother than the first, once their body has adjusted to the balance.

What You Actually Learn

By the end of the course you'll be able to rig your own cylinders correctly for your body shape and the dive plan, manage and monitor two independent gas supplies throughout a dive, execute the specific emergency drills sidemount divers need (including out-of-air scenarios and valve shutdowns), maintain stable horizontal trim while managing an asymmetric or changing gas load, and plan dives around the redundancy that two independent cylinders provide. These are transferable skills. Even divers who don't go on to further technical training report that their overall buoyancy, trim, and situational awareness improve noticeably after sidemount training, because the configuration simply doesn't forgive sloppy technique.

Common Questions Before You Book

Do I need my own sidemount harness?

No, we can provide rental equipment for the course itself so you can try the configuration properly before committing to buying your own harness and cylinders.

Is sidemount harder than backmount diving?

It's different rather than strictly harder. There's more early-course fiddling with clips and hose routing, but many divers find the actual in-water experience more comfortable once it clicks.

Can I use sidemount for recreational dives afterwards?

Absolutely. Plenty of our graduates use sidemount purely for the comfort and flexibility on ordinary dives, without ever going further into technical diving.

How long does the course take?

Most students complete Tec Sidemount over a long weekend or a series of evening pool sessions plus weekend open water days, depending on your schedule and how quickly you settle into the trim.

What cylinders and gear should I be thinking about?

Steel cylinders in the eleven to twelve litre range are the usual starting point for UK sidemount diving, chosen for their close-to-neutral buoyancy characteristics as gas is used. If you already own a drysuit and single-cylinder wing, don't worry, your instructor will help you work out what fits your existing kit and what's worth adding as you progress.

Will this help my diving even if I never go fully technical?

Yes, and it's one of the most common pieces of feedback we get. Divers who take Tec Sidemount purely out of curiosity often come away with noticeably better trim, finning technique, and gas awareness that carries straight back into ordinary recreational dives.

Why It's Worth Doing

Sidemount isn't just a fashionable configuration, it's a genuinely useful skill set that changes how you think about gas management, redundancy, and body position in the water. Whether you're chasing wreck penetration, planning ahead toward cave training, or simply want a more comfortable way to carry twin cylinders, the course pays for itself in improved diving long after you've finished the final assessment dive. It's one of the courses our instructors consistently say makes the biggest visible difference to a diver's overall water skills, not just their technical knowledge.

Ready to see if sidemount suits your diving? Explore the full Tec Sidemount course details or get in touch to talk it through with an instructor - we're at Bellman Court, Great Knollys Street, Reading, or call +44 (0) 118 9761 729.