Of note in this years GUE conference, is the presentation by Steve Bogaerts on the subject of sidemount. The presentation is interestingly titled, “Why Sidemount?”
As most cave divers know, GUE has always been a little uncomfortable when the subject of sidemount inevitably raised its ugly head. GI3 and a few others claim that when they need it, it’s as simple as running two stages either side of the standard DIR backmount setup. Of course nobody really buys this and after a bit of a pregnant pause and a bit of hrrumping and clearing throats the subject is changed.
Sidemount doesnt fit into DIR, we all know that, and for a while this was fine for those at the top table at High Springs. Sidemount was for the poor strokes. Poor as in they have no money. GUE and DIR are very much focused at the opposite end of the financial spectrum, so I guess they didn’t really didn’t really care too much.
So what broke the happy Status Quo? Has the Status Quo even been broken at all?
Who knows really why, but many cave divers have started to embrace sidemount. In this post I wont go into the SM vs BM debate. It would serve no purpose, however the undisputed fact is that a lot of cave divers are switching to sidemount. This means they are spending money on new equipment and in many cases spending money on training, Unfortunately not a single cent of this cave diver cash wave has landed on the beaches of High Springs HQ.
Ex GUE Training director,Andrew Georgitsis of UTD fame wants his piece of the action and with astute business skill and timing has launched the attractivly marketed Razor clone (with bells and whistles), The Z system. Not really my cup of tea but with the increasing popularity of OW sidemount its easy to see where he is going.
On the other hand though keep in mind before we all get to excited, it is worth remembering that at a previous GUE conference in 2009, CCR rebreather presentations were made by Brett Hemphill and Phil Short, leading many to believe a Halcyon rebreather was on the way. It never transpired however and maybe GUE and DIR sidemount will go the same way.
So will we see GUE sidemount course and Halcyon sidemount gear any time in the near future? I believe so, but with the double underlined caveat, “A Mission Critical Tool Only”.
Article posted by AlanF
