Episode #95 Steve Martin and Vas Proud - "Educating Sidemount Part 1"

Awesome to bring you Episode #95 Steve Martin and Vas Proud - "Educating Sidemount Part 1" with the support of our brilliant sponsor XDEEP and the patrons of Speaking Sidemount. Huge thanks to both for their ongoing support of this podcast.

I've spoken many times on this show about how I got started in sidemount. Steve Bogaerts' Ponderosa skills video was the trigger but quickly after that, I found Steve Martin's website. He was the first to promote the benefits of sidemount diving to a global audience. His content, images and video were incredibly compelling and form the basis of much that you will read to this day about sidemount diving.

While I didn’t get the opportunity to complete a course with Steve, it was his recommendations and testimonials that led me to Tom Steiner and Gozo Technical Diving in Malta. I subsequently, had the good fortune to meet and dive with Steve while I was working and training with Tom.

Just a year or so later Steve released his first online video training series. In my opinion, it was a watershed moment in sidemount. From the beginning I was taken with the level of detail in each of the video modules describing everything from setting up your harness, regulators and cylinders to putting it in the water with details on how to weight check properly, diver trim checks and fixes, propulsion training, base sidemount skills, and emergency drills.

Over the subsequent years, Steve partnered with his former student Vas Proud to enhance and grow the online video training to the point today where it includes hundreds of hours of content including Intro to Sidemount, Sidemount Essentials, Sidemount Instructor modules, and a whiteboard series covering a huge array of tech diving content plus soon a cave diving series.

I have used the videos to improve my sidemount diving and as a basis for my courses and instruction. It is in my opinion an essential part of any sidemount divers toolkit.

Now in this episode which is part 1 of a two-episode discussion with Steve and Vas, we go into their backgrounds, how the video series came about, the thinking behind it and the benefits it provides, how the online video training compares and should be used alongside instructor-led training and we catch up and have a few laughs along the way.

As I've described, I'm an absolute advocate of the sidemounting.com online video training. I honestly believe it will help any sidemount diver or instructor to improve their diving and as such, I have negotiated a special offer for all listeners of Speaking Sidemount – you can get a 15% discount on any of the training materials if you contact me directly for an exclusive promotional code.

This offer is only available via Speaking Sidemount by contacting me personally via DM or email at steve@sidemountpros.com. Full disclosure, along with your discount, Speaking Sidemount will also benefit financially from every purchase generated which will contribute to the ongoing production of this podcast. I sincerely appreciate your support.

 Enjoy Cheers

Steve

Episode #94 Florian Symoens - "Transitioning to a Full Time Instructor"

Hey, great to bring you Episode 94 Florian Symoens - "Transitioning to a Full Time Instructor" with the support of our show sponsor XDEEP and the patrons of Speaking Sidemount. Huge thanks to both for their support which helps to make this show possible.

Well, there must be something in the water in Belgium. For such a small country, located in northern Europe… there seem to be so many divers from there doing great things. To date I've interviewed David DeBruyne 48, Laurent Miroult 63, Sanne Volja 74, and Ellen Cuylaerts 91… and for some time now I've been following the exploits of Florian Symoens.

Florian is an ISE Tech and Cave instructor who for many years juggled his diving passion with his hospitality business. Surprisingly during COVID while his "nightlife business" was in lockdown, Florian's diving activities boomed with more courses and the time to explore the mines in Belgium with Sanne.

As the world opened up so did the possibility that Florian could transition from his nightlife business to becoming a full-time Technical Diving instructor. As Florian and I discuss, there are so many of us who juggle our careers and diving so it was outstanding to hear his story and his plans for the future.

In this episode, Florian and I discuss his diving background, the Inner Space Explorers or ISE Agency, and ISE's take on sidemount diving. We get into how Florian became a cave instructor and given that much of the diving in Belgium is mines, we contrast cave, wreck and mine diving, covering the similarities and the differences we need to be aware of.

Florian takes us through the sale of his business and his progression to a full-time Tech instructor. We talk mine exploration in Belgium and then the tools required including the KISS Sidewinder rebreather on which Florian is now an instructor.

Florian has experience on a bunch of rebreathers so we compare and contrast a few, in particular, the Dive Soft Liberty before we share our excitement on the upcoming release of the second generation KISS Sidewinder or Sidewinder 2.0

We close on Florian's plans for this year and beyond.

Enjoy :)

Steve

Episode #93 Tamara Adame - "The Path to Cave Instructor"

Hey, I hope you are having a great start to the year :)!! It's awesome to bring you Episode #93 Tamara Adame - "The Path to Cave Instructor". Thanks again for your support.

Huge thanks also to XDEEP for sponsoring the show. Their support has been instrumental in the success of this podcast and it is sincerely appreciated.

One of the pinnacles in the application of sidemount diving is of course cave diving and cave exploration. It's an addictive pastime to research and then ultimately physically search for and then investigate flooded holes in the ground in an attempt to find that euphoric "never seen before… virgin cave passage.

Many cave explorers either started their journeys as sidemount and cave instructors or found their way to this profession as a way to pay for their passion. For the vast majority, it's a match made in heaven where they get to earn a living sharing and teaching about how to dive caves and then applying their skills to their exploration. Teaching is also the perfect way to keep their cave diving skills current and built into muscle memory.

The path to becoming a cave instructor is long. There's joining courses with other instructors, observing their teaching styles and content, having your skills reviewed and critiqued, then when you are ready… assisting on courses, being evaluated and then eventually qualifying as a Cavern instructor, teaching, building experience and then repeating this process twice more to reach the coveted level of Full Cave instructor. I'm using the TDI agency levels here but they map easily to the levels of other agencies… long story short… it's a journey full of pressure, failures, learning, and ultimately I am sure one of satisfaction when achieving a pinnacle level in the dive profession.

In this episode, Tamara Adame joins me to share her journey along this path to cave instructor under the mentorship of Patrick Widmann of ProTec Playa. I had the good fortune to meet and hang with Tamara a bit while I was at ProTec training with Patrick. She's an amazing person, a great diver, and has a real passion for caves and diving.

Tamara talks about growing up around the ocean in Mexico and how this shaped her love of everything aquatic. She shares on her time in Belgium building her career before she found herself back in Mexico and ultimately falling in love with caves and cave diving. She shares on how she met Patrick and how he guided her on her path to becoming a cave instructor. Tamara goes into how she came to work at Protec and the standards-driven focus of the team there.

We discuss the challenges, failures and ultimately achieving the standards required in cave instructor training and where Tamara is taking her diving including her scientific diving work and the search for "Tamara's Cave".

Enjoy :)!!

Steve

Episode 92 Pepe Tiburon: "Tren Maya - A Disaster in the Making"

Great to bring you Episode #92 Pepe Tiburon: "Tren Maya - A Disaster in the Making". Big thanks to all of you and also to our brilliant sponsor XDEEP. Your support makes this podcast possible.

Many of you will be aware of the environmental issues and development pressures experienced on the Yucatan peninsula in the area spanning from Cancun to Tulum. This area encompasses the largest cave systems in the world, many of which are also of huge archaeological and environmental significance, playing home to rare species of flora and fauna, Mayan artefacts, and geological features dating back millions of years. On top of that, the caves are aquifers that carry the water supply for all life in the region.

Development pressures and the lack of adequate development controls have already damaged the region recently the Mexican Government's plan to build a train loop from Cancun to Tulum directly through the pristine jungle and above the precious caves of the region has caused huge concern and opposition. Known as Tren Maya, the train was originally planned to run along the highway meaning its impact would be manageable however, following opposition from the hotel industry, the Government decided to move the train 7km inland through the jungle and yes directly over some of the best-flooded caves on the planet. All cave divers should be concerned about this but more than that, the loss of jungle habitat, endangered species, and the ongoing and increasing damage to the water supply should worry us all.

I have covered this topic in other episodes notably EP #36 Somos Los Cenotes with Phillip Lehmann, Natalie and Vince of Under the Jungle and also with Alessandra Figari #77 and Robbie Schmittner #85 but when Stratis Kas provided an introduction to Jose Urbina Bravo or Pepe Tiburon as he is known I took the opportunity to meet and find out more.

In this episode, Pepe takes us through the background and history of Tren Maya and then describes the issues and terrible outcomes likely if this project is allowed to continue. He speaks not only of the damage caused by the Tren Maya project itself but also of the "Cancer" that will result in terms of additional development surrounding the train and environmental damage in these last remaining pristine jungle regions of Mexico.

Pepe updates us on his progress including winning a legal injunction to stop the project before this was overridden by the Government. He talks of the ongoing battle to oppose the project and his recent trip to Mexico City to meet with the Government face-to-face. But Pepe also provides balance to the discussions with ways in which development might occur in the region where technology and modern techniques might both reverse current issues and allow for responsible development in the future.

Lastly Pepe shares with us ways in which all of us who love this region and care about the environment might assist and support the fight to oppose the Tren Maya project in its current form.

So sit back and join me with Pepe Tiburon in this episode of… Speaking Sidemount.

Watch a video of Pepe showing the damage.

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Episode #91 Ellen Cuylaerts - "The Power of Positive"

Hey, great to bring you Episode 91 Ellen Cuylaerts - "The Power of Positive", with the support of our sponsor XDEEP and the patrons of Speaking Sidemount. Massive thanks to both for their support :)!

Of all the disciplines associated with diving, photography and videography have always been special to me. The ability to capture that perfect moment, underwater, in often challenging conditions, dealing with lighting and composition and the technical requirements of the camera in an underwater environment. Add the dive skills to be stable in the water while seeking "the shot".

I love shooting GoPro videos of my dives, clipping images and editing them into almost a video logbook of where I have been and dived and sharing them on the Sidemount Pros YouTube channel is satisfying. But like anything, there are levels to this, and in photography, capturing images worthy of magazine spreads or covers and winning awards against their peers is the pinnacle.

Many great photographers and videographers are out there, and I have had a few on the show… Laurent Miroult, Stratis Kas, Phillip Lehman, Natalie Gibb and Becky Kagan-Schott. Some have also worked on conservation and wildlife photography in their work.

My guest in this episode is very much in this vein. Ellen Cuylaerts hails from Belgium and is an award-winning photographer focused on ocean wildlife photography. She has a unique perspective on her work as she seeks to develop deeper connections between humanity and nature through her images.

Ellen is also a cave diver and now an explorer. She was part of the all-female Xunaan Ha project under the tutelage of Robbie Schmittner my guest in Episode 85.

As we talk of Ellen's diving and her work we can’t help but touch on the many challenges that she has faced being a mother to two high-functioning autistic children, losing her partner to suicide and a type 2 DCS incident that left her with paralysis. Through all of this, Ellen has shown extraordinary strength, resilience, and an amazingly positive attitude and outlook. She now applies this to her work and conservation efforts, where she is a leading speaker and voice for the environment.

Please sit back and enjoy my conversation with Ellen in this episode of… Speaking Sidemount.

Cheers Steve

Episode #90 Thorsten Waelde - "Exploring the Bel Torrente Cave"

This episode is brought to you by our brilliant sponsor, XDEEP and the patrons of Speaking Sidemount. Huge thanks to both for their support that makes this podcast possible.

 In this episode, I catch up for the third time with Thorsten Waelde or Toddy as he is known. I first met Toddy in Episode 24 when we did a deep dive into Toddy Style Sidemount. We caught up again in episode 44 to talk about his Utopia Exploration project in Sardinia only a few months after I had returned from my trip there. I've since been following Toddy's exploits with interest and when I saw the stunning work he was doing on the Bel Torrente exploration via a video on Toddy's YouTube channel (See link below), it was time to catch up and hear more. The amazing part of this project is that it is a multi-sump or siphon project where the cave under exploration has dry sections connected by flooded passages. The penetration length requires the exploration team to live underground for several days, staying at base camps in the dry sections as they progress further into the cave. This creates massive complications to the project, especially the logistics of moving the equipment required and the physical and mental application required is immense.

In this episode, Toddy gives us an overview of the Bel Torrente project. He talks of the team he has assembled, the skills required before we get into the logistics of this project, the equipment, and the evolution of their procedures as they encountered new challenges and requirements at each section.

We talk cave geology and the risk and danger of an accident deep in the cave before Toddy explains how he uses Seacraft Dive Propulsion vehicles and the new lightweight Seacraft GO that is easier to carry across the dry sections.

We finish discussing the Cave Camps that Toddy runs at Protec Sardinia, where qualified cave divers can experience aspects of these projects by diving into a cave and spending a night at a base camp. The Cave Camps include workshops on how to use dry tubes to take equipment into the cave and a heap of time exploring the beautiful dry sections of the caves in Sardinia. I am super excited to check these out.

Enjoy, cheers!!

Steve

Thanks to:

Our Sponsor - XDEEP

Thorsten "Toddy" Waelde - Protec Sardinia

YouTube Video - Follow the Conger: Exploring the Bel Torrente Cave

Episode #89 Turk Vangel - "Sidemount Fundamentals"

Here's Episode 89 brought to you by our sponsor XDEEP and the patrons of Speaking Sidemount. Thanks so much for your support. 

Over the past 88 episodes, cave diving has featured heavily and that's no accident. As you'll be aware, sidemount diving grew from the requirements of early flooded cave explorers, firstly the CDG in the UK, with others around the world following and eventually building on sidemount diving, equipment, and techniques to give us what we have today. In many ways, sidemount diving has evolved to the requirements of cave divers however sidemount diving today is enjoyed by many who never have, or in some cases never intend to dive caves.

Given the large percentage of Sidemount divers diving open water, I thought it was time we pulled together another episode on the Fundamentals of Sidemount diving and what it takes to get good at sidemount. As you may have noted, I don’t tend to get into debates on sidemount on Facebook or other online sites, but I recently had a discussion, let's call it, on the benefits or otherwise of sliding d-rings with Turk Vangel of Prana Divers in Bali. Turk goes by the handle Turk Diggler... an awesome nickname by the way and a great play on the star of the movie Boogie Nights if you didn’t get it.

Even though I didn’t completely agree with him, Turk was making some solid points, so I thought why not get him on the show and together go through our thoughts on what it takes to be good at sidemount… from soup to nuts, beginning to… we'll, there's never an end to learning… as we'll find out.

As a side note and I guess a shameless plug, much of what I am covering here is also available in my eBook "Sidemount Fundamentals" which you can check out and purchase via my website at www.sidemountpros.com/store

With that said… sit back and join me with Turk on the Fundamentals of Sidemount Diving.

Cheers Steve

Thanks to:

XDEEP for their support - XDEEP

Turk (Diggler) Vangel:

www.pranadive.com

https://www.youtube.com/@pranadive

Instagram - @prana_dive_amed & @scubawithturk

Episode #88 Scott RG - "The Mines of Scotland"

This episode is brought to you by XDEEP and the patrons of Speaking Sidemount. Huge thanks to both for their support, that makes all of this possible.

It's my great pleasure today to bring you episode #88 on the fifth anniversary of the founding of this podcast. If you told me on those nervous days starting on this venture that we'd still be pumping out episodes five years later and that I would have produced this many episodes, talked sidemount with so many great divers, and then have the good fortune to meet and dive with some of them in person, we'll to be honest… I probably hoped for some of this… but in short, I am very proud of what we have accomplished.

I'm not sure there's been a lot of recognition of the podcast in mainstream technical diving but for me personally, to be listed in the InDepth magazine Who's Who of Sidemount Diving for the contributions this podcast has made to Sidemount Diving, was hugely satisfying.

Along with producing Speaking Sidemount, I think a massive benefit to me personally through the podcast, has been the growth in my own diving knowledge. There's no doubt that talking to and hearing the thoughts and experiences of the very best is a fantastic way to expand our thinking on sidemount diving and I sincerely hope that many of you have also learned something through listening to each episode.

But… there's much more to do and interestingly, this August is also the tenth anniversary of my first steps into sidemount and cave diving. When I think of my path, from my Sidemount, Cavern and Intro to Cave Courses, and then spending two years floundering at times trying to take what I learned in the warm freshwater cenotes and caves of Mexico and apply it to temperate saltwater diving in Northern California and New Zealand, going from Aluminium cylinders to steel, wet suit to dry suit, grabbing what I could from the internet and YouTube, failing, refining, and eventually making progress, before I went to Gozo and trained and worked with Tom Steiner at Gozo Technical Diving. Over the 2 seasons I spent there I was able to make massive progress working with some phenomenal role models including Tom, Audrey Cudel, Steve Martin, Vas Proud, Peter Tschannen and Thorsten Mewes.

I see many others taking a similar path and so, in this episode, I meet and chat with a man that I can only describe as a great guy. Scott RG hails from the highlands of Scotland and like me dovetails his professional career with a massive passion for diving. Scott can be found early in the mornings diving in the mines of Scotland and the caves of the north of England. His passion for diving has led him to make a massive commitment to dive training completing instructor training before discovering sidemount and cave diving. He trained in Mexico with Tristan Termat moving thorugh Sidemount, Cave and Advanced Sidemount training and then applied this to the frigid waters of Roscobie Limestone Mine in Scotland and another mine that Scott only describes as Project X. Having hit the limits of Open Circuit diving Scott decided to train on the KISS Sidewinder rebreather with Jacek Konikowski. The sidewinder has opened up longer and as Scott and I discuss, safer dives. Scott has now installed 5000m of line into Project X. That's a lot of string as he describes it.

Sit back and enjoy with me our 5th-anniversary episode… Scott RG - "The Mines of Scotland". Thanks for your support…

Episode #87 Arielle Ginsberg - "Belize Cave Exploration"

Great to share Episode #87 Arielle Ginsberg - Belize Cave Exploration, brought to you by our sponsor XDEEP and the patrons of Speaking Sidemount. Huge thanks to both for their support.

I recently picked up a Facebook post by XDEEP describing the exploits of Arielle Ginsberg. Arielle is a founding member of the Belize Cave Diving Society and is its first female member. The project sounded amazing but a shared post by Arielle's exploration partner Ben Popik really got my attention…

This is my badass cave diving partner and bestie Arielle getting the attention and praise she deserves!

In the photos below, you can see her bravely exploring just a couple of the many cenotes we've found together on Ambergris Caye. While I’m constantly talking about our cave diving explorations, I often leave out the part about how Arielle always goes in first (because she's way braver than I am and *marginally* less afraid of crocodiles). She’s easily one of the toughest people I know — weighing in at a mean 98 lbs

This is the first of many cave-diving accolades for Arielle, and I couldn't be prouder to be her teammate and friend!

Now I'm not sure if it tops that, but I learned that Arielle is also a scientist… an immunologist, specializing in flow cytometry and bioinformatics and now, I just had to hear more, if only to learn what the hell flow cytometry really is :)

In this episode, Arielle and I discuss how she got into diving, and how she melds her scientific work with diving. Arielle shares how she moved to Mexico, fell in love with the caves and was set on a path to become a cave diver. She tells us about her training and mentoring with Natalie Gibb of Under the Jungle who was of course my guest in Episodes 18 and 36… before we get into the fantastic exploration of Systema Paloma in Belize. We each share a heap of stories including a few on those moments in cave diving that let's politely say got us somewhat concerned, and we close with Arielle sharing on the support that they have received for the Systema Paloma project, and where they still need some help…

Enjoy, and thanks for your support :)!!

Image Credit - Natalie Gibb

Episode #86 Michael Menduno - InDepth on Sidemount

Awesome to bring you this episode sponsored by XDEEP and with the support of the patrons of Speaking Sidemount. Massive thanks to both for making this podcast possible.

A couple of episodes back, I let you all know that I was working as guest editor along with Stratis Kas, with none other than Michael Menduno to assist in producing what I think is going to be a groundbreaking issue of InDepth Magazine entirely devoted to Sidemount diving. To say this is a coup for the sidemount diving community is a massive understatement and I think it's a real coming of age for sidemount in general.

The issue will be out in early July and will be available to the InDepth Magazine email list and via their website. This issue aside, InDepth is in my opinion, the very best technical diving resource going. If you are not already a subscriber, do yourself a favour and go to the GUE website, Blog page where you'll find InDepth. It's free to subscribe and you'll find a treasure trove of back issues there as well. https://gue.com/blog/

Now given the enormity of this InDepth issue for sidemount, I thought it made sense to get Michael Menduno on the show to not only talk about the Sidemount issue itself but also to learn from his incomparable depth of knowledge on both the history and current state of technical diving.

In addition to being a capable technical and rebreather diver, Michael is renowned as a pioneer in technical diving media and is, without a doubt, one of the world’s leading dive media personalities.

In this episode, Michael talks about his start in diving and how this led to a career in dive media. I ask Michael how he coined the term, “technical diving”. Michael shares with us about the progression of technical diving from a few disparate groups to today, where we dive with equipment, processes, and training that has made technical diving safer and also, more capable.

And then we talk at length about the stunning decision to develop an entire Sidemount issue for InDepth, how this came about, and what we can expect to see in this issue. We end with Michael musing on taking a sidemount course himself.

Enjoy :)

Episode #85 Robbie Schmittner - "Understanding the Caves of Yucatan"

Hey, great to bring you Episode 85 with the support of our sponsor XDEEP and the patrons of Speaking Sidemount. Massive thanks to both for their support of the show that makes all of this possible.

It was super cool to do this episode with renowned cave explorer Robbie Schmittner. Robbie has spent the last 25 years exploring the caves of the Yucatan peninsula and has mapped literally hundreds of km of flooded passage. Along the way, he has been responsible for connecting cave systems that have become the largest explored cave systems in the world including Sac Actun and Dos Ojos.

This experience has given Robbie a unique perspective on cave exploration and a deep understanding of the caves of the Yucatan and how they are formed.

In this episode, Robbie gives us some background on how he came to Mexico and then we discuss his early days of cave diving including his time with cave legend Bil Phillips. We discuss many of Robbie's achievements including the Sac Actun-Dos Ojos connection before Robbie provides what I can only describe as an unbelievably compelling view into his theories on how the caves of the Yucatan were formed. He tells us how he is using this information to inform his current exploration. Robbie has published a paper on his theories and I will try and get this to you all separately.

We talk about the all-female Xu nan Ha expedition before Robbie gives us his perspectives on the use of closed-circuit rebreathers in cave diving and his recent experiences training with Edd Sorenson and Patrick Widmann on the KISS Sidewinder.

Thanks again, Steve

Episode #84 Patrick Widmann - KISS Sidewinder 2

Image Credits - Alfie & Mekan

The KISS Rebreathers team recently set Facebook "on fire" with their teaser posts on the new Sidewinder 2. To say that the new changes are innovative and revolutionary feels inadequate. Many of the changes are in the process of being patented and there is even a patent pending on the entire concept by which this rebreather operates. By definition, this means that the KISS Sidewinder 2 will bring new and unique features not seen before and will be a huge step forward in the world of sidemount rebreathers.

It's great to release Episode 84 sponsored by XDEEP with the support of the patrons of Speaking Sidemount. Huge thanks to both for their support which makes this podcast possible.

In this episode, I catch up with Patrick Widmann, Training Director for KISS Rebreathers who has been heavily involved in every aspect of the redesign and testing of the Sidewinder 2.

Patrick and I discuss the history of the Sidewinder, Patrick's own journey with this unit, and the acquisition of KISS rebreathers, and then we move around the loop, or closed circuit of the Sidewinder 2 and discuss each of the changes and what this will mean for the new unit.

We finish with Patrick sharing on the new instructor and training tools that appear to be as innovative as the Sidewinder 2 itself and we also discuss the pros and cons of a Bailout Valve (BOV) for the Sidewinder… Enjoy

Episode #83 Demis Farrugia - "Unlock Your Full Potential"

Great to bring Episode #83 to you with the support of XDEEP and the patrons of Speaking Sidemount. Huge thanks to both for their support that makes this podcast possible.

Demis Farrugia and I first started chatting online around 5 years ago. I could tell immediately he was committed to training, diving and ultimately becoming an instructor and was prepared to put in the hard yards to become as good as he possibly could. It has been awesome to watch his progress and to see him become now a highly proficient sidemount diver and also a gifted and committed instructor.

Also given that Demis is from Malta which has a very special place in my heart and my own dive career… I thought it would be awesome to get Demis on the show and chat about all things sidemount including his journey and thoughts on what it takes to be a good sidemount diver and then learn more about the amazing wreck diving in Malta. We also discuss DPV Diving and the KISS Sidewinder.

Enjoy :)

Steve

Episode #82 Jake Bulman - “Aspiring to Excellence”

Great to bring you Episode #82 with the support of XDEEP and the patrons of Speaking Sidemount. Massive thanks to both for their support that makes all of this possible.

I am still coming down from my nearly 3 weeks in Mexico last November. I went primarily to train with Patrick Widmann, co-owner of ProTec Dive Centers and the Training Director for KISS Rebreathers along with the many… many other things this amazing guy does.

I went to do the KISS Sidewinder 60m course often called the MOD 2 and also to do the CCR Full Cave Diver course. I had good reasons for wanting to do both courses to continue my own development as a diver. You'll know from the many conversations that I've had on the Sidewinder on Speaking Sidemount that I chose this tool both as my Cave rebreather and also as a rebreather I could use to dive shipwrecks and deeper open water dives. It is in my opinion the best tool for both Cave and wreck penetration diving primarily due to its tight profile and robustness. Open water is a bit of a push but as I dive more from boats, I'm developing my techniques for entries and exits and figuring out how to manage the width of the Sidewinder on boat decks.

I chose Patrick as my instructor for obvious reasons, but I'll share them anyway. I did my Air Diluent Sidewinder course with Edd Sorenson. As you've heard me say, it was absolutely brilliant. I learned so much and Edd is a phenomenal diver, instructor and really good to hang with… his stories are epic, to say the least!!

But I've always wanted to have the broadest possible experience base, including learning from a range of really good instructors. It was a no-brainer in that sense to go to Patrick and see what he had been working on for KISS Training and gain from his experience and skillset… which to be honest, is immense. From being near motionless in 2m of water doing no fins skills to his tight and on-point skill processes for cave drills, to his CCR weighting which makes it way easier to hold shallow stops on a rebreather, to the ratio deco strategies we used to recalculate our deco on the fly… it was all amazing!!

In trying to explain the experience to people I say… it was like taking tennis lessons with Roger Federer!!

Now at Protec, Kim and Patrick have been for many years developing the next generation of world-class instructors. I've had Skanda Coffield on the show twice and in this episode, I am really pleased to introduce to you, Jake Bulman.

Jake has been a Protec for five years and has literally become Patrick's understudy, teaching Cave Diving, KISS Sidewinder courses, Cave CCR and soon the Sidewinder 60m course.

He is renowned as a consummate instructor and an absolute master of no-fins training. Given we met, albeit briefly in November, I took the opportunity to get Jake on the show to talk about his diving, how he teaches and in particular some of the details around my Cave CCR and Sidewinder Mod 2 that was let's say surprising to me and fundamental to the way Protec teaches these courses.

Enjoy, cheers!!

Steve

Episode #81 Chris Godlewski - "Sidemount Society"

Hey great to bring you Episode #81 Chris Godlewski - "Sidemount Society", with the support of our brilliant sponsor XDEEP and the patrons of Speaking Sidemount. Huge thanks to both for their support.

Looking back over the 80 episodes I've produced for Speaking Sidemount, there is a massive slant towards cave diving and exploration. I guess it goes without saying that this is as it should be, with Cave Diving and the exploits of cave explorers being the pinnacle of the application of the sidemount configuration in diving.

In the early days of sidemount, it was indeed cave divers who were looking for a method of managing their equipment that made it easier for them to get to remote dive sites or through dry cave passages and even more importantly opened up the possibilities of passing restrictions and extending the explored limits of caves.

But in the past 10 years, this has changed. Yes, cave divers are still learning sidemount however there is a large and growing segment learning sidemount on their way to cave diving or to gain the many benefits and flexibility that sidemount offers for open water, wreck diving, and mine diving.

So I am really pleased to be able to bring you an episode where we go back to our roots and talk about sidemount as a configuration for many environments and also get into some of the detail as to how to set up your sidemount system and then put it in the water.

Chris Godlewski is a Polish sidemount instructor who has been a resident of the UK for many years. He came to my attention through a glowing review by one of his students and then the work he has been doing with his wife Chloe where under the banner of "Sidemount Society" they have been travelling the world diving sidemount. Most recently they have been in the Philippines and if you haven't seen their social media, do yourself a favour and check it out. Not only are the imagery and videography top shelf but they are demonstrating a very high standard of diving and acting as awesome role models for sidemount in general.

In this episode, Chris shares how he got into diving and sidemount. We learn about some of his early struggles with the configuration and how they overcame them to get better. I ask Chris about his and Chloe's amazing decision to leave their work lives behind to travel the world and dive!! We talk about Sidemount Society what it is and what they hope to achieve. Chris and I go back and forth a bit on what it takes to be good in sidemount. We talk about the hows and whys of sidemount equipment set up and then we discuss putting it in the water. Everything from donning and doffing to entries and exits, to how to achieve trim and stability along with tips on executing skills including the dreaded "long-hose stow". I find out more about Chris and Chloe's plans for their travel and also their hopes for setting up a sidemount-specific dive operation in the future.

Enjoy :)

To support the show, become a patron of Speaking Sidemount - go to - https://www.patreon.com/speakingsidemount

#chrisgodlewski #sidemountsociety #SteveDavis #sidemountpros #sidemountdiving

Episode #80 Stephen Fordyce - Seconds from Death

Hey, great to bring you Episode #80 Stephen Fordyce - "Seconds from Death" with the support of our sponsor XDEEP and the patrons of Speaking Sidemount. Huge thanks to both for their support, which makes this podcast possible.

The title refers to Australian Tech Diver of the Year, Stephen Fordyce reliving his harrowing, near-death experience where he had a laryngospasm at over 50m while on a push cave exploration dive in Tasmania Australia. To say this was harrowing is an understatement but Stephen's story of survival and subsequently what he has learned about the incident is as compelling as it is terrifying.

In addition to recalling the near-death experience, Stephen relates some on his diving background, we talk about how he combines his engineering business with diving, we discuss what it takes to be a cave explorer and then, he shares on his exploration efforts in Tasmania Australia.

Image Credit & Thanks to Liz Rogers & Stewart Donn.

OzTek Presentations - https://oztek.com.au/ondemand

#stephenfordyce #CDAA #OzTek #Stevedavis #Sidemountpros #cavediving #Caveexploration

Episode #79 Rannvá Jørmundsson - Becoming an Explorer

Hi, here's episode #79 Rannvá Jørmundsson - "Becoming an Explorer" brought to you by our brilliant sponsor XDEEP and the patrons of Speaking Sidemount. Huge thanks to both for their support that makes everything you are about to listen to possible.

One of the enduring themes of Speaking Sidemount is to shine a light on the applications of sidemount diving. I am a strong believer and practitioner in diving sidemount in nearly any application or environment but there's no doubt that if you dive overheads, and in particular caves, sooner or later you are going to find a space that is too small for backmount diving. Or you will need to lug gear far enough or over terrain where you'll want to break it down into smaller parts. This, of course, is where sidemount really shines and is the reason this podcast features many, many great cave divers.

I'd also add, that cave diving demands the highest levels of sidemount skills… buoyancy control, trim, and balance - what I call relaxed static stability... meaning the ability to be still in a confined space, and effective propulsion techniques including frog kick and the back kick. No other type of diving is as demanding in these aspects.

I draw a strong distinction between cave diving and cave exploration. Exploration requires and builds upon a strong foundation of cave diving skills and experience. But it requires much more. Aspects such as… searching for prospective caves, dealing with landowners, camping in remote locations, and complex access skills like single rope technique. Then there's the diving… preparation and planning, working in teams, reading a cave, line laying for survey, surveying the cave itself, passing unknown restrictions, and self-reliance or solo diving. Add to that the mindset and discipline required and it is quite a leap from your average cave dive.

I've often thought about how you get started and what it takes to become an explorer. There is no doubt that leaning on the experience of other explorers is the best way to go. By way of example, you may remember my discussion with Tamara May back in episode 60 released a couple of years ago now where Tamara talked about Project Xunaan in Tulum Mexico where Robbie Schmittner, one of the world's leading cave explorers had pulled together a team of six female divers to continue his exploration in that area. Along the way, he would teach and mentor them on what, for most of them, was their first genuine exploration project.

While COVID delayed this project, it also gave the team the opportunity to build on the initial plan including working with sponsors to support their efforts and filming the project. The result was a super interesting view into becoming an explorer and in this episode, I catch up with another of the Xunnan Ha team members…. Rannva Joermundsson. I had the pleasure of meeting Rannva at this year's OzTek conference in Melbourne Australia where Rannva along with her exploration partner Maria Bollerup gave two compelling presentations… the first on project Xunnan Ha and the second on their next project Expedition Buteng in Sulawesi Indonesia.

In this episode, I ask Rannva to share how she got into diving and progressed to cave diving. We talk about how she combines her passion for diving with her career working for two of my absolute favourite dive brands, Fourth Element and Shearwater. And then Rannva tells us about the amazing project Xunnan Ha. We talk about the planning, how they worked on the project, and what she has taken away from the experience.

Building on this we lean into her next project Expedition Buteng where Rannva is working with Robin Cuesta my new dive buddy and guest on Episode 71 "Caves of Sulawesi". Rannva discusses her partnership with Maria Bollerup on this project, the impressive team they have assembled, and the goals for the project including exploration, scientific, and community benefits.

We close by talking about some of the project preparation including KISS Sidewinder training in Mexico… enjoy :)!!

Steve

Episode #78 Bruce Clulow - Caves of the South Pacific

Hey great to bring you Episode #78 Bruce Clulow - "Caves of the South Pacific" with the support of XDEEP and the patrons of Speaking Sidemount, huge thanks to both for making this podcast possible.

Speaking Sidemount has featured many of the top cave diving regions of the world… I'm thinking Mexico, Florida, UK, the Bahamas, and Sardinia. But it's been awesome to also dig deeper into regions not well known for caves… places like Sweden, Indonesia, Australia, and Canada.

Now along these lines… I've known for a while that many of the Pacific Islands have cave systems and also of course I get asked a lot about the caves of New Zealand.

So when I saw a post from Bruce Clulow, a well-known and very active cave explorer here in New Zealand talking about his exploration in the Cook Islands, I thought this would be a great opportunity to learn more and share with you all about the caves in what is loosely my back yard.

Bruce is a commercial airline pilot flying for my favourite airline… Air New Zealand. As you'll learn, this is just a cover for a hugely passionate and capable cave explorer… who is part of the Group known as the Kaarst Monkeys… yep we'll get into that too…

In this episode, Bruce talks about how he got into diving and cave exploration. He shares some really valuable insights into Human factors for diving leaning on his experience and application of this discipline from his aviation career. We talk about his cave exploration in the Cooks before he shares a fantastic story of bumping into Robert Thomas my guest in Episode # while on a tourist excursion to Wookey Hole in the UK. I ask Bruce to share about the Caves of New Zealand and what it takes to dive the caves here. We talk about cave rescue and recovery before he shares on his upcoming exploration projects.

All this and much more in this episode of… Speaking Sidemount.

Enjoy and PLEASE SHARE :)!

Episode #77 Alessandra Figari - "Follow Your Dreams"

This episode is brought to you by  XDEEP and by the patrons of Speaking Sidemount, huge thanks to both for their support.

 In this episode, Alessandra shares her inspiring story of the events that led to her moving to Mexico to pursue diving. How she started her cave diving journey under the tutelage of legendary cave explorer Bil Phillips. She relates how she built her experience diving with friends before doing her cave instructor training in Florida. We contrast cave diving in Florida and Mexico before talking about Alessandra's philosophies regarding teaching diving at her business, Cave Training Mexico. I ask her what makes her training unique and she shares stories from her courses and the friendships that she has developed with both her mentors and her students.

 We finish by talking about the incredibly concerning Tren Maya project to run a train track straight over the top of some of the most phenomenal cave systems on our planet between Playa Del Carmen and Tulum on the Yucatan Peninsula. Alessandra shares a wealth of resources on this issue and her thoughts on what we can do to support the local opposition to this project. Look out for more on the Speaking Sidemount Facebook page.

 Enjoy

Steve

Image Credit - Tom St George

Episode #76 Looking Back - The Best of Speaking Sidemount

Hey, welcome to Episode #76 Looking Back - The Best of Speaking Sidemount brought to by XDEEP with the support of the patrons of Speaking Sidemount. Huge thanks to both!!!

This episode looks back over the first 75 episodes with me handpicking some of my very favourite segments. This was such a challenging task and what I find remarkable now that it's done, is just how much great material I have left out... maybe a part 2?? Let me know if you'd like to hear that.

Listen in as I talk with Michur about what it takes to achieve his extraordinary skill level. Steve Bogaerts shares on the modern history of sidemount and how to build comfort in the water. Edd Sorenson talks about cave diving rescues and recoveries before we relive the fantastic story of the Thai Cave rescue with Richard "Harry" Harris and Chris Jewell. Jill Heinerth speaks on dealing with fear in cave diving and her beginnings in Sidemount. I reconnected with Audrey Cudel to talk about the key aspects of refining your sidemount setup, Nat Gibb shares about her passion for caves and what it takes to dive the caves of Mexico.

Huge thanks to Gold Patron Justin Enzmann for suggesting this episode. It was awesome to catch up with Justin on the show and chat about his diving and we've even arranged to meet later this year when we are both in Mexico.

Enjoy :)!!

Steve