E106 Maria Bollerup - Stunning Expedition Buteng

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

4 Loka 20231h 12min

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 me taking 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…

4 Syys 20231h 17min

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

25 Heinä 20231h 3min

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. 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 :)

1 Heinä 202346min

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

15 Touko 20231h 4min

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

10 Huhti 20231h 19min

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

16 Maalis 20231h 16min

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

2 Helmi 20231h 8min