Hey, welcome to another episode of Speaking Sidemount, brought to you by our show sponsor, XDEEP, Insta360, and the show's patrons.

In this episode of Speaking Sidemount, sponsored by XDEEP and Insta360, host Steve Davis interviews Hollie Gallacher-Teggatt, a sidemount diving instructor based in Malta. They discuss Hollie's journey into diving, her passion for sidemount, and her studies in maritime archaeology. The conversation explores the significance of wreck diving, particularly in Malta, and the importance of preserving underwater cultural heritage. Hollie shares her experiences diving various wrecks, including the X127, and emphasizes divers' emotional connection with these sites.

The episode also touches on the technical aspects of sidemount diving and the importance of teaching and sharing the love for diving with others. In this conversation, Hollie and Steve discuss the intricacies of sidemount diving, emphasizing the importance of trim, buoyancy, and equipment configuration.

They share personal experiences and challenges during their diving journeys, highlighting the significance of building a strong foundation in diving skills. The discussion also touches on the evolution of sidemount techniques, the benefits of different cylinder types, and the process of setting up a sidemount harness.

Hollie shares her recent transition to rebreather diving and the importance of empowering women in technical diving, showcasing the supportive community within the diving world.

This is the amazing story of Joseph Bicanic's

decompression sickness (Bends) incident while cave diving at Boesmansgat or Bushman's Hole in South Africa. Joseph joined Richard "Harry" Harris and Craig Challen's "Dark Side of the Moon" expedition. While working on mapping the cave and also achieving a personal depth record of 210m, Joesph was "bent" and subsequently

Big thanks to our sponsor XDEEP and the patrons of Speaking Sidemount for making this episode possible.

It's great to bring you Episode #101 with Gus Gonzalez, one-half of the dynamic duo behind the YouTube phenomenon, "Dive Talk".

Huge thanks to our podcast sponsor, XDEEP and episode sponsor, Seacraft along with the patrons of Speaking Sidemount for their support.

In this episode Gus and I discuss his journey from novice diver to prominent figure in the diving community through the YouTube Channel, "Dive Talk". We learn how Gus and Woody met, the evolution of Dive Talk, and the chemistry that makes their show unique. Gus shares insights into his diving experiences, the challenges of balancing a professional career with diving, and the importance of delivering value and the content his audience wants.

We discuss the challenges in delivering thoughtful reactions to incidents and respect for fellow divers. We explore dealing with criticism and haters, highlighting the significance of focusing on constructive feedback. We learn about the development of the Dive Talk Go rebreather with Mike Young, and the mission behind the Dive Talk Academy to ensure quality instruction in diving education. We continue discussing the success of the annual Dive Talk Meetup events, which have proved incredibly popular with over one hundred attendees. The conversation also touches on plans for diving events and opportunities for divers to connect and improve their skills.

Cheers

Steve

Hey, it's great to bring you... Episode #100!!! Six years, a lot of blood sweat, and tears as the saying goes but a huge amount of learning, growth, and fun... I've loved every moment.

I want to acknowledge the support of XDEEP who had the vision to join us early as the show sponsor and have been with us every step of the way. I am incredibly grateful to Piotr, Patrick, Bart, Magda, Barbara, and the wider XDEEP team for their support.

Other sponsors have also supported us... Shearwater, Seacraft, SEAL Drysuits, Fourth Element... and you'll hear it here first, Insta360. They are all fantastic brands that I love. Most of them I was diving before Speaking Sidemount and I'm very proud and thankful for their support.

And then there is all of you. Thank you so much for your support as patrons. You are the group that helps with production costs so you are part of this team and I appreciate the support :).

In this episode, sponsored by XDEEP and Seacraft, I catch up with one of the most interesting people I know... Josh Richards. Josh and I have known each other for five years and have knocked out some terrific dives together in some of the premier caves of Mount Gambier, South Australia... an area known as the "Limestone Coast".

Josh and I delve into his fascinating journey from military service to stand-up comedy, to being in line for a one-way trip to Mars, and ultimately to becoming a prominent figure in Australian cave diving exploration. We discuss the intricacies of diving, the importance of teamwork, and the skills necessary for technical diving, particularly sidemount diving. Josh shares his experiences in discovering new cave systems in the Mount Gambier region and the dynamics of his team, the Soggy Wombats. Josh's stories emphasise the collaborative spirit of exploration and the joy of sharing discoveries with the diving community.

Enjoy :)

Steve

It's great to bring you Episode #98 with the support of our sponsor XDEEP and the patrons of Speaking Sidemount. Huge thanks to both for their support.

In this episode, I introduce a new segment 'Sidemount Diving Secrets' where I'll share some inside tips and tricks that I've picked up over the 11 years now that I've been diving sidemount around the world. Inside the episode, I'll give an overview of the tip, and given we are producing both video and audio episodes, I'll point you back to the Sidemount Pros YouTube channel for the detailed video of each "Sidemount Secret". Let me know what you think and also drop me a note back if you have a tip you'd like to share, or have an aspect of sidemount diving you'd like me to explore.

To get us started, this month's Sidemount Diving Secret is regarding the routing of your drysuit inflator hose and is brought to you by Sidemount Pros and is featuring my eBook, "Sidemount Diving Fundamentals" which is available complimentary for Gold patrons and for purchase/download via Patreon or the store on my website at www.sidemountpros.com/store.

In this episode, I catch up with Por Parasu Komaradat. Por hails from and is based in Thailand an absolute global mecca for all things diving, from beautiful reefs, to wreck diving. As we'll hear, a heap of caves and mines are being explored and opened up to suitably qualified and experienced divers.

Por shares his background in mathematics and software engineering before transitioning to full-time diving.  How he learned sidemount diving from Lamar Hires and went on to also train in Mexico. Por has been working as a technical diving instructor for 16 years.

I share my own experience transitioning from software engineering to diving. We discuss the similarities between the two fields and the importance of having mentors in diving.

Por also talks about the caves and mines in Thailand and the challenges and differences of diving in each. Por also shares his perspectives on the Mine Diving cross-over course and how important it is to understand how mining is conducted and how mines are created in safely conducting mine dives.

Por shares his active projects, including exploring caves in Sulawesi and caves and mines in Thailand. He emphasizes the importance of teaching and building dive communities in the region.

Enjoy Steve

It's great to bring you Episode #97 with the support of 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.

If you'd like to support the show become a patron for as little as $5 per month and get early access to every episode plus other benefits… pop over to www.patreon.com/speakingsidemount for all the details.

Welcome to our first video podcast episode. I'm excited that we're now adding a different media format for the podcast. We will focus more on video from here on, plus the normal audio format we've been doing for many years. Video episodes will be available both through Spotify and YouTube.

It's an exciting new era for Speaking Sidemount, so I hope you enjoy it. Please give me your feedback in the comments. I'm interested in everything... the quality and whether you enjoy seeing video more than just listening to audio. I'd like to know where you're consuming the podcast. Are you usually at home or on the move? Do you use a laptop, or TV, or watch on a mobile device? I'd love to hear your thoughts :).

This month's episode is with Jacek Konikowski, an instructor trainer evaluator and IT for CCR CAVE, CCR Trimix levels, and the KISS Sidewinder.  Jacek has chosen to specialize his teaching in the two areas of diving that he loves… Cave Diving and the KISS Sidewinder and as he describes, this match gives him the best of both worlds.

Jacek shares his background and how he decided to base himself in Isla Plana to be close to an amazing cave, Cueva Del Agua. We get into a massive discussion on the KISS Sidewinder and the contribution that Jacek made to the pre-production testing of the exciting new Sidewinder 2.

We go deep into the Sidewinder 2, covering the new features and the training. Would you believe it, heresy as well!! Jacek and I get into the backmount version of the Sidewinder 2. I think it's pretty exciting that we are looking here at what I consider the world's best side mount rebreather, but it's got a backmount mode. And as much as I said, it's heresy, I think it's going to be awesome to be able to have that opportunity to be able to have a backmount mode alongside sidemount. Jacek and I discussed when the Backmount mode might be useful and what is required to set it up and train on this mode. In addition, Jacek and I chat about Cueva del Agua and the special features of this cave.

Enjoy Steve

Great to bring you episode 96 with the support of our brilliant sponsor XDEEP and the patrons of Speaking

We had a phenomenal response to part 1 of my interview with Steve Martin and Vas Proud of Sidemounting.com. Thanks to everyone who followed up with me for the discount code. I am sure you all will benefit greatly from the online video training.

In this part 2 of the interview, we discuss:

The path to getting better as a sidemount diver, the value of using video to improve, how to get back into sidemount diving after a break, how the online video training really

I am an absolute advocate of the sidemounting.com online

This offer is only available via Speaking Sidemount and again by contacting me personally via DM or email to [email protected]. 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.

Cheers

Steve

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 [email protected]. 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