Speaking Sidemount

This episode is sponsored by XDEEP and supported by the patrons of Speaking Sidemount.

I'm really excited to share this episode with you featuring my chat with Tamara May. I first sighted Tamara on YouTube, I think about 5 or 6 years ago as the star of an excellent sidemount configuration and skills video shot in Mexico. The skills were excellent but as I was taken with the video flow, the camera and editing work which really made the video incredibly compelling.

More recently I saw Tamara listed as one of the exploration divers on Robbie Schmitter's all-female cave exploration team for the Xunaan-Ha Expedition in 2021. I thought this was a great initiative bringing together a group of great divers with disparate experiences and skillsets to complete a new exploration project under the guidance of an experienced cave explorer.

In this episode, Tamara and I discuss: how she got into diving and it became her life's passion. We discuss her travels to various parts of the world to train, work and develop as a diver and instructor. We get into her work at Protec Mexico with Patrick, Kim and the Protec team and also how she set up her own diving brand... Dive like a Ninja. We chat about her upcoming Xunaan-Ha Expedition project with Robbie Schmitter. Check out here for how you can support the team in this awesome project - https://www.gofundme.com/f/the-xunaanha-expedition 

This episode is sponsored by XDEEP and supported by the patrons of Speaking Sidemount.

Victor Tovar is the principal of Cave Tribe through which he provides specialised and personalised diving training with an emphasis on sidemount and cave courses. Victor is passionate about foundational skills and as you'll hear in this episode he focuses on progressively building foundational skills while gaining experience and comfort in the environments his students wish to explore.

In this episode Victor and I discuss... His background in diving and how he got into sidemount and cave diving. We discuss and he shares more on his philosophy in developing divers, we talk about the importance of selecting the right equipment... The traps for instructors in forming relationships with equipment manufacturers, and then we go deep and far into Victor's home cave, Cueva Del Agua... We talk about what makes it different and how it's unique challenges make it a great cave for both new and seasoned cave divers... We discuss the difference between exploration and sport cave diving and then finish with an update on the current extent of exploration of Cueva Del Agua... All this and much more...

#XDEEP  #SidemountPros #Sidemountdiving #Cavediving #Cuevadelagua #Cavetribe

This episode is sponsored by XDEEP and supported by the patrons of Speaking Sidemount.

This is the second episode in this series where I catch up with renowned cave explorer Steve Bogaerts. Over the past two years, Steve has had it pretty tough with respect to diving. A series of DCS incidents, on successive dives, each a little worse than the previous, has led Steve to hang up his fins and retire from diving. Just the thought of one of the world's great cave explorers having to quit under circumstances such as this is gut-wrenching but to his credit, Steve has continued to be active and regularly shares enlightening posts of various topics related to sidemount. Cave diving and exploration.

In this episode, Steve and I discuss his DCS incidents, what he has learned about them, his thoughts on the possible cause, his advice for professional divers, and his plans for the future.

#XDEEP #cavediving #sidemountdiving #stevebogaerts #sidemountpros

Sponsor - www.xdeep.eu 

To support the show go to www.patreon.com/speakingsidemount

To contact Steve Bogaerts [email protected]

Great to release Episode #55 with our VIP Patron of the Month, Matt Burdon. Matt is a Public Safety Diving Team Leader, Tech Dive Instructor, VIP Patron of Speaking Sidemount, and survivor of a serious infection of COVID-19.     

Matt graciously joined me to share in detail his experiences contracting COVID-19, from the knowledge that it had infected his workplace to seeing a colleague die, to his own battle with COVID, including 17 days in a coma.

Matt's story is both frightening and inspiring. You'll hear about his symptoms, admission to hospital, and intensive care... His family and friends being told that he won't make it, to the medical team pulling out the stops and saving his life.

Matt talks about the after-effects, his rehab, and his path back to diving. Matt and I then share our thoughts on the global pandemic and the responses of various countries around the world.

This episode is a must-listen for all divers and huge thanks again to XDEEP for their support of speaking sidemount and to our growing Patron community who graciously contribute to the production of every episode.

In this episode, brought to you by XDEEP with the support of the patrons of Speaking Sidemount, I catch up with British cave diver and instructor Robert Thomas. Robert has had an extraordinary beginning to his dive career, first diving at the age of 6... Joining the ranks of certified divers at the tender age of 10 before starting to cave dive in his teens. At 18 as soon as he was old enough he joined the ranks of the famed British Cave Diving Group and a year later he qualified as a full member. He's now the secretary for the Somerset Section of the CDG and when he not diving or teaching diving, he's dry caving in the caves of the UK.

Robert has progressed under the expert tutelage of his Dad, Michael Thomas and in Robert's words... has also been passed around to learn and develop with many other great divers and instructors including my guest in Ep# 33, cave explorer and shark conservationist... Cristina Zenato.

As you'll hear in this episode, there's an old head on those young shoulders and you can feel and hear the depth of thought and also training that has gone into his diving to date. It was interesting to get Robert's perspective as a young diver and instructor on the state of diving and training and where he sees things going in the future. I also take a moment to ask him about some of his recent videos on British Cave diving techniques, how these differ from what you'll see in other parts of the world, how dry caving helps cave diving, and we discuss his sidemount set up before reminiscing about our dives in Gozo Malta.

Become a patron here - https://www.patreon.com/speakingsidemount

This episode is brought to you with the support of XDEEP and our amazing patrons, which makes everything you are about to listen to possible. 

If love Speaking Sidemount and would you'd like to know more about how you can support the show by becoming a patron, go to www.patreon.com/speakingsidemont

This month's VIP Patron of the Month and my guest on this episode is Brendon Allen. Brendon is based and works as a commercial pilot in the UAE. But he also is a passionate diver and instructor and through his business Desert Reef Dive Systems, he is bringing top shelf, sidemount, recreational, and technical dive training to the region. He's a RAID Instructor Trainer and is passionate about the future of sidemount diving. We've been discussing this very subject for some months, that is how can we improve the standard of both instruction and diving in sidemount. In this episode, Brendon and I freewheel a bunch of ideas and share our thoughts on this, looking not only to address the issues but to come up with some solutions that might help to fix sidemount.

I'm super excited to release Episode #50 as our very first premium episode available exclusively to patrons. This is an extended trailer brought to you with the support of XDEEP.

To access the full episode go to - https://www.patreon.com/speakingsidemount

In this episode, I speak with British cave diver, Chris Jewell. Chris is a member of the British Cave Diving Group and was part of the team involved in the Thai Cave rescue nearly 2 years ago now. Chris took part in the actual extraction dives of the rescue and in doing so became part of history as a key part of one of the greatest rescues of modern times.

Awards, accolades and numerous TV and speaking appearances followed and so it is awesome nearly 2 years later to catch up with Chris and ask him about how he got into cave diving, his experience in training and becoming part of the CDG, the importance of mentoring to the CDG training process. Chris reflects on his experience in Thailand some two years after the rescue, and he shares more on his terrifying lost line episode while extracting one of the boys from the cave.

Chris and I discuss the distinctions between sump diving and traditional cave diving, how this then drives decisions about your equipment configuration. We dive into detail on Chris' UK sump diving sidemount set up, we talk conceptually about carrying a long hose, gas sharing scenarios, and some of Chris' favourite cave exploration projects.

Enjoy, Steve

Thanks so much to XDEEP and also to the patrons of Speaking Sidemount whose support enables this podcast.

In this episode, I catch up again with Brian Kakuk of Bahamas Underground and he shares the emotional story of his recovery following Hurricane Dorian and how he is dealing with the current COVID lockdown. We also get into his exploration of the Crystal Caves of Abaco, Sidemount CCR, using the Shearwater NERD 2, and Brian's involvement in Jonathan Bird's brilliant IMAX feature... Amazing Caves. Thanks again to Brian for sharing. Thanks also and image credit to Jill Heinerth - Into the Planet, and Nancy Albury.

In this episode sponsored by XDEEP, I interview David Debruyne of Outcast Explorers in Belgium.

Huge thanks to the patrons of Speaking Sidemount who are helping to produce the episode you are about to listen to.

David teaches sidemount and cave diving in Belgium and other parts of Europe. We catch up and discuss his experiences training with Garry Dallas, how Outcast Explorers was formed, how he configures his sidemount gear, how he teaches sidemount, sidemount boat diving in the North Sea, his exploration of the mines of Belgium, and then we talk sidemount rebreathers and the KISS Sidewinder... All this and much more in this episode of Speaking Sidemount.

Become a patron - https://www.patreon.com/speakingsidemount

As I've mentioned a few times, I am often frustrated with the level of criticism and lack of respect shown on some of the sidemount Facebook groups. I guess there's an element of human nature in there and also comments are taken out of context or misunderstood due to language barriers or the limitations of the written word.

You do see genuinely helpful comments but these are also sometimes shouted down or lost in the dross of the string. So I took note when a while back when Florida based Dive Instructor Ryan Custureri offered to do a live session free of charge for a new sidemount diver looking for some help. I thought that was very cool and I have seen Ryan referenced positively many times by his students and his videos are top-notch. 

So... I thought I'd reach out to Ryan to ask his thoughts on sidemount diving, equipment set up, how he boat dives in Florida, how to choose your instructor, and his advice for instructors looking to set up on their own... All this and much more in this episode of Speaking Sidemount.

Huge thanks to XDEEP for their support of Speaking Sidemount.