Side Mounting...
The Armadillo Way!

Above: Jon Bojar decompressing in the Devils Ear, Ginnie Springs

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Side mounting may never be the same again with the new Armadillo rig. Thanks to the research and dedication of Curt Bowen and Brett Hemphill, the Armadillo is a reality and now commercially available.

Side mount cave exploration is not a new technique by any means. It has been around for many years, but only since 1999 has it gained any type of recognition as a viable method of exploration. Some of the first side mount cave explorers where Woody Jasper, Lamar Hires, Brain Kakuk, and Wes Skiles. They pioneered their own side mount rigs in their garages and made them work. Continued modifications to these original rigs brought side mounting into the more mainstream and provided the ideas behind the Armadillo.

Side mount was originally developed to allow the exploration of restrictive underwater cave passage that was not accessible by standard back mounted cylinders. Side mount configurations allowed the diver to maneuver through much smaller passage by placing the cylinders on the divers side, thus reducing the overall girth of the diver. Side mount rigs also allowed for the easy removal and replacement of cylinders underwater, enabling the hard-core cave explorer to squeeze through even smaller restrictions by removing one or both of the cylinders and pushing the cylinder in front of them through the restriction.

Cave explorer Brett Hemphill originated the Armadillo side mount rig. Brett’s original idea was to develop a single one-piece harness and keep it simple and as clean as possible. The first rig was designed and assembled in his garage with weight belt webbing, grommets, and stainless bolts and nuts.

Curt Bowen, cave explorer and publisher of this magazine, had conducted several expeditions to the Yucatan and was in search of a simple dive harness that would allow for the use of multiple size cylinders, allow the explorer to wear climbing equipment with the harness, and also be flexible enough to wear while walking several kilometers through the thick jungle.

For two years, the Armadillo evolved. Tested in multiple locations such as Florida’s high-flow caves, Mexico’s Cenotes, and the Exumas’ boiling blue holes, the Armadillo performed to great satisfaction.

The birth of the first commercially available Armadillo took shape in June 2003 by Advanced Diver Magazine contracting Zeagle to produce the first Armadillo side mount rig. After a month in manufacturing, the Armadillo side mount rig made its debut on July 25, 26, and 27 in its first “Setting up and diving the Armadillo” side mount class. Through the leadership of Curt Bowen and Brett Hemphill, the first Armadillo class was a huge success. Dave Miner, Steve Straatsma, Rusty Farst, Jakub Rehacek, Jon Bojar and Jitka Hyniova were the Armadillo’s first victims. Here’s what they thought...

Dave Miner: Bradenton, Florida
The Armadillo turned side mounting into pleasurable diving. I dove side mount years ago, but never got “truly” comfortable with two heavy steel tanks hanging off my side, metal plates digging into my hips, and a general feeling of being unbalanced. The Armadillo has changed that.

The Armadillo took time to configure and set up, but once it was tweaked to my body size, it preformed like a champ. The Armadillo’s clean streamline profile and comfortable fit has convinced me to start side mounting again. There are a vast amount of caves in north Florida that can only be dived in a side mount configuration, and you can bet that I’ll be diving them.

Rusty Farst: Ft. Myers, Florida
My previous sidemont harness now seems jerry rigged in comparison. Arranging my video equipment to the Armadillo is easier and faster, and things stay where I put them, what a concept. Even I found myself ready to dive the same time as my buddy, and that's unusual. Does anyone want a used sidemount harness, real cheap?

Jakub Rehacek: Tampa, Florida
I have been following the development of the Armadillo sidemount for some time and I liked what I saw. I use one of the prior prototypes on my rebreather. It works great for wreck diving, but is especially suitable for cave diving. Armadillo sidemount combined with a Closed Circuit Rebreather (CCR) provides maximum redundancy possible, since it can be dived with any size bottles slung under the shoulders. The gas in the sidemounted bottles is used only for bailout emergencies, or to hand off to a buddy in out-of-air situation. Quick-connect fittings on sidemounted bottles provide additional gas source for the CCR in case of total gas loss from the on-board cylinders.