How you ID your Deco tanks

[Remy B.]

As for my tanks Brendon, I have two deco gases in mind, 50 and 80%, 100% I see it as a none flixeble gas and the difference between 80 is small.

I was looking for stickers and found in the hardware store the PostBus / PostBox ID letters that have a reflective backround, I think it is a plus for low light visibility, normal for the dark waters I dive, plus good in the north sea, where visibility can get as bad as 6" at least those stickers will reflect the dive torch light a lot better I guess.

 

[tbone1004]

that's all most of us use anyway. You can buy the premade ones, but most guys I know use the mailbox stickers.

I would read up on the merits of 80% and run deco calculations to see how much faster it will get you out vs. staying on 50% if you can't get up to 20ft/6m.

 

[RainPilot]

@RainPilot why would something have a 6m MOD on it?

100% would have a 6m mod? I suppose most use dedicated tanks and label as oxygen but you never know. 9m MOD would be an unusual gas I think.

 

[tbone1004]

100% would have a 6m mod? I suppose most use dedicated tanks and label as oxygen but you never know. 9m MOD would be an unusual gas I think.

I hit 6 instead of 9 on my keyboard, literally just edited it asking what you were using 9m for since 80% has a 10m MOD. I guess 85% would have 9m, but mixing that would be such a pita

 

[_Ralph]

5 labels total.

"Wohah! 5!?!?!?!??"

1 - Small Name label on the lower section inline with the valve opening. Lots of aluminums look the same.
2 - VIP sticker somewhere on the tank (hopefully on the 'backside' somewhere out of the way) for the fill stations.
3 - 2x 3" MOD stickers (metric for me). OXYGEN is just that, no depth. Everyone should know that its 20ft/6m. If they don't they don't touch it! Located either side of the valve opening, not impeded by the elastics.
4 - 2" white tape daily analysis (Pressure | % | Name | Date) below the valve handle out of the way.

If I was a cave diver, where staging bottles was my norm, I'd add a third MOD sticker to the tank butt, bringing it to 6 labels....


_R

 

[C Dub]

I have seen two ways Tec divers identify their Deco tanks with big letters, they either use big letters with the O2% and MOD in small letters or with big MOD letters and small O2% letters identification.

It seems that there is no standard on this.

Which way do you prefer to ID your Deco Tanks and do you have a particular criteria over your choice ?

Shouldn't your technical instructor be answering this?

 

[tbone1004]

Shouldn't your technical instructor be answering this?

it appears he was asking others because not all of us monkey see monkey do what our instructors taught us... Many only know one way and that is the way they mark them but there are alternatives out there...

 

[C Dub]

Not sure what you mean about the monkeys, but you didn't address the basic point.

After 3 pages of answers no one considered that if he was technical trained, he would already know and have been exposed to the conventions in the geographic area he primarily dives. If he is going to be taking technical diving in the future, he better mark the tanks the way his instructor prefers, or he'll end up having to remark them. If he hasn't done either of the above, he probably shouldn't be marking deco tanks at all, being untrained to safely use them.

 

[PfcAJ]

Not sure what you mean about the monkeys, but you didn't address the basic point.

After 3 pages of answers no one considered that if he was technical trained, he would already know and have been exposed to the conventions in the geographic area he primarily dives. If he is going to be taking technical diving in the future, he better mark the tanks the way his instructor prefers, or he'll end up having to remark them. If he hasn't done either of the above, he probably shouldn't be marking deco tanks at all, being untrained to safely use them.

Maybe he's fielding different ideas and choosing his instruction path based on those ideas?

If an instructor is teaching a poor method I'd personally rather not sign up for his class. How would I have an idea about methods without researching what people are doing and the reasons behind it?

 

[KevinNM]

Are there other methods commonly used anymore? I've been drinking the GUE kool-aid for a while, but I didn't see any other method used in N Florida.