I Don't Need A Bumper Sticker For Nitrox
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Gil57usa
Contributor
royalediver:
Any fool that would use a tank that does not belong to them and assume it's plain air, has truly earned their membership card to the Darwin club.
In our litigious society, the measure of what is acceptable and what is correct under the law from a liability standard is the "prudent professional". The problem isn't with shops applying what has become the standard industry practice and norm, it is with the norm. As long as the industry leading teaching agencies continue to advocate large tank decaling as the prudent action, then the prudent liability concerned dive shop will need to advocate it as well to cover their asses. You don't have to like it, but its not your business, livelihood, family, on the line in a law suit. Don't get me wrong, I agree the large bands shouldn't be necessary, but then again a cup of Mcdonalds coffee shouldn't have to be labeled "dangerous hot, contents can cause burns."
I suspect large identification requirements will go away right about the time the industry decides a 3900 psi fill on a lp steel tank is really as ok as filling it to its working pressure 2640. Unfortunately banding is the standard as the industry sees it now, and only time and more understanding and information will change that, but the mom and pop LDS will always need to be the last to change with the industry, not the first, at least if they are legally prudent.
Besides, if it really bothers you all so much, buy a compressor, build a fill station and fill all your own tanks, friends, etc.
I suspect large identification requirements will go away right about the time the industry decides a 3900 psi fill on a lp steel tank is really as ok as filling it to its working pressure 2640. Unfortunately banding is the standard as the industry sees it now, and only time and more understanding and information will change that, but the mom and pop LDS will always need to be the last to change with the industry, not the first, at least if they are legally prudent.
Besides, if it really bothers you all so much, buy a compressor, build a fill station and fill all your own tanks, friends, etc.
Jacksaltlanta I agree with you to a point. Where I disagree is that the industry standard has slipped and lost the logical basis that supported the practice.
The result is that banding is pretty stupid and can now cause the very thing it is designed to prevent due to the unrestricted availability of Nitrox bands.
The idea originally was that if a tank was nitrox banded that it would advertise to all that it was an O2 clean tank that should only be filled with Nitrox to ensure it remained O2 clean. To preserve that as a plausible assumption requires that no fill station ever put anything other than Nitrox in it - which means filling with what amounts to Nitrox 21 rather than "air". The secondary function was to notify divers that the tank may not contain air and to test the contents before use to verify the contents.
Today however a diver could happily buy a pallet load of Nitrox bands and put them on all his or her tanks - even the ones they coated internally with oil to prevent rust. If all the fill attendant is concerned about is the presence of the Nitrox label, it's a valid choice for a Nitrox fill from their limited and very ignorant perspective.
What really counts is the O2 clean VIP sticker and the committment of all fill stations and attendants to ensure that the only thing that goes into the tank is Nitrox or air meeting the stricter Nitrox requirements. What also counts is the label on the tank advising what is in the tank before the fill is started and committment by the fill station and attendant to remove the old label, verify the contents after the fill and re-label the tank correctly. The Nitrox band, by it's ready availability now provides no assurance of anything. What is more, insisting on a Nitrox label is not enough to cover the shop from a liability perspective if their fill staff are poorly trained. "Proper" labeling is not going to be adequate to excuse negligence.
Another practice that used to be common was to put no stickers on the tank other than the VIP, and later the contents label, and to remove all labels prior to the VIP to ensure the entire exterior of the tank could be properly inspected. Nitrox bands work against that philosophy unless they are removed at each VIP - adding $5-8 to the cost of the VIP even without the fresh O2 cleaning.
We can all sit back and claim that we have to continue the practice because training agencies teach it, or we can communicate with those same agencies and insist they update theiir standards and practices. The people most likely to have the most influence with training agancies are not the average divers/customers but rather the dive shop owners and the instructors affiliated with those shops since it is those affiliations which keep a training agency in business.
The result is that banding is pretty stupid and can now cause the very thing it is designed to prevent due to the unrestricted availability of Nitrox bands.
The idea originally was that if a tank was nitrox banded that it would advertise to all that it was an O2 clean tank that should only be filled with Nitrox to ensure it remained O2 clean. To preserve that as a plausible assumption requires that no fill station ever put anything other than Nitrox in it - which means filling with what amounts to Nitrox 21 rather than "air". The secondary function was to notify divers that the tank may not contain air and to test the contents before use to verify the contents.
Today however a diver could happily buy a pallet load of Nitrox bands and put them on all his or her tanks - even the ones they coated internally with oil to prevent rust. If all the fill attendant is concerned about is the presence of the Nitrox label, it's a valid choice for a Nitrox fill from their limited and very ignorant perspective.
What really counts is the O2 clean VIP sticker and the committment of all fill stations and attendants to ensure that the only thing that goes into the tank is Nitrox or air meeting the stricter Nitrox requirements. What also counts is the label on the tank advising what is in the tank before the fill is started and committment by the fill station and attendant to remove the old label, verify the contents after the fill and re-label the tank correctly. The Nitrox band, by it's ready availability now provides no assurance of anything. What is more, insisting on a Nitrox label is not enough to cover the shop from a liability perspective if their fill staff are poorly trained. "Proper" labeling is not going to be adequate to excuse negligence.
Another practice that used to be common was to put no stickers on the tank other than the VIP, and later the contents label, and to remove all labels prior to the VIP to ensure the entire exterior of the tank could be properly inspected. Nitrox bands work against that philosophy unless they are removed at each VIP - adding $5-8 to the cost of the VIP even without the fresh O2 cleaning.
We can all sit back and claim that we have to continue the practice because training agencies teach it, or we can communicate with those same agencies and insist they update theiir standards and practices. The people most likely to have the most influence with training agancies are not the average divers/customers but rather the dive shop owners and the instructors affiliated with those shops since it is those affiliations which keep a training agency in business.
Dive-aholic:Just get these stickers. I have them on all my tanks.
Are they all available from airspeed press?
Isn't a simple marking of the tank with the O2% (or if trimix O2 and He %) adequate? who says it has to be a HUGE sticker with NITROX?
... yet another argument for steel tanks... magnetic bumper stickers.
howarde:
Know it all dive shop employees. . .
Can you tell which tanks in the photo are nitrox tanks?
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