I will always remember the remark of one of my mentors and Trimix Instructor when I was labeling my mixed gas diving double tanks before we jump on the water. I had just analyzed my Trimix mixes and was marking my tanks 14/50 (IANTD tables 1998)
“George! What are these numbers on your tank? Mixed gas diving is a serious activity! and tanks should be labeled properly. You should mark Tx14/50 so we know you are diving TRIMIX”.
He was right! I understood and acknowledged his comment, it was an important marking for somebody coming from a renowned and noble professional commercial scuba diving agency. Commercial and military divers have set the standards for us, it is important to keep Technical diving and Technical cave diving a “noble” activity where little details count.
He had set up a good example and I keep following that example myself and with my students. I know sometimes I have a tendency to rush after analyzing my Nitrox tanks, and mark the number 32 on them. However, I still have my mentor’s voice in my head telling me that I am not doing the best at labeling my tanks. So I correct myself, and mark my tanks with either Nx32 or Eanx 32 instead of the 32 plain bare number, plus MOD and IANTD stickers. http://youtu.be/_cKGsVacAjY
Good example stands so why not forget the bad ones.
- Nitrox stickers: mixes from 22% to 40% O2
- Deco mix stickers: deco mixes from 40% O2 to 80% O2
- O2 stickers: 80% O2 to 100% O2
- Breathing gas other than air: any mixes, travel, deco Trimix, bail-out