Cylinder Marking Standards
Breathing the wrong gas at depth is the single greatest hazard to a technical diver. To minimize the potential for selecting a wrong gas, SCRET has adopted a set of standards for marking all cylinders.
Basic gas management protocols:
- Regulators are NOT used to identify or signify a gas mixture
- There is NO color-coding of regulators or cylinders
- Each cylinder is analyzed and marked PRIOR to the dive
- The markings on the bottle are the ONLY means of identifying a gas mixture
- Each mixture is verified underwater BEFORE breathing
- Cylinders are marked with gas content and maximum breathable depth
- Oxygen is spelled out (O2 can be confused with 120’)
- Each cylinder bears the owner’ initials
- Markings are visible to the dive buddy when clipped off to the diver
- Maximum breathable depth and gas content are prominently displayed
- Analysis information is placed on the neck of the cylinder. The information required is: - Final O2 percentage - Maximum operating depth (MOD) - Analyzer’s initials - Analysis date - Tank pressure at time of analysis
Standards for marking cylinders minimize potentially deadly mistakes