Name markings on decobottles, stages and other equipment

*peter_steinhoff* · May 16th, 2006, 07:40 AM

After I saw the topic on stage bottle markings I though I would comment on markings in general.

Usually it's more practical and also safer to mark gear with your last name or full name instead of using initials. If you are several members of your family diving together you could of course also use first name initial and then last name.

From a safety perspective initials have the possibility of being exchanged with MODs, for instance B might look like 8, D might be 0, G 6, I 1, L 7 etc.
From a practical point of view there are not as many people sharing the same last name as there are people sharing their initials so you don't have to make up stuff.
Looking at it from a standardized point of view many teams, like the wkpp, usually mark there gear with last name of the diver. It works good and confusion about with initials one person may use are usually avoided since we know each others names.

Maybe something to consider for y'all...

Cheers,
Peter

Roel · May 16th, 2006, 08:46 AM

Usually it's more practical and also safer to mark gear with your last name or full name instead of using initials. If you are several members of your family diving together you could of course also use first name initial and then last name.

Peter,

For 'functional' marking I normally use letter size 360, for my name 150.

Functional text should be reabadle under water from a few meter distance.
My name is only relevant at close range (on the surface, or picking up a stage under water).

Regards,

Roel (the name I normally use to label my gear)

*Clare Gledhill* · May 16th, 2006, 08:52 AM

Hmm... well as long as you and others know what you are using it doesn't really matter does it?

TBH I find it hard enough fitting CHG on an Ali 40 - CGLEDHILL would be a right p.i.t.a. and I'd have to reduce the letter size to the point it was useless at all but close quarters.

Given comments though I have increased the number of characters permitted on the stage marking section of your profile to 10.

MonkSeal · May 16th, 2006, 10:35 AM

Quote: (Originally Posted by peter_steinhoff)

Usually it's more practical and also safer to mark gear with your last name or full name instead of using initials. If you are several members of your family diving together you could of course also use first name initial and then last name.

My name is not so common in my country (and it's also a short one) and I've found it the most precise way of marking the equipment

What do you recommend for argon tank marking? Just label or fixed marking (painted letters like deco tanks)?

A little hijack: Peter, what sizes of argon tank do you recommend setup on your web site for?

Best rgds,
Emir

Roel · May 16th, 2006, 10:44 AM

What do you recommend for argon tank marking? Just label or fixed marking (painted letters like deco tanks)?

A little hijack: What sizes of argon tank do you recommend setup on your web site for?

Best rgds,
Emir[/quote]

Emir,

My argon tanks are labelled argon (paint or sticker is you own choise) so that my buddy can read it under water. My own name is on the inside, so anyone can read it when I take off my set (not under water

...).

By the way, my stages have depth marking on both sides so my buddies and myself can read that. My name is on the bottom side which is very hard to read when I have them attached during dives.

Try to think about anything to be FUNCTIONAL. WHEN do you need that information and for what reason? This should solve most questions you have.

Happy diving,

Roel

*JGrogan* · May 16th, 2006, 10:49 AM

Emir,
The purpose of marking cylinders was for easy identification of their owner after they had been dropped. For example, if a team returns to a bottle-drop, they can quickly and easily identify their own cylinders.

For this reason, there is no need to mark argon bottles, doubles etc. as we do not drop them. If you are part of a large group doing exploration work where a number of sets of doubles are coming out of the water because the owners are in a habitat, for example, then there is a case for marking doubles. However, this is beyond the vast majority of divers.

With regard to the size of the argon tank, that really depends on your environment. For cave diving, I tend to use a 1.5L cylinder which is mounted on my doubles. For ocean diving, I have a much smaller cylinder which goes on my harness. There are no markings on either cylinder.

Best,
John.

Quote: (Originally Posted by MonkSeal)

My name is not so common in my country (and it's also a short one) and I've found it the most precise way of marking the equipment

What do you recommend for argon tank marking? Just label or fixed marking (painted letters like deco tanks)?

A little hijack: What sizes of argon tank do you recommend setup on your web site for?

Best rgds,
Emir

MonkSeal · May 16th, 2006, 10:58 AM

Quote: (Originally Posted by JGrogan)

Emir,
The purpose of marking cylinders was for easy identification of their owner after they had been dropped. For example, if a team returns to a bottle-drop, they can quickly and easily identify their own cylinders.

For this reason, there is no need to mark argon bottles, doubles etc. as we do not drop them. If you are part of a large group doing exploration work where a number of sets of doubles are coming out of the water because the owners are in a habitat, for example, then there is a case for marking doubles. However, this is beyond the vast majority of divers.

With regard to the size of the argon tank, that really depends on your environment. For cave diving, I tend to use a 1.5L cylinder which is mounted on my doubles. For ocean diving, I have a much smaller cylinder which goes on my harness. There are no markings on either cylinder.

Best,
John.

Obviously, my English is not good enough. Both my questions were targeted to little bit different subjects then you answered.

About argon tanks marking - I asked only: sticker or paint? I believe that's good to mark it as "argon" because in the environment when you have different skilled divers and different types of divers someone can make a mistake and take it as pony tank.

The other question was not about the size of argon tanks (for the specific application) but about argon rig at Peter's site - how large can tank be for this setup?

Best,
Emir

*Richard Lundgren* · May 16th, 2006, 11:40 AM

I would suggest to keep the name markings discrete compared to the MOD. Have seen many tanks with huge ego markings dwarfing the MOD:-)

Steve Blanchard · May 16th, 2006, 01:54 PM

I'm sure the WKPP has a standard way of writing their names on cylinders, were exactly do they put it? any pics?

It would help me out out to know so I don't mess up my gear

graham_hk · May 16th, 2006, 02:19 PM

Quote: (Originally Posted by Gledders)

TBH I find it hard enough fitting CHG on an Ali 40 - CGLEDHILL would be a right p.i.t.a. and I'd have to reduce the letter size to the point it was useless at all but close quarters.

Since one only needs to verify the name when picking the stage up small font would be fine.

May 16th, 2006, 07:40 AM	#1 (permalink)
peter_steinhoff(Offline) Instructor candidate Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Sweden & Florida Posts: 205	Name markings on decobottles, stages and other equipment After I saw the topic on stage bottle markings I though I would comment on markings in general. Usually it's more practical and also safer to mark gear with your last name or full name instead of using initials. If you are several members of your family diving together you could of course also use first name initial and then last name. From a safety perspective initials have the possibility of being exchanged with MODs, for instance B might look like 8, D might be 0, G 6, I 1, L 7 etc. From a practical point of view there are not as many people sharing the same last name as there are people sharing their initials so you don't have to make up stuff. Looking at it from a standardized point of view many teams, like the wkpp, usually mark there gear with last name of the diver. It works good and confusion about with initials one person may use are usually avoided since we know each others names. Maybe something to consider for y'all... Cheers, Peter __________________ Peter Steinhoff GUE DIR-F, Tech1, Tech2, Cave1, Cave2, Cave3, RB80-1&2, DIR-F/Cave Instructor Candidate. NAUI Tec Instructor (Trimix, Technical DPV, Technical Wreck Penenetration etc) WKPP Support Diver, Halcyon Product Development Team, Gavinscooter Representative. Various IANTD, NSS-CDS, NACD, PADI & NAUI. ---------------------------------------------- http://dir-diver.com http://peter.steinhoff.se (swedish only)

May 16th, 2006, 08:52 AM	#3 (permalink)
Clare Gledhill(Offline) GUE Instructor Site Admin Pacman Champion! Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: UK Posts: 1,541	Hmm... well as long as you and others know what you are using it doesn't really matter does it? TBH I find it hard enough fitting CHG on an Ali 40 - CGLEDHILL would be a right p.i.t.a. and I'd have to reduce the letter size to the point it was useless at all but close quarters. Given comments though I have increased the number of characters permitted on the stage marking section of your profile to 10. __________________ Clare . "Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions....Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you too can become great." Interested in DIR dive training? Always happy to chat/answer questions so get in touch via PM or visit www.dirdiver.co.uk

May 16th, 2006, 10:35 AM	#4 (permalink)
MonkSeal (Online) Old Member Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Zagreb, Croatia Posts: 475	Quote: (Originally Posted by peter_steinhoff) Usually it's more practical and also safer to mark gear with your last name or full name instead of using initials. If you are several members of your family diving together you could of course also use first name initial and then last name. My name is not so common in my country (and it's also a short one) and I've found it the most precise way of marking the equipment What do you recommend for argon tank marking? Just label or fixed marking (painted letters like deco tanks)? A little hijack: Peter, what sizes of argon tank do you recommend setup on your web site for? Best rgds, Emir Last edited by MonkSeal; May 16th, 2006 at 10:48 AM.

May 16th, 2006, 08:46 AM	#2 (permalink)
Roel(Offline) New Member Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Netherlands Posts: 374	Usually it's more practical and also safer to mark gear with your last name or full name instead of using initials. If you are several members of your family diving together you could of course also use first name initial and then last name. Peter, For 'functional' marking I normally use letter size 360, for my name 150. Functional text should be reabadle under water from a few meter distance. My name is only relevant at close range (on the surface, or picking up a stage under water). Regards, Roel (the name I normally use to label my gear)

May 16th, 2006, 10:44 AM	#5 (permalink)
Roel(Offline) New Member Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Netherlands Posts: 374	What do you recommend for argon tank marking? Just label or fixed marking (painted letters like deco tanks)? A little hijack: What sizes of argon tank do you recommend setup on your web site for? Best rgds, Emir[/quote] Emir, My argon tanks are labelled argon (paint or sticker is you own choise) so that my buddy can read it under water. My own name is on the inside, so anyone can read it when I take off my set (not under water ...). By the way, my stages have depth marking on both sides so my buddies and myself can read that. My name is on the bottom side which is very hard to read when I have them attached during dives. Try to think about anything to be FUNCTIONAL. WHEN do you need that information and for what reason? This should solve most questions you have. Happy diving, Roel

May 16th, 2006, 10:49 AM	#6 (permalink)
JGrogan(Offline) GUE Join Date: May 2006 Location: London Posts: 439	Emir, The purpose of marking cylinders was for easy identification of their owner after they had been dropped. For example, if a team returns to a bottle-drop, they can quickly and easily identify their own cylinders. For this reason, there is no need to mark argon bottles, doubles etc. as we do not drop them. If you are part of a large group doing exploration work where a number of sets of doubles are coming out of the water because the owners are in a habitat, for example, then there is a case for marking doubles. However, this is beyond the vast majority of divers. With regard to the size of the argon tank, that really depends on your environment. For cave diving, I tend to use a 1.5L cylinder which is mounted on my doubles. For ocean diving, I have a much smaller cylinder which goes on my harness. There are no markings on either cylinder. Best, John. Quote: (Originally Posted by MonkSeal) My name is not so common in my country (and it's also a short one) and I've found it the most precise way of marking the equipment What do you recommend for argon tank marking? Just label or fixed marking (painted letters like deco tanks)? A little hijack: What sizes of argon tank do you recommend setup on your web site for? Best rgds, Emir

May 16th, 2006, 10:58 AM	#7 (permalink)
MonkSeal (Online) Old Member Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Zagreb, Croatia Posts: 475	Quote: (Originally Posted by JGrogan) Emir, The purpose of marking cylinders was for easy identification of their owner after they had been dropped. For example, if a team returns to a bottle-drop, they can quickly and easily identify their own cylinders. For this reason, there is no need to mark argon bottles, doubles etc. as we do not drop them. If you are part of a large group doing exploration work where a number of sets of doubles are coming out of the water because the owners are in a habitat, for example, then there is a case for marking doubles. However, this is beyond the vast majority of divers. With regard to the size of the argon tank, that really depends on your environment. For cave diving, I tend to use a 1.5L cylinder which is mounted on my doubles. For ocean diving, I have a much smaller cylinder which goes on my harness. There are no markings on either cylinder. Best, John. Obviously, my English is not good enough. Both my questions were targeted to little bit different subjects then you answered. About argon tanks marking - I asked only: sticker or paint? I believe that's good to mark it as "argon" because in the environment when you have different skilled divers and different types of divers someone can make a mistake and take it as pony tank. The other question was not about the size of argon tanks (for the specific application) but about argon rig at Peter's site - how large can tank be for this setup? Best, Emir

May 16th, 2006, 11:40 AM	#8 (permalink)
Richard Lundgren(Offline) GUE Instructor Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Sweden Posts: 111	I would suggest to keep the name markings discrete compared to the MOD. Have seen many tanks with huge ego markings dwarfing the MOD:-)

May 16th, 2006, 01:54 PM	#9 (permalink)
Steve Blanchard(Offline) New Member Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Ontario, Canada Posts: 61	I'm sure the WKPP has a standard way of writing their names on cylinders, were exactly do they put it? any pics? It would help me out out to know so I don't mess up my gear

May 16th, 2006, 02:19 PM	#10 (permalink)
graham_hk(Offline) Pinoy ako pinoy Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: here, there and everywhere Posts: 779	Quote: (Originally Posted by Gledders) TBH I find it hard enough fitting CHG on an Ali 40 - CGLEDHILL would be a right p.i.t.a. and I'd have to reduce the letter size to the point it was useless at all but close quarters. Since one only needs to verify the name when picking the stage up small font would be fine.