So... As I read the recent posts on this thread, about how death is a risk of losing gas that was included in a plan, this is the ad that pops up in the new version of tapatalk, between posts:
http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/05...e16e932be3.jpg
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So... As I read the recent posts on this thread, about how death is a risk of losing gas that was included in a plan, this is the ad that pops up in the new version of tapatalk, between posts:
http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/05...e16e932be3.jpg
The bottle was a 40 aluminum yellow in color. MOD 20 was marked on both sides. Reflective 4" initials were on the tank, AHC in red and black. A safety bag was on the regulator. When you see my tank in the cave it can not be mistaken as someone else's. My name is also on the top of the tank and on the bottom. When the tank is placed in the cave and stands on its top, my name circles the entire bottom of the cylinder.
If you find a water bottle in the desert with a name on it and you drink from it, did you put it there?
This was not an unintentional act.
My gas management paid off. I always make sure that I have enough back gas to deco in the event I have a problem with my deco tank. Safe diving pays off again. I pray that this lesson taught he diver to make a more accurate dive plan before entering a deep cave.
Al, it really is possible someone screwed up and got confused and used the wrong bottle on accident.
I've seen student divers grab the wrong reel while their instructor looked on (Halcyon side-winders do not look anything like their DR L-shaped reels either), go down the wrong passages, grab the wrong deco bottles, etc. And a yellow aluminum 40 with a 20MOD mark is not that unusual. Given that 1800 PSI was consumed and it was put back in the water, I suspect it was a student diver (hence the high gas consumption) that didn't realize he grabbed the wrong bottle until he was done with deco.
Just because I believe it was a student diver does not mean I believe it was OK. I do wish they would at least own up to it to you in a PM, offer to fill it for you (or pay you for the gas they used), and buy you a six-pack of beer for your trouble.
That's a crazy looking regulator! Is that one of those in-line rebreather regs? I think I've seen them advertised but never on a valve.
And, do you keep that pouch on your second stage, in the water? That would certainly keep anyone from thinking it was theirs...it's one thing to overlook tank marking in low viz while stressed out during training, it would be quite another to remove a bag from a regulator when your tank didn't have a bag over it.
I think ken has a valid point, I don't underestimate the ability some people have to f-up simple things, working and diving on many boats here in SFL I've been able to observe some stuff some tech divers do that really makes you scratch your head, there's a tech instructor based in Miami that I'm yet to see him NOT screw up on one thing or another, and he isn't the only one. Now, if instructors are screwing up in a regular basis, imagine the students that come out of them.
Someone people just use a lot of bandwith from their brains just by performing the simplest things, I think it's possible someone just grab it thinking it was theirs, likely/obviously realized it later, but by that time was already at the eye, hence why he left it there.
Why leave it there and not bring it back to the original spot? Well, if it was a case of brainfart picking up the wrong bottle to begin with, then I guess we can expect more bad decisions subsequently.
That's one scenario anyways.