to clip or not to clip?

just wanted to start a new thread. I always thought it was standard practice clip stage bottles,(not deco) to the main line during the dive. As long as the bottle was not placing stress on the line. I was recently talking to my friend who was taking an intro course, and mentioned this practice and he said his cave instructor vehemently opposes such a practice. stating that stage bottles are to be placed out of the way and not on the line. I feel in the event of a silt out or such, you may not be able locate the stage. any thoughts?

I wouldn't leave mine off the line. You are right about siltout, and light failure preventing you from finding them on the way out.

Maybe he misunderstood, and the instructor was talking about deco bottles?

I clip stage bottles to the line for same reasons mentioned (also mask failure). I also clip deco bottles to the line. If I'm running a primary reel, I clip my O2 to my line. If I'm dropping deeper deco gas (ie 50% or 32%) for trimix dives, that deco bottle gets attached to the line also.

Clipping bottles also reduces the chances of them being moved by divers or current. Also, communicates to other divers that "No, this bottle was not lost or misplaced." By clipping it to the line it says "THIS IS MINE. I KNOW WHERE I DROPPED IT. LEAVE IT ALONE!"

It's no different than utilizing line arrows or cookies on the line during your dive.

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Originally Posted by aw

I clip stage bottles to the line for same reasons mentioned (also mask failure). I also clip deco bottles to the line. If I'm running a primary reel, I clip my O2 to my line. If I'm dropping deeper deco gas (ie 50% or 32%) for trimix dives, that deco bottle gets attached to the line also.

Clipping bottles also reduces the chances of them being moved by divers or current. Also, communicates to other divers that "No, this bottle was not lost or misplaced." By clipping it to the line it says "THIS IS MINE. I KNOW WHERE I DROPPED IT. LEAVE IT ALONE!"

It's no different than utilizing line arrows or cookies on the line during your dive.

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Exactly!! I couldn't have said it any better.

We had drills that involved clipping bottles to the line & later locating our bottle(s) & being able to distinguish mine from yours (our instructor would mix them up on us when we were not looking) with mask off/eyes closed during several IANTD classes...Adv. Nitrox, Normoxic Trimix and Trimix all had us go through this drill multipule times.

That's an interesting idea...what did you use to distinguish your bottle from a friends? We all have the the exact same setups around here...same tanks, we put together our rigging together and have the same regs...so they are physically identical.

Duct tape a line arrow to your tank?

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Originally Posted by Omicron

That's an interesting idea...what did you use to distinguish your bottle from a friends? We all have the the exact same setups around here...same tanks, we put together our rigging together and have the same regs...so they are physically identical.

Duct tape a line arrow to your tank?

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One advantage to clipping to the line is that the tanks are "in line". So if you are diver #2 in the team . . on exit your bottle will be the second one in line directly behind (exit side) of the first one you hit. Of course, in the training scenario Mike mentions, if the instructor goes over and switches them around, then this won't work. But there's hardly a chance that will happen on an actual cave dive. If someone messes with your bottle, they probably took it rather than rearranged it for you.

Not always. There are two schools of thought: one says that everybody drops stages when one person hits a given pressure. The other says that each person drops his/her stage when he/she hits the number. Almost every team I dive with belongs in the second group.

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Originally Posted by Slüdge

Not always. There are two schools of thought: one says that everybody drops stages when one person hits a given pressure. The other says that each person drops his/her stage when he/she hits the number. Almost every team I dive with belongs in the second group.

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The idea still works though. If you dropped your tank later, then yours is the first one you come to. Even if the stage tanks are 100 ft apart.

Personally, I belong to the first "school of thought". We both drop them when the first person drops them. It keeps the team from having to stop twice going in on a single stage dive.

The other problem I have with the second school of thought is gas management. Yes, I'm sure everyone gas matched before the dive and know your drop & turn pressures. But everyone dropping at the same time is the more conservative approach. Yes, it's penalizing the diver who has a better SAC. But the heavier breather is going to turn the dive before you do anyway. So all you accomplished was dragging that extra tank further into the cave.

Clipping deco bottle is nice in theory and is the logical safe choice but IMHO it might actually not be the better choice in certain cases.

At Peacock for example, it's easy to clip a bottle either to the main line or you primary line. Plenty of space for everyone.

Now I was at LR two weeks ago. Close to a dozen people in the system. Four primaries tying into the main line. Clipping a deco bottle to your own primary is asking for trouble with the flow and the traffic. Other choice is to clip to the main line but now you are deeper than your MOD (if O2) and 10 bottles there would be a mess. In a situation like this, I think it makes sense to stash the bottle in a pocket. There are pockets all over the place. Keeps your team's bottles together in one pocket. That's what everyone was doing.

I'm curious if someone has a better suggestion.

As for stage. I don't use stage yet. But clipping to the line seems to be mandatory in this case. Too risky that you will pass your bottle without taking it if it's not on the line.

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Originally Posted by chimie007

Now I was at LR two weeks ago. Close to a dozen people in the system. Four primaries tying into the main line. Clipping a deco bottle to your own primary is asking for trouble with the flow and the traffic. Other choice is to clip to the main line but now you are deeper than your MOD (if O2) and 10 bottles there would be a mess. In a situation like this, I think it makes sense to stash the bottle in a pocket. There are pockets all over the place. Keeps your team's bottles together in one pocket. That's what everyone was doing.

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IN THEORY . . . (keep in mind this is a public forum) when there are that many lines in the cavern, I have heard of some teams not running a primary for some sites (i.e. LR, JB). I can't imagine who these crazy people are (complacency kills) . . . but some don't, esp if there's a high likelihood that reels will still be in place when they return and the team is very familiar with the site. So stashing them is the best choice in that scenario.

Alternatively, if you do run a reel in a place like LR, you will notice that if you tie off to the stake and clip your deco bottle to your primary reel's line, you can use the tank as a weight on the line to hug it to the floor just past the tieoff where the floor drops past that big rock. So you can actually use it to your advantage to keep the line out of other divers' way.

Personally, I like dropping my O2 10 ft deeper when practical than when I'm going to switch. It gives me a minute to hook everything up on my slow ascent so that when I hit 20 ft, I'm ready for the switch.

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Originally Posted by aw

...everyone dropping at the same time is the more conservative approach.

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Not really. One way to look at this is to see which approach leaves you with more backgas at the dive's maximum penetration.

Say Kim and I make a stage dive. We drop stages at 1/2 +200, and turn the dive at 1/3 of backgas. It's a given that Kim will turn the dive. In the first scenario, we both drop stages, then she turns the dive on thirds. I have a little more than 2/3 left.

But in the second scenario, I don't drop my stage until long after she has. So that means that for every cubic foot of extra gas I breathe out of my stage, that's how many more cubic feet I have in my doubles, so I'm not even close to thirds.

In an emergency, having lots of gas on your back is the name of the game.

But whichever way makes you the most comfortable!

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Originally Posted by Slüdge

In an emergency, having lots of gas on your back is the name of the game.

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Yeah, I suppose so. I guess there's some pros and cons to both approaches. On a typical dive assuming nothing goes wrong, I'd love to drop that bottle asap if im going to get turned earlier than my thirds anyway.

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Originally Posted by Slüdge

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Originally Posted by aw

...everyone dropping at the same time is the more conservative approach.

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Not really. One way to look at this is to see which approach leaves you with more backgas at the dive's maximum penetration.

.....

In an emergency, having lots of gas on your back is the name of the game.

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more backgas is not necessarily the name of the game - like when it's your first stage that blows, or a backgas tank valve. having a stage with a bit more gas is then the name of the game. I dive the stage to 1/3, everyone drops stages when first team member hits thirds; plenty of gas for back gas failures (if you can make it to stages you are home free). And if someone else grabbed your stage and you get back and it's gone, well there's enough gas in the stage tanks for all team members to exit safely.

I am much more comfortable with more than enough gas in my stage for two to exit on it, than with keeping a few hundred extra psi in my backgas.

but I'd still dive with you whether it's half or thirds for stage and whether or not you drop it when I do.

-skip

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Originally Posted by Slüdge

Not always. There are two schools of thought: one says that everybody drops stages when one person hits a given pressure. The other says that each person drops his/her stage when he/she hits the number. Almost every team I dive with belongs in the second group.

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There is a third and forth option to consider too.

3 everyone drops at a predetermined place regardless of pressure, you may have switched to back gas 100 ft ago but this is a better place to drop. IE just before the Hill 400 jump is better than after.

4 Keep your bottle with you. You will notice with a properly fitted stage and proper swim technique you are very comfortable. If you solo often you swim with AL right?

I frequently dive river cave that has old twisted nylon line that doesn't give you a warm and fuzzy when you look at the condition. In those cases I never clip a stage to the line in fear that the line may break. I run a reel from the line to a drop point,and place my stage on the line from my reel.

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Originally Posted by Kelly Jessop

I frequently dive river cave that has old twisted nylon line that doesn't give you a warm and fuzzy when you look at the condition. In those cases I never clip a stage to the line in fear that the line may break. I run a reel from the line to a drop point,and place my stage on the line from my reel.

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COOL !
Thanks for the idea...Never thought of that one.
See , us newbies always learning...
I'll keep that one in my "pocket" , if you don't mind.

Jeano Beano

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Originally Posted by jeandiver

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Originally Posted by Kelly Jessop

I frequently dive river cave that has old twisted nylon line that doesn't give you a warm and fuzzy when you look at the condition. In those cases I never clip a stage to the line in fear that the line may break. I run a reel from the line to a drop point,and place my stage on the line from my reel.

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COOL !
Thanks for the idea...Never thought of that one.
See , this newbie is always learning.
I'll keep that one in my "pocket" , if you don't mind.

Jeano Beano

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SIGH!!!!
Sowwy for the double post.
Gads , I swear sometimes. :oops:

Da Blushing Bean

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Originally Posted by Kelly Jessop

I frequently dive river cave that has old twisted nylon line that doesn't give you a warm and fuzzy when you look at the condition. In those cases I never clip a stage to the line in fear that the line may break. I run a reel from the line to a drop point,and place my stage on the line from my reel.

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That is also useful where the line isn't near the floor at the drop point. Trying to hang stages from the line is never a good idea.

You can also take a lift bag, inflate it to pin it on the ceiling and clip them to that with a line to the main. Handy if the mud or silt is really bad where you'd like to drop and you have enough room.

Of course you'd want to make sure the lift bag could hold all the bottles you wanted to hang from it. ;-) And it might be better not to use one with an open bottom to prevent accidental dumpage.

Marbry

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more backgas is not necessarily the name of the game - like when it's your first stage that blows, or a backgas tank valve. having a stage with a bit more gas is then the name of the game. I dive the stage to 1/3, everyone drops stages when first team member hits thirds; plenty of gas for back gas failures (if you can make it to stages you are home free). And if someone else grabbed your stage and you get back and it's gone, well there's enough gas in the stage tanks for all team members to exit safely.

I am much more comfortable with more than enough gas in my stage for two to exit on it, than with keeping a few hundred extra psi in my backgas.

but I'd still dive with you whether it's half or thirds for stage and whether or not you drop it when I do.

-skip

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It will leave you with more gas in some of the stages, but it also means it will be farther back to get to the first stage bottle than if each person had dropped when they needed to individually.

Marbry

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Originally Posted by Webmaster

You can also take a lift bag, inflate it to pin it on the ceiling and clip them to that with a line to the main. Handy if the mud or silt is really bad where you'd like to drop and you have enough room.

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Someone told me a trick for this once.

Cut the top off a bleach bottle or other bottle the same diameter as your stage bottle and some line to turn it into a lift bag.

The line fits inside the bottle, the bottle fits snugly on the bottom of the stage. When it comes time to drop the bottle in a cave that has no good drop points take the bottle end fill it with air from your reg and clip the stage bottle to the lift device so they hang from the ceiling.

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Originally Posted by Gary

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Originally Posted by Webmaster

You can also take a lift bag, inflate it to pin it on the ceiling and clip them to that with a line to the main. Handy if the mud or silt is really bad where you'd like to drop and you have enough room.

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Someone told me a trick for this once.

Cut the top off a bleach bottle or other bottle the same diameter as your stage bottle and some line to turn it into a lift bag.

The line fits inside the bottle, the bottle fits snugly on the bottom of the stage. When it comes time to drop the bottle in a cave that has no good drop points take the bottle end fill it with air from your reg and clip the stage bottle to the lift device so they hang from the ceiling.

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Pretty clever,have you ever tried it?

... or use Aluminum 72s for stages. When you breathe them down to 2000psi, they're neutral, and at 1700psi they're a smidgen positive!

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Originally Posted by Kelly Jessop

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Originally Posted by Gary

The line fits inside the bottle, the bottle fits snugly on the bottom of the stage. When it comes time to drop the bottle in a cave that has no good drop points take the bottle end fill it with air from your reg and clip the stage bottle to the lift device so they hang from the ceiling.

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Pretty clever,have you ever tried it?

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Never had the need. Just filed the info away in case of future need. :)

this seems extremely excessive and a little unnecessary, but I guess it's all mission specific eh?

A couple of years ago my buddy and I were doing the Sweet Surprise/Main Land circuit at Ginnie. We had planted our stage bottles about 1/3 the way in the Main Land, and on the line. When we came thru the connector tunnel to the Main Land the entire tunnel was silted out by (we later found out) someone back there just before us - on a scooter. I couldn't see anything but remember my mask hitting my stage bottle and thinking how glad I was that it was there. If it had not been on the line we would have swam right on past it and been in a real pickel. Sorry, but my bottles are staying on the main line.

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Originally Posted by jjbosquez

this seems extremely excessive and a little unnecessary, but I guess it's all mission specific eh?

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Joe you realize you dug up a thread from '07 right? This is Robert btw.

It's an interesting review though. Amazing how non standard it is, and to see the differing priorities people seem to focus on.

Just an observation but the smart money seems to be on clipping on the line, or at least running a line to the bottle drop. But beyond that also being flexible in where the drop is made based on the cave profile/ line location and on the stage management strategy used.

That's consistent with my training and I was surprised to see the degree of variance on the issue.

I was in peacock a month or so ago and was noticing all the blocks the line was tied into on main line were knocked over and moved some and the line had come off some placements... someone had hung two negative stages on the line up in the air before that little window on the way to olsen and the line was sagging badly. I'm all for clipping onto the line but I think they coulda done a slightly better job.

I always clip stages to a line. When I do single stage dives in river caves with old line, high flow and low vis, I will not drop it.
If I do multi-stage I will run a line to the tank, like Kelly said, but will also secure the line to a solid rock outcropping or silt screw. I have also used a float to hang a stage on, it works. I'll have to make a few bleach bottle bottoms, thats a good idea!
Deco bottles vary from cave to cave, at Little River I drop my O2 just around the corner on the gold line out of the daylight zone, same at Ginnie. Other caves I will just tuck it in a hole if I am using a LP45, I never leave a AL not clipped to something.

I once dropped a tank near a line but didn't clip. I then hit a narrow area, and produced quite a bit of silt. On the way out, the silt had moved to where I'd dropped the cylinder. I swam right by it without seeing or feeling it, and then had to decide... do I keep swimming and dip into thirds, or do I go look for it and risk dipping even deeper into thirds if it took me too long to find it? I exited fine... but I'll never leave a cylinder unclipped again unless I know the cave REALLY well.

Also watch flow as well as silt. A cylinder can be moved surprisingly far in flow if it's been breathed down somewhat.

It takes pretty bad technique to risk damaging even old line when you clip off. Do it carefully and the risk is minimal.

I always thought that this is standard, to have continuous line to your stage bottle. In case you get back on a siltout, how will you find the stage? At Lafayette Blue, where there's a lot of silty spots and I could not find a spot to drop my stage to save my life, Bobby showed me this cool trick to get the spool on the main line and get the stage on the spool. As has been mentioned in this tread this is a nice alternative.

I clip to my line if I go in on a primary or the Main line if not. I came back to the ear one day and someone else had clipped their O2 bottle off (next to mine) to my Primary about 10ft from the Gold Line. I thought about just unclipping it and leaving it there, but instead I took it and clipped it to the Gold Line. I figured that since they hadn't run a primary it was their stupid problem and I wasn't going to compound it by having them lose their bottle too. They would just find it a little closer than where they dropped it, but wouldn't have to go looking for it. As for me pulling the line that they came in on, I figured they could do a lost line drill to find the exit if they couldn't see the light.

+1 for the line. Too many potential issues. You may need to plan and carry it further than necessary to find a good spot, but that's the price of admission. Multiple stops for drops of each team member just adds time... But without much benefit that I can see. Pretty common to drop scooters and stages at the same spot even if it means a longer carry to be efficient with time. More gas never hurts if you need it.

I always clip stage bottles to the main line. I teach my students to follow it as a standard practice.

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Originally Posted by Line Squirrel

Exactly!! I couldn't have said it any better.

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That supposed "Instructor" obviously has NOT ever had to get back to their stage(s) in a bad silt-out or with messed-up lights. Well, I have, and while stages and scooters don't always need to be placed right on the line for all the reasons noted in this discussion, they should be set down at least within an arm's length and NEVER "out of the way." What a STUPID IDIOTIC thing to tell someone. Why would that nut-job instructor even bring up stages in an Into Class to begin with? More and more, I think there are some real moron instructors out there, assuming that is what s/he said.

If you have an "old line" or similar reason why you would not clip on, I carry a spool with 15-20 feet of line on it. Tie the line on with an arrow and loop the spool line around a rock and leave bottle clipped on. In a bad situation or a "we gotta go", Find the arrow, get the bottle and forget the $10 spool. Or pull the spool if time warrants that. YMMV

I'd never leave a stage off a line like sitting by a rock or in the mud, NEVER.

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Originally Posted by JDostal

That's an interesting idea...what did you use to distinguish your bottle from a friends? We all have the the exact same setups around here...same tanks, we put together our rigging together and have the same regs...so they are physically identical.

Duct tape a line arrow to your tank?

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As long as we have dug up this old thread, does anyone have an answer to his question? I never have a problem, since my rigging is not "standard" and my regs are not very common anymore.

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Originally Posted by FW

my regs are not very common anymore.

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... and I've never run across another stage with a Mark 20UL/Clear G-250 on it!

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Originally Posted by Slüdge

... and I've never run across another stage with a Mark 20UL/Clear G-250 on it!

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You can tell they are clear with your lights out? :roll:

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Originally Posted by FW

..... my regs are not very common anymore.

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I told you to get rid of those North Hill air lungs. That damn J valve will get you killed.

A unique key chain on the clip should make it obvious... this would be my pick. Not sure everyone would want the extra clutter though.

Ah hah! I found a much better solution! Glow stick bracelets. If you have a Michaels crafts store around you, I think they sell them 10 for $1. Put one around the neck of the tank, come in random different colors. Even in a silt out, you should be able to put your mask up against it and see the color.

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Originally Posted by Greenwood_60

A unique key chain on the clip should make it obvious... this would be my pick. Not sure everyone would want the extra clutter though.

Ah hah! I found a much better solution! Glow stick bracelets. If you have a Michaels crafts store around you, I think they sell them 10 for $1. Put one around the neck of the tank, come in random different colors. Even in a silt out, you should be able to put your mask up against it and see the color.

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Stage tanks, with staged lights :-)

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Originally Posted by FW

As long as we have dug up this old thread, does anyone have an answer to his question? I never have a problem, since my rigging is not "standard" and my regs are not very common anymore.

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My deco reg first stages are Mk 8s and Mk 9s (with G250 second stages) that are also not very common so they tend to be very easy to distinguish by feel.

Otherwise the stage regs have Mk 10 or Mk 10+ first stages with G250 second stages. They are pretty common so the upper portion of the clear tubing around the stage strap has 5 wraps of cave line around it. It is easy to see, and easy to distinguish tactilely.

Marci and I share the same collection of stage bottles so we share the same tactile marking system, but on the same profiles we'll be diving the same gasses. And, we tend to lay them down in order and pick them up in reverse order on the way out, so relative position clipped on the line tells us the rest of the required information.

For that matter our reels are marked the same way with 5 wraps of line wrapped very snug around the handle of the reel.

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Originally Posted by OFG-1

I told you to get rid of those North Hill air lungs. That damn J valve will get you killed.

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Hmmm...I have several refurbished double hose regs. Next trip to FL I should put one on a stage, leave it on the line somewhere in Ginnie and then come watch the board light up.

Forrest reg has 2 large hoses going to the mouthpiece.
Also they are signed by jacques cousteau in braille.
Very clever idea!

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Originally Posted by chimie007

Clipping deco bottle is nice in theory and is the logical safe choice but IMHO it might actually not be the better choice in certain cases.

At Peacock for example, it's easy to clip a bottle either to the main line or you primary line. Plenty of space for everyone.

Now I was at LR two weeks ago. Close to a dozen people in the system. Four primaries tying into the main line. Clipping a deco bottle to your own primary is asking for trouble with the flow and the traffic. Other choice is to clip to the main line but now you are deeper than your MOD (if O2) and 10 bottles there would be a mess. In a situation like this, I think it makes sense to stash the bottle in a pocket. There are pockets all over the place. Keeps your team's bottles together in one pocket. That's what everyone was doing.

I'm curious if someone has a better suggestion.

As for stage. I don't use stage yet. But clipping to the line seems to be mandatory in this case. Too risky that you will pass your bottle without taking it if it's not on the line.

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At Little River IMHO for O2 bottles stashing works best.

Of course for stage bottles. I prefer clipping to the line.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I use an uncommon mouthpiece to keep mine easy to ID in little or no viz. No extra stuff necessary.

I shudder at the thought of having to look for a stage that was not on the line when it will soon be needed because of Murphy's interference.

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Originally Posted by tflaris

At Little River IMHO for O2 bottles stashing works best.

Of course for stage bottles. I prefer clipping to the line.

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One of the risks with a missing stage is the need to decide whether to burn more of your remaining gas trying to find it (and risk not having enough gas to exit) or to just exit on what you have left (and the latter should always be a viable option if you are planning for an adequate reserve). Consequently, if proper gas planning is done the real risks are indecision and/or an unwillingness to leave a stage behind and retreive it on a subsequent dive.

The exception here is if you've had other things not go well and are already cutting into the reserve - that's when you can't afford not to have your stage clipped to the line.

The opinion that stashing a deco bottle at LR is preferrable is potentially valid in many similar small caverns with sandy floors, where the spider web effect can get out of hand in short order. However the thing you need to consider in any cave is that you will always have the potential of losing or not being able to find your deco gas whether it is clipped off or not, so you always need to have a lost gas contingency plan.

In that regard a lost deco bottle is different in that there is no real decision to make. Unless you stashed the bottle way too deep, you are doing a reasonably close to optimum (back gas) deco while searching for it, and if you did proper lost gas contingency planning, the reserve gas will be enough for the longer back gas deco anyway. And worst case, if your reserve gas runs out, you still get out of the cave potentially bent with inadequate deco rather than drowning, so the situation is a bit diferent than it is with a missing stage.

I think my deco instructor would say that you are preparing for a problem that should never exist in the first place.

If you are all using the same gas and doing the same dive, why does it matter which team members bottle you or anyone else in your team picks up?

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Originally Posted by BoneDoc

I think my deco instructor would say that you are preparing for a problem that should never exist in the first place.

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Which is what? Lost gas?

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If you are all using the same gas and doing the same dive, why does it matter which team members bottle you or anyone else in your team picks up?

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Swapping bottles could transmit Cooties.

Assuming everyone used the same bottles, same rigging and same reg, it would make no difference. But add an odd stage rigging, an odd reg or mouthpiece (sea cure, etc) then it starts to become more of a problem.

More practically, if we are moving in line as a team, and we drop as a team, we are all removing tanks at the same time and placing them so we can all pick them back up at the same time - it ends up being a real time saver going in and coming back out.

Finally, to get nit-picky, I have analyzed my gas, and while I assunme you analyzed yours and may have even watched you do it, I'm never 100% sure what is in your tank. Consider it an "O2 Cootie" issue.

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Originally Posted by BoneDoc

If you are all using the same gas and doing the same dive, why does it matter which team members bottle you or anyone else in your team picks up?

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Well...if you can't identify your bottle how would you know if it's a bottle from your team?

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Originally Posted by BoneDoc

I think my deco instructor would say that you are preparing for a problem that should never exist in the first place.

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My deco instructor taught us this stuff. Better to know how to do it and never need it.
It's not that hard to identify your bottle purely by touch.

Get to know your regulator by feel, first and second stage.

Do you double up the 6 or 9-inch HP hose and tie it back to the first stage or do you let it hang straight?

How are your bungees set up, how many bungees? Are they cut out of a big inner tube forming one big fat rubber band or did you use a thinner inner tube and cut it to length. When I lived in cold water wreck country, we left a tail on the bungee so we could stow hoses with dry gloves. Did you use cable ties on the bungees or cave line; maybe just tied a big knot in them, maybe you’re using fabricated bungees like the Dive Rite.

Big bolt snaps on your rigging or small? Maybe you use butterfly clips or sucide clips.

Is it a steel cylinder or aluminum? Boot or no boot...

The list goes on, it's not that hard.

A number of times during our training we had to follow a line back to our stage and or deco bottles blind, identify them blind, but them on and swim on. The instructor actualy mixed them up on us.

I got it right EVERYTIME. Even when another team member grabbed one of my cylinders and clipped it off to his rig, I was able to convice him he had the wrong one and we swithced...all the time blind.

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Originally Posted by BoneDoc

why does it matter which team members bottle you or anyone else in your team picks up?

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I won't breathe off any second stage but a Clear G-250.

Oh, and the cooties answer, too.

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Originally Posted by floridabob

I use an uncommon mouthpiece to keep mine easy to ID in little or no viz. No extra stuff necessary.
.

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Is this it ??

http://www.newparent.com/wp-content/...er-210x139.jpg

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Originally Posted by DA Aquamaster

Swapping bottles could transmit Cooties.
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Only if you are diving with girls.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Line Squirrel

Well...if you can't identify your bottle how would you know if it's a bottle from your team?

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You mean a cave or cavern full of stage bottles or deco tanks is not like the propane tank exchange thing at Walmart?

Crap....I was really wanting a clear G250...