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It seems to me that there are a lot of worried people out there. From the current discussion about valve o-rings and burst discs, it looks like many people must actually not spend much time working on equipment. If a neck o-ring is properly torqued and lubed, you can basically ignore it as a major safety hazard. If you replace Burst discs at every hydro (better every year), you have minimal (although important) risk UNLESS you overpressurize them. If a cylinder is to be overpressurized, the unorthodox (sp?) practice of replacing the disk with a stronger one, or double stacking them should probably be used. As for the valve face o-ring...if you are using the standard U.S. valve over 3000-3500psi, I personally feel you are acting unwisely, as a DIN valve will be much better at preventing failure of this o-ring...they are made for higher pressures. My moral to this portion is, use new neck o-rings tightened properly tightened at VIP time, do something to prevent burst disc problems if you overfill, and just go spend some money on new DIN valves if you overfill. This will help cut your risk significantly. As for tank transport...While I fully understand the hazards of compressed air and O2 transport (I've hauled literally thousands of tanks), I truly believe that window stickers won't do a thing for anyone. How many times do you change lanes to get away from a car that says "Biohazard" stickered to it? If an accident happens, it happens, just try to keep your tanks safe in the trunk. I usually try to lay mine sideways, so there is no worry about rear impact, or valves/tanks becoming missiles in our direction. Really though, use your head and just don't sweat so much when you haul these things as a little care can prevent problems. One last point that was kind of embarassing to see on this list...O2 containers. It was asked if O2 is safe to keep in steel scuba tank, or would aluminum be better. Also, if corrosion was going to be worse. The person seemed to think this was a very dangerous situation... Well, OF COURSE the corrosion that happens will happen faster with more O2, but again, use your head and keep the tank clean (O2 Clean that is), and dry and you have no big worries either way. As for the question if it was safe to carry O2 in a steel tank...THINK HARD, what are industrial O2 cylinders made of?????? PLASTIC? NO!, STEEL. Don't worry so hard. I think that after a few years of working on SCUBA gear, that anyone who didn't immediately understand these issues BEFORE reading them here, should probably spend a little money and buy a GOOD Equipment care and maintance book, as many questions can be prevented. Sorry, it's just that a couple of topics lately have taken a lot of bandwidth that could have been better used on Rec-scuba, where people are less likely to know what's going on. Tim Olson "If you're gonna do it, you had better read about it first"
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