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Steve Lindblom wrote:
> 
> >In all four cases, there are many, many pretenders to the throne, there
> >are many agencies who claim they have a standard, and that their standard
> >is the One True Standard.
> >
> >The result is several, conflicting standards, which is to say, no
> >standard at all. In fact, conflicting standards are WORSE than no
> >standard, because they leave the false illusion of the safety a standard
> >creates.
> 
> A good point.
> Worse yet, all of the agencies are for-profit businesses, with no real
> concern about what's in the diving consumer's best interest. And why should
> they - over conservative, draconian policies only result in bigger profits
> for the supply side of the dive biz.
> Rather than spend money on any research to answer many of these long
> outstanding questions about O2 cleaning and air quality, or risk the
> liability they'd face if they actually set a standard of their own, the
> tech agencies pedal manuals that are a cut-and-paste from NOAA, Navy and
> CGA and when forced to take a stand, take the most conservative one
> possible just to cover their butts.
> They relay this hodgepodge to their dive shops, who don't understand it
> anyway, and so often interpret it in the narrowest way possible. So why are
> we surprised when dive shops pull stupid tricks like this?
> 
> I've got no labeling at all on my tanks (but an analyzer in my dive bag). I
> know that's stupid, but the alternative, unless I want to buy mulitiple
> sets of dedicated tanks, is constant hassles with the dive shops - this one
> won't put air in my tanks becasue they say "amy contain nitrox" and that
> one won't put nitrox in them because they don't like my card. Easier to
> operate in a stealth mode.
> 
> Still, is it just my imagination, or when something really stupid turns up,
> does the name ANDI seem to be more often than not attached to it? They seem
> to be pushing the most extreme standards, and be least willing to accept
> the certifications/labels/standards of other agencies. Just the other day
> someone told me it was "illegal" to use 80%+ O2 without ANDI cert - the
> reasoning seemed to be that since only ANDI offered such a course, you
> could only do it with their permission.
> The would be just an amusing stupidity, if it weren't that so many shops
> that pump O2 seem to be accepting ANDI's logic.
> 
> You know, it's important for divers to fight this kind of turf grabbing and
> commerialization. We have no org working for our interests, the way pilots
> or drivers etc have - and in the absence of any resistance from the diving
> community, the for-profit bizs like the tech agencies end up getting to
> write the rules, and we get stuck paying to conform to them - witness the
> Visual.
> And then we have the dive gear manufacturers, who routinely engage in price
> fixing and refusal to sell parts, in blantant violation of anti-trust and
> other laws. I can't think of another industry that dares treat the customer
> so cavalierly.

Yeah, stealth works great however, as an OSHA inspector (for companies),
you can't get away with that without getting a lawsuit or a $50,000
fine.  They don't effect you, as the diver (unless an accident occurs),
however the diver shop falls under OSHA, CGA, and local regulations and
they all require labeling.

RD

I agree with you however.
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