New Dive Shop in Town

[LKunze]

I'm coming Eric, look out.  The only point I would add to your statement is that just because there is a nitrox sticker on the tank doesn't necessarily mean that it contains nitrox.  The contents label is what tells you what is in the tank.  One thing I always did when I had nitrox stickers on my tanks was that if I only had air in the tank I still kept a contents label on the tank (piece of duct tape) and labeled it "AIR".  Of course when in doubt analyze.  I feel the same as you in that I could care less if someone prefers to have nitrox stickers on their tanks or not.  For me personally,  I just don't feel they are necessary and feel they are really just a waste of money.  I think I paid like $8.00 per sticker.  : Money that would have been better spent on fills.

[Roger Southwick]

On a charter boat with a mixture of newer divers & nitrox divers, there's an advantage to having obvious markings.  You don't want a new diver who "knows" that scuba tanks contain compressed air to grab a tank of nitrox for a 130' dive.  Obvious markings would help.  (Of course, if they don't know what "nitrox" means, they're still in trouble.)

Also, those big stickers should technically be removed with every yearly visual tank inspection -- so it's a yearly expense to replace them.

For my own tanks, I follow Lonnie's procedure of analyzing & marking every time, even when it's air.

[LKunze]

Yeah, I can see in that instance that it may help.  If not using your own cylinders (dive charters where you may not bring your own cylinders or dive shops that rent nitrox tanks) it may be of some benefit in those cases.