O2 kit lost

[Lindsey Doyle]

Hi all,
Just a forlorn hope that someone has found our O2 kit, in a rectangular orange Pelican case. It was lost somewhere on a triangular journey between West Bay, the St Dunstan 5nm SE of West Bay, the Bagitano 1 nm S of Lyme Regis and West Bay, on Saturday 14th may, when the frame supporting it sheared off our RHIB's A frame (weld gave way - it may have sunk if still strapped into steel frame).
The case is approx 75 x 40 cm, marked DSAC, inside is reg, 2 D cylinders, pocket mask, first aid stuff etc.
Please let me know if anyone finds it!
If no luck, does anyone have any recommendations on a new kit, we were considering NOT hiring cyls from BOC anymore, and maybe getting the cylindrical shape (Marinox) case. Dive reviewed kits, but it was 2 yrs ago, so we'd appreciate any advice.

[David Walker]

If no luck, does anyone have any recommendations on a new kit

On a recent O2 course someone mentioned that there's a new type of O2 kit coming out now, where the reg is built into the cylinder. Just looks like a cylinder, but instead of a valve at the top its all enclosed and you just have the face of the pressure gauge visible with a few connectors for various types of second stage / mask. No valve (apart from the thing for the free-flowing mask), its always on. Sounded like a good idea, keeps it all together and working, and when you send it back to get a fill it automatically gets a service too. Of course I imagine the cost may be prohibitive, although i've never looked, but if they're somewhere near reasonable might be worth considering.

Otherwise i'm not sure, we've just got a standard 7l DIN cylinder with an adaptor in - not ideal because only people qualified to dive with O2 can get it filled, but it'd be useful if for example the O2 kit ran out, means you can use any available nitrox cylinders while still being able to use the specialist masks / regs of the O2 kit.

I believe our actual O2 kit (the regs) are from DAN, seems nice enough, although to be honest i'm sure most of them are pretty similar now, all will do the job. The only decision will be whether you want the facility for multple masks from one reg, which masks to go for, where you can get the kits serviced, and features like positive-pressure ventilation from the DV (effectively a purge button so that you can do 100% O2 AV by purging the reg over their face, rather than the usual small amount of extra O2 you get with a pocket mask)

David

[richard2338]

On a recent O2 course someone mentioned that there's a new type of O2 kit coming out now, where the reg is built into the cylinder. Just looks like a cylinder, but instead of a valve at the top its all enclosed and you just have the face of the pressure gauge visible with a few connectors for various types of second stage / mask. No valve (apart from the thing for the free-flowing mask), its always on. Sounded like a good idea, keeps it all together and working, and when you send it back to get a fill it automatically gets a service too. Of course I imagine the cost may be prohibitive, although i've never looked, but if they're somewhere near reasonable might be worth considering.

The cylinder you are referring to is known in BOC parlance as a 'CD' cylinder, as opposed to the traditional 'D' size. (Theres also a larger 'HX'). These cylinders have been around for a number of years now, but until recently have been in short supply and even ambulance crews were fighting over them. BOC now have a lot more of them and you could probably arrange to hire one instead of a traditional 'D' without much bother.

Our club uses two modern oxygen kits using these cylinders and despite the hire costs I would strongly recommend them.
Pros:
As David said, integral first stage regulator built into cylinder valve. The advantages of this... 1) the pressure gauge is always 'live' so you can always check cylinder contents at a glance without connecting anything. 2) the 1st stage is serviced by BOC every time you exchange the cylinder. 3) most importantly, anyone can assemble and operate the kit in seconds... its extremely easy to get a demand mask up and running in an instant.
Also, the CD has approx 50% more O2 in the same size cylinder (higher pressure). Oh, and its carbon-fibre wound aluminium, so you dont get the usual corrosion problems with steel cylinders not designed for diving... not to mention nearly half the weight!

Cons...
only one as far as we can see... hire cost is currently something like ?80 per year... at least 4 x higher than a 'D'... I would need to check on the current prices for you. This covers the cost of servicing the 1st stage of course, so you might save on overall servicing costs.

Lindsay, I'm just up the road near St Albans and would be glad to give you a demo of our kit or discuss other options. I have a current working background in medical gas/oxygen analysis for the NHS. Have also been meaning to petition HQ to update their O2 SDC course notes to reflect new technology such as this... the traditional 'D' cylinder and pin-indexed O2 reg are getting a little dated...

Email me direct on <a href="mailto:chairman@barzero.com">chairman@barzero.com</a> if you want any further advice.

[Paul Oliver]

Hi Lindsey

Sorry to hear about your kit loss.

We have a Marinox unit and it is exactly what we want for Rhib diving. Robust, floats, easy to assemble and is connected ready to go for the dive duration.

Its size and shape mean it will fit in lots of places on the Rhib (usually on the front bottle rack, although i would like to mount it horizontally above the rear bottle rack).

Its obvious and functional and exactly what we wanted. We hire the bottles 1 on and 1 spare. We did have one bottle run down once, and we are not sure why, but they are very good and just right for a Rhib diving club.