PSI/PCI Cylinders

A Fairy Tale-- The Three Not-So-Little Pigs

Once upon a time there were three fairly little pigs named Rusty, Dusty and Musty who set out to make their individual ways in the world.  Having grown up around a rather large watering trough, each decided to go into the recreational diving business.

Rusty established a small neighborhood dive store and was happy in his work because ignorance is bliss (or so we are told).  Rusty was a good friend to his customers and told lots of sea stories.  Dusty, on the other hand, preferred warm weather so he opened a resort diving facility.  It was busy, busy work, with multiple cylinders filled repeatedly day after day and always stored aboard ship on the salty sea basking in the tropical sun.  Brother Musty had a head for business.  His basic principle was to avoid any government interference and grow fast by giving his customers what they wanted including, fast fill air service, extra pressure, a cooling bath for even more extra pressure and quick, cheap cylinder inspections.

One day a wolf came along dressed in sheep's clothing carrying a magical bag of tricks.  The very special bag contained corrosion, dents, bulges, heat, gouges, water, metal fatigue and other things too terrible to mention.  His intent was to do Rusty, Dusty and Musty great harm.  Posing as a valued customer, the wolf spread contents from his magical bag at each pig's diving business then sat back to await the inevitable.

Cylinders, powerful as bombs, at Dusty's resort deteriorated quickly from corrosion and water because no one was trained and assigned to ensure a frequent technical inspection.  One cylinder exploded aboard a boat full of guests.  Neither they nor their friends returned to Dusty's resort.  All too soon Dusty was on the street out of business, just where the wolf wanted him.

Musty's store was very popular because of all the customer perks he provided, especially the extra air received during fast fills in the cooling water bucket.  But, while filling one of his rental cylinders, it exploded.  The water bucket, the water, Musty, and the side of the building all landed in the parking lot among the damaged cars of his customers and that was just where the wolf wanted him.

Rusty took notice of his brothers' plight and concluded that ignorance may not be bliss after all.  Rusty quickly learned there was much more to high-pressure cylinder safety than he had realized.  Also, there were many resources available for ensuring cylinder safety at his place of business.  Rusty's entire staff took cylinder handler and fill station operator HAZMAT training.  Notices were posted about safety concerns that must be address before each cylinder was filled.  Sometimes it was a challenge for Rusty to educate his customers to the importance of cylinder safety so their cylinders would not explode and harm their loved ones.  However, when DOT, OSHA, fire marshals and other officials came to inspect Rusty's business for employee safety compliance, they were all pleased and assured Rusty that his cylinder safety awareness program would surely keep the wolf from his door.

And of course, Rusty (and all of his customers) lived happily ever after.