Gas cylinders made of composite materials receive growing popularity in light-weight applications. Current standards are mostly based on safety determination relying on minimum amounts of endured load cycles and a minimum burst pressure of a small number of specimens. This paper investigates the possibilities of a probabilistic strength assessment for safety improvements as well as cost and weight savings. The probabilistic assessment is based on destructive testing of small sized samples. The influence of sample size on uncertainty of the assessment is analysed. Furthermore, methods for the assessment of in-service ageing (degradation) are discussed and displayed in performance charts. (C) 2016 Hydrogen Energy Publications LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.