When should a shop request your C-Card?

[Diver0001]

I fully support personal responsibility for one's actions however how far do you take it? When the inevitable increase in stupid accidents happens, do you refuse to spend safety and rescue resources because it is their own fault? Do we, as divers, simply refuse to help anybody just in case it is their fault?

I think a healthy dose of common sense is required. Obviously it would make sense to intervene if you had reason to suspect that someone was about to challenge Darwin to a duel... but what the OP was saying is essentially that he wants the shop to do his thinking for him. Too many people have that attitude and I believe (and so does String) that people's failure to take personal responsibility is actually what makes accidents more likely.

R..

 

[Jim Lapenta]

Nitrox and Trimix fills - maybe. Anything else who cares. None of the shop's business for anything else. And yeah for what you paid for an al80 and a fill card I hope some ky jelly or vaseline came with that. al80 -150 bucks. fill card? Who knows. Unlimited for a year I could see 100 bucks. any less not more than 50.

 

[ScubaSteve]

I think a healthy dose of common sense is required. Obviously it would make sense to intervene if you had reason to suspect that someone was about to challenge Darwin to a duel... but what the OP was saying is essentially that he wants the shop to do his thinking for him. Too many people have that attitude and I believe (and so does String) that people's failure to take personal responsibility is actually what makes accidents more likely.

R..

I agree however I think we would see a large and extended spike in accidents if we left people to their own devices......every now and then the gene pool needs to be chlorinated to eliminate the weakest links however that causes many problems in other areas (such as time and money being spent trying to save and/or rehabilitate and care for them and that does not take into account the risks that rescuers take when trying save them). I am all for personal responsibility however I think that a blanket "eliminate every current safety check (such as carding for air fills and charters)" decision would have adverse effects.

People are Stupid. FACT. The smarter people need to find a way to eliminate the Stupid people while making it look like an accident .

 

[Brandon]

I've never been asked for a C-Card at a dive shop. And only once on a dive boat.

When should a shop request it? Oh hell, I dunno. Whenever you do something stupid, thus placing your credibility as a diver into account:

On the deck of the good dive ship Rustworthy, a vacationing diver looks at the fins he was just handed, noting that each is stamped with a large L on the bottom and highlighted in black Sharpee so the deck crew can readily identify the marking. "Why do I have two left fins?" he asks sheepishly. The divemaster looks at him with a puzzled expression about his face and flatly states, "It means Large - do you by chance have your C-Card with you?"

Meanwhile, Stanley Shopmonkey stands behind the counter at the local dive shop, affixing $100 price tags to the latest whiz-bang invention that is sure to modernize the snorkeling experience for the entire family. The front door bell rings as an unknown stranger walks in, carting a pair of well used Aluminum 80 cylinders with J-valves attached. "I was wondering if you could fill up my oxygen tanks?" he asks, eyes wide and with a slight hint of hesitation in his voice. "Sure", says Stanley, "I'll just need to see your C-Card first."

​

And so on...

 

[drbill]

Only for air fills (as required in this State). I don't think any of our local shops have requested to see my air card since 1969, but I do carry iot when diving elsewhere.

As has been pointed out, buying gear can be as a gift for someone else.

 

[BabyDuck]

answer to the poll - perhaps during gas buys. though i've very very seldom been carded then, either.

and also on charters or liveaboards, though that's not what the poll's asking.

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

So, you've never been to Cayman. You must make a point of getting out more.

But the OP wasn't in Cayman ... he was in Florida. And if Cayman truly has scuba police, I don't need to go there ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

PS - It is piss-poor form to take phrases from two completely different paragraphs and piece them together as though it was what I actually said. It's a particularly insulting form of internet dishonesty that has no place in reasonable discussion. If you can't quote my comments in context, please don't quote them at all.

 

[blackvans1234]

Okay, where to start:

Some of you post valid points, others, not so much. I will address the more silly comments because the vaild ones are. . . . valid

So some (most)of you feel as though it is not a dive shops responsibility for what the customer buys because the ''darwin'' saying is so famous around here.
If scuba shops do not ID because the dumb/weak will die, then why do convienence stores ID for tobacco and alcohol? So only the adults can kill themselves? Let the kids kill themselves also, afterall, darwin wouldn't wait until they're 18...would he?

If you can show me a dive shop that gives $100 fills for an entire year please do. I get tired of hearing shop owners bitch'n'moan about how they don't make any profit on air fills because the compressor is 16k, the yearly boo bah is 4k and thats 234 thousand fills/year which is 4909/day which means they can barely break even. Please quote my math problem as many have done with my fill card. Seriously people, this is a scuba forum, not a signifigant figures forum (yeah, go look it up, because you don't know what signifigant figures are).

Do I want the dive shop to do my thinking for me? No, and I take offense to such an assumption. Do I foresee lawsuits happening because a dive shop sold air fills to someone who got killed while diving? Yes.


How much are your fill cards?
20 fills for $70
do the math 3.5/fill is nothing to be angry about

Sorry Jim Lapenta but the only times i've been raped when it comes to scuba diving prices is paying entry fee to gain admission into dutch springs. $35/day

 

[MarineResearch]

And if Cayman truly has scuba police, it is piss-poor form and particularly insulting.

The Cayman scuba police will definitely be asking to see your C card.

 

[LouieLouie]

Only when required by law, which in this part of the world means never.