What is the point of certifications?

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Legal liability of the parties involved is the tall pole in the tent.
The industry realized that policing itself would be better than letting the government screw it up.
The fact that it is a revenue stream helps and mates nicely with gear purchases is a win/win.
The nature of the dangers (silent and unforgiving) make basic training a really wise choice.

You really don't need a cert to buy gear (online or used). Air fills or charters are another matter.

Think that about covers it. Also agree with Richard in not wanting to dive with someone not certified--OW cert. means most likely he/she was at least SHOWN all the stuff.

Skydiving: If you have a friend pilot your own plane and you jump out (maybe over your own land) without the required instructor cert. are you illegal?
 
Getting a recreational pilots license (planes) is another example.

A three year old child asks why why why. Some whys are for learning. Some whys are just to hear ones own voice.

I do not see the points of your whys.
 
Incidentally, I've never once been asked to show my C-Card when getting an air fill.

If Wikipedia is to be believed, the certification system came about as a response to two divers dying while using University of California-owned equipment. UC's response was to thereon out require divers to be certified before being allowed to use their equipment.

At this point the system does seem to be about making money more than anything else, and as you say there are innumerable more dangerous activities that don't require certifications. But from a liability standpoint it makes sense why LDS don't want to rent gear to uncertified divers, and why boats want some proof you're unlikely to drown on them. However, if you want to shore dive without a C-Card there's not much stopping you except your wallet: Buy all your own gear, and you're set.
 
I have often questioned this my self. Why all the certs. Who cares about them. I would bet that if i put any of you on a panel and sat before you 5 newly certified ow divers from the same agency just different locations. You would not be able to tell what thier cert level was. Yo will have one who is ow with a drysuit and nitrox. Another with ow but a knowledge of a master diver because he just has not wrote the check for the cards yet. Another who is a clear water ow who knows only the minimum for the ow card. Another that can maintain depth while sleeping. They all depend on who taught them and how much beyond the min requierements they taught. There are so many threads on this precise topic. I would say that no one cares except the liability ins carriers. I dont know of any one that cares about any cert level beyond AOW in the rec world. cave, rebreather, and the like is another world. Thier general concensus is that if you have an AOW and a nitrox card you can do it all. So why rescue, dry suit, navigation, wreck, photography , master or what ever when it is not needed for access to a dive site or to get air. No one has ever asked me for a cert to take a picture or use my dry suit, or to get wet is waters where there is a wreck or coral below. I think cards like diveaster are thought to make others look up to you. It certainly does not pay well, and anyone I know who has above that of an AOW will not present it to a dive operator for fear of assumed acceptance of liability. And divemaster is what a 50 or 60 dive card????

In that light I understand the OP's question.
 
I have 2 comments:

1) In some places, you won't be allowed on a dive boat unless you can show certification that you are qualified for that dive. Sometimes its law, sometimes it liability.

2) Also a lot of what courses at different levels teach you is how to handle things that go wrong. It does not take a lot of skill to just go and swim around. At any depth. But equipment failure, entanglement, buddy issues, etc do happen, and if you haven't thought about how to handle it, you probably won't become suddenly brilliant while under water, faced with a problem, and stressed. Since we carry only a finite amount of gas, handling issues efficienctly could become rather important. I personally will not do a dive with someone who is not certified at that level. It happened just a couple of weeks ago, where a confident young buck wanted to do a dive to 50 meters whereas he was only certified to 40 meters. A friend of mine went with him. I thought they were both nuts. Later he couldn't find a buddy for another dive like that (on air btw), so he just marched to the beach alone, came back alive, and said that he proved he was qualified because he had fun and had no problems.:shakehead:
 
I have often questioned this my self. Why all the certs. Who cares about them. I would bet that if i put any of you on a panel and sat before you 5 newly certified ow divers from the same agency just different locations. You would not be able to tell what thier cert level was. Yo will have one who is ow with a drysuit and nitrox. Another with ow but a knowledge of a master diver because he just has not wrote the check for the cards yet. Another who is a clear water ow who knows only the minimum for the ow card. Another that can maintain depth while sleeping. They all depend on who taught them and how much beyond the min requierements they taught. There are so many threads on this precise topic. I would say that no one cares except the liability ins carriers. I dont know of any one that cares about any cert level beyond AOW in the rec world. cave, rebreather, and the like is another world. Thier general concensus is that if you have an AOW and a nitrox card you can do it all. So why rescue, dry suit, navigation, wreck, photography , master or what ever when it is not needed for access to a dive site or to get air. No one has ever asked me for a cert to take a picture or use my dry suit, or to get wet is waters where there is a wreck or coral below. I think cards like diveaster are thought to make others look up to you. It certainly does not pay well, and anyone I know who has above that of an AOW will not present it to a dive operator for fear of assumed acceptance of liability. And divemaster is what a 50 or 60 dive card????

In that light I understand the OP's question.

You said they were 5 newly certified Open Water divers. Then you went on...

I get certified because I am interested in that kind of diving and and I want to make sure I know how to do it safely.
 
one aspect of having a lot of certifications is that if you want to work for a Cruise line as a Dive Instructor you have to have at least 50.

A mind is a terrible thing to waste. But welcome to Scubaboard.
 
Certification is supposedly a proof that the diver has received adequate training to dive safely.

People traveling to other locations in order to dive is actually a relatively recent phenomenon. Once upon a time, divers only dived locally- many (if not most) for hunting. Recreational diving as we know it is quite new and boomed in the 80's.

Before that boom, if a diver went to a different area, begged/borrowed gear and died, well that was normally written off as death by misadventure. Nowadays if a diver does this, someone has to pay.

PADI (the largest Agency) has a statement signed by newly certified divers that they have received training and they will abide by the basic rules, and not dive in conditions worse than in those in which they were trained, prior to receiving more training. That statement shifts the responsibility on to the individual. I imagine most (if not all) agencies have a similar statement signed after certification.

If the individual wants to dive without a certification, that's fine. However you'd be hard-pressed to find a third party operator willing to rent out equipment to a non-certified diver as there simply is no incentive but there is a whole lot of risk of financial ruin and emotional pain.
Do I really need to know the whys when it comes to depth or speed of ascent/decent? No.
That is foolish and not worth the time to respond.
 
certification cost are out of sight major source of money grabbing for dive shops.to many so called certified divers have died to lack of proper training {practical training and lack of testing} Great lakes diving for example very unlike nice warm tropical or florida diving requires much hands on training and supervision no c card or patch prepares you for low vis cold water diving
 
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