2 Questions about PADI cards and certifications

[bkotheimer]

I know people like to carry their specialty cards around, like Wreck, Nitrox, etc.... and I'm sure the Nitrox one, at least, helps when trying to get a fill on some boats.

However, I only have certs that are LEVELS of certification: OW, AOW and Rescue. So I've been leaving my OW and AOW cards at home and only carrying/showing the Rescue card, as I've always figured it pretty much subsumes the other prerequisite certifications. But a few things I've wondered lately in doing this:

1. When I fill out "certification date" when signing in on a boat, are they actually looking for my original OW certification date or for the one on my latest level of certification? It's always kind of embarrassing putting down such a recent date!

2. Is it incorrect that Rescue cert makes it redundant to carry the other two cards? Should I continue to have them on my person in case I'm ever asked?

 

[rongoodman]

I've always assumed they meant your original certification date. Rescue requires OW and AOW, so it's the only one I carried before I started collecting tech certifications. Nitrox is a separate thing, so you should carry that one too.

 

[Bubbletrubble]

1. When I fill out "certification date" when signing in on a boat, are they actually looking for my original OW certification date or for the one on my latest level of certification? It's always kind of embarrassing putting down such a recent date!

I could see why it would be useful for the crew to have as much info about me as possible. I'm not a mind-reader. I just ask the check-in person if it's not clear on the form. Half the time, he/she instructs me to write down my original OW certification date. Half the time, I'm told to write down the highest level of training and the date for that training.

2. Is it incorrect that Rescue cert makes it redundant to carry the other two cards? Should I continue to have them on my person in case I'm ever asked?

It's up to you. Personally, I try to carry around as few cards as possible. I keep my basic OW card in my dive bag. The AOW card lives in my wallet. I don't even bother carrying around any of the other cert cards. At least in SoCal, the only time I have to show one of the cards is when I'm getting a fill at a new shop. I have yet to have to "prove" that I'm rescue-certified. If I'm going on a dive trip on which I'll be using nitrox or a drysuit, I'd bring those cards with me, too.

 

[azchipka]

No need for anything but your top rated card. Botox will need to be shown for nitrox fills. You can request a rescue card with nitrox on it. No need to carry speciality cards unless they provide proof of a level of training. Deep for dives past 100' most shops ignore the 100' max for PADI aow divers though and allow for 130'. Dpv rental may require proof of training same with dry suit rentals.

 

[j yaeger]

...botox?????

 

[bkotheimer]

It would be nice, then, if the original OW cert date was on the Rescue card. Wouldn't it?

 

[Ste Wart]

It may be handy to carry the AOW as well. Due to a change in PADI standards it is possible to be a Rescue Diver without ever having done a 'deep' dive, so there is a possibility that a Rescue card may not be seen as a 30m/100ft licence.

The chances of this happening are very slim, but there's always going to be one that crops up.

The new standards are thus; you can be a PADI 'Adventure' diver: who's has completed the Navigation dive, may enroll on a Rescue diver course. As the Deep & Nav dives are only compulsory on the 'Advanced' course.

 

[Kilili]

Use original cert date. Carry Rescue [or highest rating] & Nitrox cards, leave the rest at home in a drawer. No one really wants to see them. Only real exception is Cave certification.

 

[robertarak]

+1 on bringing your Nitrox card. I was on a boat and used my instructor card becasue I had a student on board. I was asked for my Nitrox card as well because "being an PADI instructor does not me you are Nitrox certified". I really couldn't argue.

 

[Crowley]

Carry your current cert. level and your Nitrox card. Hopefully you can remember when you were first certified. I've never known a dive op want to know the exact date of your OW cert card but if they ask "December 2005" or whatever is usually enough.

PADI shops and instructors can track your certification history through the PADI website, but this can take a bit of time if your certs were registered in different names - i.e. you got married and changed it, your middle initial was included on one but not the other, One said Thomas and the other was Tommy - whatever. If you check in at a busy time, the staff might not be able to check you there and then.

Also remember that this only applies to PADI certs. If you did your nitrox course with another agency and don't have the card to prove it - maybe no nitrox. Not all shops are PADI shops, (believe it or not!) and they won't have this facility in the first place.

Some other certs are worth carrying. I know some centres who will not allow you inside wrecks or caves unless you have some sort of certification in these. Here in Egypt, the maximum depth for recreational diving is 30m, unless you have deep diver (40m) or tec training. It's par of the reason the cards exist, after all.

Hope that helps,

C.