Confessions of a Card Collector

[73diver]

Hi Old Divers,
I just passed the 70 year milestone and things are still going well. For the first 5 years of diving I had only one c-card. I didn't get a third card for another 30 years. Now I have several and some people have begun labeling me a 'card collector.' I have taken lots of training and I don't really use most of it. For example, I wanted to safely experience decompression diving under the guidance of a responsible person. So, I took a couple of course devoted to that. I don't plan or execute decompression dives. Likewise with trimix and recreational rebreather. Though not a c-card, I took a trip in a decompression chamber to learn about that. This specialty training, I feel, has made me a more conscientious, responsible recreational diver. The training and supervision has demonstrated what skills I truly have mastered and what limitations I have. I started diving for the adventure and I guess 'collecting cards' has become part of 'my adventure' in diving.
Dive Safe and Often.

 

[JamesBon92007]

Hey, I'm not old. I don't qualify for MediCare for another few months

What happened to the "second" c-card? My second card was the plastic version of the first card. I haven't taken any more training since '83 but I'm on my fourth card. About the only additional training I might get would be Nitrox and then probably only if it's required for a specific dive.

 

[The Chairman]

I dove for decades without a c-card. I knew where to get my tanks filled and pretty much stopped diving when I had my first kid. Then my best friend got into diving and pulled me back in. We did a number of classes together, and then I found SB and first heard "card collector" used in a derogatory fashion. I became a NAUI instructor a cave diver and then I did my first crossover, which was to SDI/TDI. They asked me to list the various modalities I could teach and so I kept checking box after box. I was astonished and a bit embarrassed when I got in a passel of 26 cards. Good grief! I certainly felt like a card collector that day. 2 phreakin phunni.

 

[rhwestfall]

I did my O/W: YMCA - May 1988, and didn't really know anything about more certifications. Relocated to a location with some more options for diving, and through a co-worker, did my AOW: PDIC - August, 1996 so as to not get "restricted". We always dove off private boats, and it seemed silly that I could be denied, but you never know...

Dove a bunch of years, and then in 2001, my daughter was born. My diving came to a halt for 8 years, but the lure was strong, and I started back up. Decided to finally explore what the voodoo gas thing was all about, so Nitrox: NAUI - January, 2012. Also decided that I should up my game with wanting to be at my best for when my daughter was going to join my wife and me diving, so Rescue Diver: NAUI - June, 2012. Didn't dive as much as i wanted, and figured i needed to expand my horizons and meet more folks, so I took Master Scuba Diver: NAUI - September 2013. Instructor for EANx and Rescue was a big Tech Diver, and pestered him to no end until he offered classes. Completed Technical EANx Diver: NAUI - May 2016 and Decompression Techniques Diver: NAUI - May 2016. Started doing some interesting diving with some more motivated folks. In an attempt to kill the winter doldrums (don't do much travel diving), I came across an option to get out of town, and meet some new folks, as well as experience a new instructor, and explore a unique environment, thus Ice Diver: SDI - March 2017.

From that spurred self sufficiency for my gear, so I have added Visual Inspection Procedures: SDI - June 2017, Air Fill Station Operator: SDI - June 2017, Cylinder O2 Service Technician: TDI - in process 2017 & Nitrox Gas Blender: TDI - in process 2017.

i still need to finish Helitrox Diver: NAUI - in process 2015.....

Guess I'm a card collector...... maybe?

 

[stuartv]

I think I'm grumpy enough. Does being over 50 qualify me to post here?

I have been diving for less than 3 years. I have accumulated a pile of cards now:

SDI Solo Diver - 11/2016
TDI Helitrox - 10/2016
TDI Decompression Procedures - 5/2016
TDI Advanced Nitrox - 5/2016
TDI Intro to Tech - 5/2016
SDI Master Scuba Diver - 9/2015
SDI Rescue Diver - 9/2015
SDI Advanced Scuba Diver - 7/2015
SDI Wreck Diver - 7/2015
SDI Deep Diver - 7/2015
DAN DEMP - 7/2015
NAS Intro and Part 1 - 5/2015
SDI Dry Suit Diver - 4/2015
TDI Nitrox - 4/2015
SDI Advanced Buoyancy Control - 12/2014
SDI Computer Nitrox - 11/2014
SDI Open Water - 11/2014

I'm just waiting on the paperwork to go through to have my SDI Divemaster card, but that's just a stepping stone as I continue on for a TDI Divemaster card. And I'm just starting on my TDI Trimix card, too. And I have the DAN DEMP Instructor online course waiting for me to start, so I guess I'll get another card for that.

I don't feel like a "card collector", though. Well, except for maybe the Master Scuba Diver card. I'll admit that one is just kind of a vanity card. But, it didn't cost me anything. I took classes I would have taken regardless. When I met all the requirements, I asked my LDS and they just gave me the card. Didn't even charge me a processing fee.

It's all part of my mission to build my training and experience so that I can eventually dive the USS Monitor. I am just fascinated by the idea of seeing something so old and with so much history that I have a connection to. I really want to see it with my own eyes. At 240' (roughly) to the sand, it's a hypoxic trimix dive. I'm hoping to be ready for it in 2019.

 

[JamesBon92007]

I think I'm grumpy enough. Does being over 50 qualify me to post here?
.

Yes, anyone over 50 but if under 55 you need to have chased at least two kids or one dog off your lawn.

My goodness.

 

[stuartv]

I had a cat that chased a dog off my lawn once...

 

[JamesBon92007]

I had a cat that chased a dog off my lawn once...

As long as it was your cat.

 

[stuartv]

As long as it was your cat.

Oh, yes. He as a total bada$$! He ran off a full grown chocolate lab.

 

[boulderjohn]

If you take a course, you get a card. If you take a lot of courses, you get a lot of cards. So what is the reason for the derogatory term "card collector"?

It seems to me that the term is usually applied by people who learned to do basic diving and have continued to do basic diving, with no interest in refining skills, learning new skills, or exploring new areas of diving (like overhead environments, decompression diving, rebreathers, etc.) It seems to me that in most cases, mocking people who take courses to learn more makes them feel better about their own lack of interest in self improvement.

You see it in other areas of life. I grew up in a community filled with people whose educations never went beyond high school, and they constantly mocked the college educated people who didn't know anything. I suppose if they had thought about it, they would have called someone with a Ph.D a "diploma collector."