Diving without a C-Card?

[adurso]

Think about this..with a Discover Scuba Diving session anyone without a C-Card can dive, just get a quick and dirty lesson in a pool, then BAM out to the reef, I did it last year before I was certified.

I think that the basics need taught (don't hold your breath, this is how you signal out of air, if your reg falls out do this...etc.) for safety reason and then go for it, as long as you sign a waiver not holding the dive operator responsible, I think it's fine.If you are held responsible for your own actions, knock yourself out, just make sure on the accident report it's noted that "the person wasn't certified" and there fore stays out of the official statistics.

This is America, Land of Litigation, no one here admits responsibility for their own behavior, and if Darwin catches up with them, their heirs will be after the operator with buses full of lawyers. Our society has become so litiginous that even the government looks first for ways to protect itself from liability...

 

[O2BBubbleFree]

As I understand it, SCUBA is a 'self regulating industry,' just like HAM radio and (I beleive) hanggliding and others...

Self regulating basically means that folks in the industry agree to certain guidlines (not renting tanks of selling regs to folks that aren't certified by a recognized agency) in an effort to keep things safer.

As long as the self regulation is working, the gov't looks the other way. If the gov't thinks that there are too many deaths, and decides to get involved, then we are in real trouble.

I mean, how many times has the gov't done something right?

 

[mike_s]

Ya know.... most scuba shops will fill OR sell an AL to painball shooters, who
use the scuba tanks to refill their smaller paint ball tanks.

I've never seen a "paint baller" certification? have you?



The only reason they ask for the cards is their "agencies" they represent
have it set in their "guidelines".

Now days, I rarely have been asked to produce a C card.

It used to be that you pretty much "had" to buy your gear through a local
shop. Well now you can buy it through a catalog, on the internet, etc.
These places hardly ever require a copy of your card, or proof of it.
So I think that now the local shops have realized that it's more important
for them to "make a sale" than it is to hassle a paying customer for his
C card and not to make the sale if he doesn't have it.

 

[miketsp]

As I understand it, SCUBA is a 'self regulating industry,' just like HAM radio and (I beleive) hanggliding and others...
..snip..

HAM radio is NOT self-regulating:
In the USA operation of an amateur station requires an amateur operator license grant from the FCC.
http://wireless.fcc.gov/services/amateur/

Other countries have similar requirements.

 

[O2BBubbleFree]

HAM radio is NOT self-regulating:
In the USA operation of an amateur station requires an amateur operator license grant from the FCC.
http://wireless.fcc.gov/services/amateur/

Other countries have similar requirements.

Right. Bad example. I was thinking of a specific area, not general licensing.

 

[HowardE]

I think the C-Card for fills mostly refers to nitrox fills. They shouldn't do a nitrox fill for someone that isn't nitrox certified.

 

[scubafool]

But they should do an air fill for someone who is not air certified?

 

[SuPrBuGmAn]

Ya know.... most scuba shops will fill OR sell an AL to painball shooters, who
use the scuba tanks to refill their smaller paint ball tanks.

I've never seen a "paint baller" certification? have you?

I was pretty big into paintballing a few(like 5) years ago. I had SCUBA tanks for this very reason years before I started SCUBA diving. The funny part is that the first place I tried buying a tank from(which ended up being the LDS I got certified by) wouldn't allow me to buy a SCUBA tank without seeing a C-card. Suprised the hell outa me. I went down the road to Down Under and ordered a tank with the valve and color of my choice. I got fills for 3 years at Down Under before they ever found out that I wasn't a diver, they continued filling the tanks for me afterwards as well.

 

[ScubaAngel831]

Well, all of this information is great- but like I mentioned in my first post, someone at SOME point of my time working in the industry that they knew someone who's boat was taken from them- that was why I just was hoping for some clarification. Our dive shop USED to fill paintball tanks, but no longer will do it. And there is nothing saying we can not sell regs or bc's to someone w/out a cert, but we won't sell them a tank OR fill the tank. I don't know about my co-workers, but if I get a person in that I do not know (which happens occasionally) and they want to rent a tank or get an airfill, I ALWAYS make sure to check their card. There is so much liability behind filling a tank for someone who isn't certified. In the instance where someone comes in w/out their c-card, I have to make a call to someone that certified them, or to the agency they are saying certified them. We had to start cracking down on it. So many times though, when I ask someone for their c-card- the people are always like "WOW, I don't remember the LAST time someone asked to see it". I guess if someone is "smart" enough to dive without going through a course, then it is really their own fault if they wind up with some kind of diving related injury (and/or dead) We have a big sign posted that says we have the right to refuse certain tanks (with rust, corrosion, without current vip or hydro, Walter Kidde tanks, and we can refuse to fill for someone NOT presenting a c-card) I follow these guidelines, but I can't say if my co-workers do or not?

As far as buying a tank online though, sure you can do that without being certified, but god only hopes the dive shops are smart enough to be checking for c-cards before filling, otherwise I guess THEY would then be liable for giving a fill to someone NOT certified.

 

[Walter]

Well, all of this information is great- but like I mentioned in my first post, someone at SOME point of my time working in the industry that they knew someone who's boat was taken from them-

They knew a friend of a friend of a friend of a friend who made the story up. There are no such laws in Florida. Itis perfectly legal to dive w/o a c-card. It is perfectly legal for you to fill tanks for people without c-cards even if you know they are going to dive and not use them for paint ball. Neither practice is very smart. The person diving can easily die and you could be sued for assisting in his suicide, but it's legal.