xcelratr
Registered
OP, besides the fundamental concern of creating competent divers, the industry as a whole also has to live within the reality of the market.
On one hand, if dive certifications expired, that could be bad for business because people might continually put off dive trips because they haven't "gotten around" to getting their cert renewed. So dive shops, boats, equip mfgs, etc might suffer a loss of business because they would have to turn away potential divers (customers), and other would-be customers would never even bother to try to go diving since they know their cert is expired.
On the other hand, it could be good for business because a cert refresh is one more couse to sell, maybe with a freshening of equipment and a chance to sell the re-certed diver a spot on an upcoming trip.
What would be the net effect on the industry as a whole? Impossible to tell, but given typical consumer behavior, my bet is on the former more than the latter.
IMHO, the current "system" is probably the most practical of the alternatives. The cert is forever, but any savvy operator will have some system for evaluating divers that are new to them. Whether it's just a logbook and a few quick questions about experience, or a shallow check-out dive at the beginning of a trip, or whatever.
When it's all said and done, by far the greatest risk is to the diver themselves. If you don't keep your skills up and you get dead, you're the one that suffers the consequences. At least until the lawyers get involved.
On one hand, if dive certifications expired, that could be bad for business because people might continually put off dive trips because they haven't "gotten around" to getting their cert renewed. So dive shops, boats, equip mfgs, etc might suffer a loss of business because they would have to turn away potential divers (customers), and other would-be customers would never even bother to try to go diving since they know their cert is expired.
On the other hand, it could be good for business because a cert refresh is one more couse to sell, maybe with a freshening of equipment and a chance to sell the re-certed diver a spot on an upcoming trip.
What would be the net effect on the industry as a whole? Impossible to tell, but given typical consumer behavior, my bet is on the former more than the latter.
IMHO, the current "system" is probably the most practical of the alternatives. The cert is forever, but any savvy operator will have some system for evaluating divers that are new to them. Whether it's just a logbook and a few quick questions about experience, or a shallow check-out dive at the beginning of a trip, or whatever.
When it's all said and done, by far the greatest risk is to the diver themselves. If you don't keep your skills up and you get dead, you're the one that suffers the consequences. At least until the lawyers get involved.