Not certified and still diving? How???

[themagni]

As has often been remarked on SB: "there are no scuba police."

Actually, the rules are enforced by the coroner.

 

[BekaLynn]

Large chunks of the planet are more civilised and allow people to take responsibility for their own actions so will happily give anyone a fill if they ask for it. Not every place has to completely nanny its population to stop it from doing something stupid.

Well, ok then...

 

[Nemrod]

Actually, the rules are enforced by the coroner.

If the types of diving the majority of "certified" divers did was actually dangerous the morgues would be full of poodle divers. The fact they are not is because it is not.

I am amazed people do not realize that there are a bunch of people who have their own compressors, never VIP, never hydro, never have a C card, run their own boat or dive from shore. Compressors are not terribly expensive and can be gotten used or even built from a variety of parts. I don't have one now because I actually am certified several times over and a compressor is jut one more thing for me to maintain and deal with. It is hard enough to keep my lawnmower going.
N

 

[Sas]

The majority of courses taught by the abc agencies are woefully inadequate. Most students are left actually learning on their own or via mentoring from buddies or at worst, resort DMs.

I have always figured there was not much I could not learn from a book, many people are fully capable of teaching themselves to dive, especially since I regularly see PadI DMs and similar who cannot assemble their scuba gear and I don't think they ever read a book.

N

I really fail to see what the big deal is with people learning diving from buddies or resort DMs, as long as they end up learning about diving.

 

[captain]

Yesterday my husband and I went diving at Troy Springs, and we met some other divers there for the day. After chatting a couple of minutes we learned that 2 of the 4 had just been certified the day before, and this was their first dive out. Then the comment was made that they had been diving for a long time before being certified, so they were very experienced... this was said with great bragging. Then the one who'd been diving the longest said he too had been diving for many years, uncertified, and had only recently gotten certified.



Ok, yeah I know there's no legal requirements to be certified... and you can buy all your equipment without certification... BUT I didn't think you could get air if you didn't have a c-card... so how did they do it?



Sadly, I guess it is possible to be diving without any formal training... *sigh*

You don't need a cert to fill a paintball tank and many shops will fill them if you tell them it is for paint ball, just don't start talking about your next or last dive while it,s being filled.

 

[Nemrod]

Yeah, what he said and put some cool paint ball stickers on the tank, they will never know the difference.

N
Why do things normal when you don't have to and there ain't nobody who can make ya.

 

[Nemrod]

I really fail to see what the big deal is with people learning diving from buddies or resort DMs, as long as they end up learning about diving.

Me neither and it is actually how most people learn to dive, then and now, so if we are admitting that is where the actual instruction and learning comes from, mentors and buddies, why pay the evil PadI five red cents for substandard coloring books and color coordination guides? That is what I fail to see.

N

 

[ssidiv3r]

As I understand it you can buy all your gear regardless of your certification level, thanks to the internet or even at dive shops, the only thing you cant do is get tanks filled, however you can get the air compressor to fill your own tanks.... which can run you several thousand dollars (I just Googled the price). So even money wise its just cheaper to get certified.

Not entirely true. Almost all scuba gear can be purchased online without certification, but as mentioned tank fills can't be bought online. Also, I've recently been looking into rebreathers and pretty much all the companies making/selling rebreathers will only sell to you with proof of CCR certification or sell to your instructor who will then train you on it and send proof of certification once you've completed the course. Just wanted to add that.

I certainly appreciate the honesty of people who chose to respond to the OP. This, however, is a potentially dangerous thread. I agree that there are some people who can "teach" themselves to dive. Given the potential dangers associated with diving, it can be suicide for people to assume that this should be done. It is a serious gamble to believe that you can teach yourself to dive or that your buddies can do the same.

With the last line, I wanted to point out that getting your buddies to teach you is fine IF THEY ARE CERTIFIED INSTRUCTORS and not just some average joe divers

Lets look at this from another angle. Just about everyone is saying they won't dive with an un-certified diver. Does it matter if it's not a recreational certification but another type of certification?

We went down this road a long time ago and I'd like to see of anything changed.

Gary D.

At the current time, no I wouldn't dive with somebody that's not certified. However, this year I will take Dive Con training (SSI's assistant instructor cert), and eventually become an instructor so diving with uncertified divers will become the norm. One of the biggest reasons I find this acceptable is because I'll at least know exactly what the students know about diving.

You don't need a cert to fill a paintball tank and many shops will fill them if you tell them it is for paint ball, just don't start talking about your next or last dive while it,s being filled.

Nope, but lately stickers stating "This cylinder is not for breathing air" have started popping up. I know my shop is now putting these on tanks we know are for paintball. Honestly, though, it's not hard for somebody to remove them but if you go back to the same shop they'll know

 

[seaducer]

Yeah, what he said and put some cool paint ball stickers on the tank, they will never know the difference.
.

They may even charge less for paintball fills

Nope, but lately stickers stating "This cylinder is not for breathing air" have started popping up. I know my shop is now putting these on tanks we know are for paintball. Honestly, though, it's not hard for somebody to remove them but if you go back to the same shop they'll know

So what if I have a sticker on my tank that says the air is not breathable, if I got the fill at a reputable shop, the air is good to go. If I am going on a boat dive I can always cover the sticker with some tape that has my name, or 21%, or whatever on it. That is if they even notice.

As far as people diving without the nod from a certification agency, well, I did not learn a single thing academically in my OW class. Granted I was a SCUBA nerd long before I had the money for the class, and read everything I could about it. And I did benefit from the pool sessions, I won't deny it. But what you learn in the OW classes is not that much rocket science. Many people (as evidenced on this thread alone) learned to dive on their own, or with a club, or with friends or family, even before there was any angency out there.

I personally would not take someone out diving who has never been and is not certified. Primarily because if something should happen, their family will own my dreams. But I could learn alot by diving with some crusty old salt who has been diving forever, whether they have a card or not. And I never turn those opportunities down, no sir.

 

[OldNSalty]

The certification process provides a very valuable service (whichever agency you use). It provides a means for structured learning on the fundamentals of SCUBA. One can be assured that they are going to be taught and drilled on the skills necessary to dive at a basic level.

Thats the theory anyway...it has been unable to provide consistent results.