purchased regulator - no ID

[ckjacques53198]

I'm a new diver and I went to a LDS where I wasn't certified. I bought an Atomic B2 regulator and had the shop assemble and test my gauges, octo etc. It just dawned on me that the shop owner never even asked if I was certified let alone to see my cert. card. I thought you had to be certified to buy scuba gear? I suppose with the rise of internet business it's tough to enforce.

 

[tridacna]

I'm a new diver and I went to a LDS where I wasn't certified. I bought an Atomic B2 regulator and had the shop assemble and test my gauges, octo etc. It just dawned on me that the shop owner never even asked if I was certified let alone to see my cert. card. I thought you had to be certified to buy scuba gear? I suppose with the rise of internet business it's tough to enforce.

As I recall, you only need a valid card to get a fill or to get on some dive boats. Anyone should be able to purchase scuba gear. Nothing to do with the Internet. No enforcement necessary.

 

[Don Burke]

I thought you had to be certified to buy scuba gear?

I have rarely been asked for anything other than a credit card.

That includes fills, trips, and gear.

 

[plot]

I have no idea where you got the idea that you have to be certified to buy scuba gear...

You don't even have to be certified to get a tank filled (many people use a tank for of air for other things besides scuba...)

 

[mike_s]

I thought you had to be certified to buy scuba gear? I suppose with the rise of internet business it's tough to enforce.

Enforce what? It's a "self imposed" industry rule "fabricated" by the dive industry.

A business that requires "every customer" to show his cert card for a purchase at a dive shop is crazy. Especially when the same diver/person can mail order the stuff off the internet. It's not like the dive shop makes you sign a liability waiver at the time of purchase, even if you are certified.

Most the only place I could see asking for a card is on a dive boat and very few of them ask for them. I'd say for boat dives I get asked less than half the time, if not as low as 25% of the time. (and this is not on repetitive boat trips where they know me by name, etc).

You could have a military or commercial diver that has years of diving experience and not have a civilian/recreational "certification card" and have 10 times more experience than the kid working at the dive shop counter checking cards.

With the "lessening" of training standards with all the agencies, I'm surprised they haven't combined the course into just one weekend so far. It's not the training class it used to be.....

 

[snhrph]

I thought you had to be certified to buy scuba gear? I suppose with the rise of internet business it's tough to enforce.

Many Dive Shops in US, and even more abroad, will not ask for anything, except the payment.

I was diving in 1000 Islands area this summer. I rented 4 tanks and a full set of gear for a friend at a local dive shop, and they did not even ask to see my C-card, just a driver's license and a credit card.

LDS are not enforcers, they are providers of service.

 

[1_T_Submariner]

I was asked in Key Largo both when I went to buy some gear and when I purchased our charter pacakge. Maybe the C-card police where in the area???

 

[spectrum]

I have seen mention of needing certification for air fills and regulators but that's all. The regulator aspect I have not heard of in a long time and never experienced in the USA, perhaps overseas?. I have been carded for charters and air fill a few times.

The reality is that it a self regulated industry and the dive shops insurance carrier is the biggest backbone it has. Signing a waiver (if required) saying the air is for paintball will let anyone get a fill.

Pete

 

[meesier42]

C-cards are an insurance thing.
Air fills- you don't need one, cause I know lots of guys who have tanks they use to fill their paintball guns, they probably don't even know what I c-card is.

Nitrox is a different thing, but even with that I have only been asked for that card once.

Getting on a boat, or otherwise paying for guide services is about the only reason that I can think of that you should need a C-card, and that's because their insurance companies will only cover them for certified divers, and they still require a liability waiver.

 

[wallacm]

As I last recall, I didn't think you needed to be certified to SCUBA. Just LDS prefer to deal only with certified people for lawsuit purposes. Please correct me if I'm wrong