Question SCUBA, the self-policing industry

[Sea_Jay]

First and foremost, I don't know that I've posted this in the correct category --- but it made the most sense (to me) based on the selections.

SCUBA Diving is a self-policing industry. I know this may stir the pot a bit, but I would like your honest opinion.....what does this mean to you? Do you agree with it? If you could change anything, what might it be?

What I mean is this; as SCUBA divers we put ourselves into potentially precarious situations, at will, and we rely on our personal knowledge & our equipment to keep us alive at depth. BUT all of our certification cards (outside of professional certifications req'd for paid work) are merely suggestions. It is *NOT* illegal to SCUBA dive without being certified. It is *NOT* illegal for a shop to sell you gear - or fill your tanks - if you are not certified. If someone takes you out on their boat, and you choose to dive, there are *NO* laws against this. Hell, you can order a set of doubles w/ manifold AND a drysuit AND anything else you might find online, then have it shipped to your door, put everything together based on YouTube videos & you can literally enter a deadly cave system and nobody will stop you. Nobody, including other cave divers, will check you. Essentially it is unregulated. Despite dozens of "regulatory" SCUBA agencies existing. This is unlike any other industry that I am familiar with. (This isn't to say that a specific LDS won't make their own rules & abide by them, but I am speaking from a standpoint of legality and morality.)

I can see both sides of the coin here. I am 110% in favor of minimal regulations, especially when it comes to government. I hold the personal belief that (as long as I am not harming anyone besides myself) -- that MY business is MY business. But where/when do we consider someone who may be a danger to themselves? If you witnessed truly uninformed (or worse, negligent) behavior by another diver in your vicinity, what is your course of action? Everything you can do to keep this person out of the water? Nothing at all? Somewhere in between?

And when it comes to the factor of morals...do you consider preventing a (potentially dangerous) diver from entering the water, to be of high moral standing? OR...do you consider allowing an individual to make their own decisions and perform their own risk assessment, to be of high moral standing?

Discuss.

 

[Whitrzac]

*applies to the usa only

 

[Bigbella]

The scuba agencies are simply clubs, regardless of any other pretensions that they may possess -- regardless of their capabilities to issue laughable vanity patches for jackets. I cannot recall the last time that I was required to show a C-card for an air-fill, anywhere in the state; and that still pleases me, no end.

In California, where we are regulated to the degree of, say, the transverse colon, it's a welcomed relief that scuba is among the last of outdoor activities to receive extensive scrutiny from the weasels in Sacramento.

Let people make their own decisions with regard to their personal safety, etc, while that opportunity is still within their grasp . . .

 

[Sea_Jay]

*applies to the usa only

Are you saying that you're aware of international laws prohibiting access to SCUBA?

 

[rhwestfall]

no laws, but litigation (in the US) certainly has some influence...

 

[Sea_Jay]

The scuba agencies are simply clubs, regardless of any other pretensions they may possess -- or propensities to provide vanity patches for jackets. I cannot recall the last time that I was required to show a C-card for an air-fill and that pleases me

In California, where we are regulated to about the transverse colon, it's still a welcomed relief, that scuba is among the last of activities to receive any real scrutiny of Sacramento.

Let people make their own decisions with regard to personal safety, etc, before that opportunity is no longer an option . . .

That is shocking to hear from South FL.....unless you know someone, or have a big 'PAINTBALL' sticker on your tank, you'd be hard pressed to get a fill down here. I know "cave country" (Central/Northern FL) is a lil more lenient but nothing crazy. Unless you're dealing with the type of people who don't look at hydro stamps...

 

[Sea_Jay]

no laws, but litigation (in the US) certainly has some influence...

Can you elaborate?

 

[rhwestfall]

Shop fills your tank(s), you die, they are getting dragged into a wrongful death litigation. Maybe it gets overturned, but the cost of defending it is plenty. Same for a charter boat. Same for a private boat owner.

What we need is Torte Reform, not SCUBA Regulatory Oversight....

 

[Marie13]

The scuba agencies are simply clubs, regardless of any other pretensions they may possess -- or propensities to provide vanity patches for jackets. I cannot recall the last time that I was required to show a C-card for an air-fill and that pleases me

In California, where we are regulated to about the transverse colon, it's still a welcomed relief, that scuba is among the last of activities to receive any real scrutiny of Sacramento.

Let people make their own decisions with regard to personal safety, etc, before that opportunity is no longer an option . . .

Midwest dive shops/quarries will at least ask for a card the first time if they don’t know you.

 

[Marie13]

The scuba agencies are simply clubs, regardless of any other pretensions they may possess -- or propensities to provide vanity patches for jackets. I cannot recall the last time that I was required to show a C-card for an air-fill and that pleases me

In California, where we are regulated to about the transverse colon, it's still a welcomed relief, that scuba is among the last of activities to receive any real scrutiny of Sacramento.

Let people make their own decisions with regard to personal safety, etc, before that opportunity is no longer an option . . .

Divers who aren’t cave trained and die in a cave will likely result in demands from the family/friends of the dead diver(s) to shut down access to the cave, even though it was the non-cave trained dead diver(s)’ own hubris and stupidity that caused their death. It’s happened a number of times I’ve seen articles about. Like when that father & son died on Christmas a while back at Eagles Nest.

So yes, that does affect others’ diving.