Universal certification standards

[NudeDiver]

I don't think anyone has that goal in mind. But, given you are riding on a boat and have a choice of a current Rescue diver or an OW diver for your insta-buddy, how would you decide?

That depends. If the OW diver has 100 dives and the Rescue diver has 20 - I'll take the OW diver any day. Given some of the people that I had in my RD class, I don't put much faith in the notion that an RD cert means much more than an OW cert anyway.

The way I see it, the more Rescue divers in the water, the better.

The way I see it, the more capable divers in the water, the better. I'd also assert that their certs are not necessarily indicative of their capability either.

 

[NudeDiver]

Because everybody was new once, and it's selfish to ignore the new divers just because they're new.

I agree, it's unfortunate. But you know what? When I'm paying an effective cost of $150+ PER DIVE on a trip, you can bet your cookies I'm going to be selfish.

 

[Rhenry]

On the flip side, we could have lost a new diver. I became interested in diving on a cruise excursion. That boat trip was great!! I went on to get my certification, had it not been for one of the older divers on board I would not have even thought about a certification course. I know he gave up part of his dive time for me, but he did get two new divers instead. As an ancient philosopher once said “you must judge want you might gain from the loss you will receive” or another way to say it the gain you get will outweigh the loss. I hear your pain, but also look at the new guy who also spent much more than that just to get there. In most cases I would bet he invested a few more bucks on that trip then you did. Your BC has gone down a few times; his brand net shinny tank has not seen a dive yet. You get the idea. If we toss out the bait, you will not get fish.!!!
ever heard of chubbing?

 

[Web Monkey]

I agree, it's unfortunate. But you know what? When I'm paying an effective cost of $150+ PER DIVE on a trip, you can bet your cookies I'm going to be selfish.

That's nice to know.

Terry

 

[Rhenry]

Thank you all for the information and views. I learned a lot going through all the replies. After digesting all the comments, it occurred to me to ask this:
If there was a universal qualification set, what would it contain? What would be a minimum number dives and there duration. What topics should be covered and when?
For example OW should have 6 dives with a minimum of 30 minutes each. The bookwork should be in 4 hours of classroom instruction on x, y and z.
Let’s see if we can come up with a standard of our own.

 

[NudeDiver]

LetÃÔ see if we can come up with a standard of our own.

Not trying to be trollish - but I gotta ask. Why?

 

[lowviz]

Thank you all for the information and views. I learned a lot going through all the replies. After digesting all the comments, it occurred to me to ask this:
If there was a universal qualification set, what would it contain?

Your cause is completely hopeless, but it might pull out some interesting points. I should quit now, but something drives me on.

A Requirement:
Simple, don't kill yourself, why are you underwater if you don't know this, gas-management.

 

[Walter]

If there was a universal qualification set, what would it contain? What would be a minimum number dives and there duration. What topics should be covered and when?

That depends on who writes it. There are those who want the bar set as low as possible and others who believe quality is important.

 

[lowviz]

That depends on who writes it. There are those who want the bar set as low as possible and others who believe quality is important.

Yes, exactly. So one has to sort out the forces at play. My presumption is that the agencies are full of rather clever people that are forced to compete with each other for the available dollars. They have to balance rigor with marketability in a not-so-good economy. You as a diver do not. You can take one side or the other. Some divers want just enough certs to get tanks filled, others want more. So before you get to the list of standards you have to sort out where you are likely headed: cave, deep, wreck, vacation diving, public safety, scientific, etc. I think that a valid case could be made for a really small set of requirements that would serve the above equally. And that set would come very close to what we now have. It is up to you to go on from there. I have certs from more than one agency and belong to none of them. They just certified me for this or that. There is more than enough to pick from to get you where you want to go and safely at that. Apply the rigor to yourself.

 

[Rhenry]

Not trying to be trollish - but I gotta ask. Why?

Looking over the posts here, there seems to be a rather diverse set of ideas as to what qualified and certified really means. There are a number of posts here to indicate just that. You stated that you want to dive with someone who is an equal to you, but the card they hold does not necessarily indicate their competence. Having said that the next logical question is if a X certification does not mean as much as y certification, then what should this certification mean? What should this person know and be able to do with a given level of certification.
In short everyone has there own idea of what a basic OW cert should be, and what an AOW cert should be, so I think it would be very interesting to hear what it should be and why.
Given this, the "Agency" rep's who are amongst us will notice what we want. I would think they would listen and maybe make some changes. Change will never happen until some one asks why not. Then the next step is to propose what the change should be. We all can complain, it takes a better person to have an answer to go along with the complaint. In short if it's broke, then we should have an answer on how to fix it.
.