Certification cards once again...

[Jim Lapenta]

I would take your highest cert and nitrox if you have one. The others are frankly meaningless to ops unless you want a Trimix fill. AOW satisfies liability for deep and maybe night but I have never been asked for a night cert and if I was I'd find another operator that wasn't so anal. I always show my instructor card and carry my nitrox. I'd take my helitrox but have heard of shops that won't know what it is. Drysuit if you plan on renting a suit may be required in some places but I can talk to any diver for 5-10 minutes and decide if they know what drysuit diving entails and whether thay can handle it. Only reason many require it, again, is liability.

 

[tc]

You can take a pic of the cards with your cell phone too- carry one and have pic's of the others in case anyone asks.

 

[TSandM]

We have had good luck with storing the card photos on the cell phone.

Dry suit is a very handy one, if you rip a seal off on an expensive trip

 

[String]

I'd take my helitrox but have heard of shops that won't know what it is.

Ive heard of someone being refused a normal nitrox fill when he presented an advanced trimix card as the card didnt say "nitrox" on it. If that happens id just walk out and find a less retarded shop though.

 

[MarineResearch]

I just carry a PADI Tec Cave card when I travel. The course prerequisites cover everything I need (e.g., nitrox, deep diving, etc.). I don't carry a traditional log book, but have all my dive profiles available on my computer or the internet. I also have pictures of all other certs on my computer (and I don't leave home without it).

 

[Gerbs]

This is the reason everyone should do their certs with german CMAS...

When you join a club (or do your first certification) you can get a divers' passport (http://shop.gmbh.vdst.de/images/medium/taucherpass.jpg)

Here, in addition to the C-Card /Speciality / Certificate of attendance of a seminar on advance snorkel clearing techniques you get a sticker that you can use to document. You only need to carry the passport now, and not the C-Cards...

Gerbs - who likes the 'Passport + sticker' idea

 

[String]

Its not just german CMAS. Lots of agencies have a qualification record book to store your qualifications (BSAC,SAA and others for example in the UK). The problem is the book is big, bulky, falls apart when wet and easier to leave at home by accident.

(Its also very very easy to fake qualifications)

 

[ronbeau]

I have never been asked for a "C" card specifically for night diving.
I usually bring my NAUI Rescue Diver card and my NAUI Nitrox cards.

NAUI also has on-line database search capability. I would only use the PADI or NAUI on-line database search as a last resort after I forgot my "C" cards at home. If the dive operator is too lazy to look it up (in the case of NAUI) or too lazy or not able to look it up (in the case of PADI) you would be out of luck.

In fact, I just tried looking up the NAUI certifications for myself, my wife and my daughter and found all of our certifications without any problem. You do not have to be a NAUI member (AI or above) to do the lookup. You simply need to know the diver's first & last names and their date of birth. If I don't know my first name, last name and date of birth I should probably be consulting with a physician instead of diving.

I was unable to lookup my PADI certifications since I am not a PADI dive master or above.

As the amount of diving and courses taken increases, the amount of certification cards increase as well. Alas.

I'm trying to tidy up all these cards (trying to determine which cards I can safely leave at home) and here my doubts arise...

First of all - do diving centres accept photocopies of c-cards? Obviously, carrying two sheets of paper would be a lot easier...

Secondly - how do you organise your cards?

I know that the most useful cards to carry are *the highest rank* + EAN... but then the problems arise:
->Deep spec - theoretically required for 30-40m dives?
->Night spec - possibly asked by a diving centre when booking a night dive?
->Dry suit spec - possibly required when you feel like using a dry suit would be nice and you have left yours at home and renting is the only solution?

Finally - can a diving centre verify your qualification (inc. speciality) online, if you forget to bring the card?

Thank you for your opinions!

Best,
Theriel

 

[Max Speed]

Maybe some of the skill sets could be combined. You could just carry one card.

For example:

Deep, Dark and Cold Certification

Seems to cover everything available around here....

 

[redacted]

Of course, only PADI dive centres/instructors have access to that database.

Ditto NAUI and SSI

NAUI Worldwide Diver Lookup

SSI :: MySSI > Online Check :: SSI - Online Diver Check :: take your dive @ diveSSI.com

I wonder why PADI "OF COURSE" only allows access by PADI centers and instructors while NAUI & SSI allow access to all their divers and any shops the customer might do business with. I guess it is just their way of looking out for their customers.:mooner: