PADI never thought of this?????

[garyfotodiver]

Heck, I would be happy if they just put AOW, EAN, deep, and Rescue on the recreational cards. I do not think I need Boat diver, underwater naturalist, photographer, etc... on the card.

Just put the stuff you might need to show proof of on a trip on one card that you can show a DM or boat captain.

My SSI AOW card lists my four specialities: Equipment, Computer, Deep, & EAN.

I do have a separate card for Stress & Rescue.

 

[DiveTyme]

I have always wished you could op for a c-card "tag" that you could just attach to you bcd and forget your wallet. Listing your highest rating plus specialties is a good idea.
Tim

 

[robway034]

I have always wished you could op for a c-card "tag" that you could just attach to you bcd and forget your wallet. Listing your highest rating plus specialties is a good idea.
Tim

PADI has a submersible c-card just like you described. PADI also has a card, as I am sure you are all aware of, that shows your nitrox cert. It doesnt add all of the other certs. That being said, I am a little un-satisfied with the way PADI goes about the whole thing. You have to order a "replacement card" in order to get the nitrox addition to the card, they dont just "include it on every card" or even offer you the oppourtunity. I took the drager course and nitrox is a pre-requisite...so you think the card would have included my nitrox cert too! WRONG, but if I get a replacement card (for $30) the card will reflect my nitrox certs (as will any other replacement card I recieve).

 

[friscuba]

There are card collectors who have multiple certifications...

It would be relatively easy to list a few, but otherwise there's only so much space on a single card.

 

[WVDiver]

There again, as has already been suggested, not all certs. need to be listed. Just the most relevant specilaties and your highest cert. level.

While I don't consider myself a "card collector" I sure seem to be accumulating a pile of dive related plastic.

 

[ramblinpaul]

I'd agree one card with all the significant certs listed; i.e. OW, AOW, Rescue Diver, Enriched Air etc. would be a great idea.

Another problem is that PADI doesn't issue a single "Diver No." which is your number, it issues a new one for each certification. My understanding is that once you become a "professional" (Divemaster and above), your number stays the same, but for the other certs, you get a new "Diver No." with each certification. To me that's just plain stupid, and confusing......

 

[diverdown247]

The multiple C cards is nothing more than forward planning. Look at it from this stand point:

Stuff gets lost, stolen, damaged, or destroyed. Should your highest rated card fall in one of those categories and you have taken the precaution to only carry the highest rating you hold and put the others away, then you have the other cards to fall back on while you wait for a replacement C card.

SSI does give you the option of having your specialties listed, well at least they did on my Master Diver card. It is feasible, but you have to think big picture. If I card goes missing, then I only have my log book to fall back on. Fortunately SSI offers embossing by a dive facility to help cut down fraudulent log books. Granted, the diver can still log dives that never happened, but it does help in "official" documentation for training pages.

I would like to think that if this is something you feel deep to heart, then suggest it to the certifying agencies as a "trade-in" program where your new card is sent to your local dive center and you MUST turn in your old card to receive your new one. Makes sense, but you wouldn't have as much of the redundancy that the RSTC has developed for record keeping.

 

[ramblinpaul]

The multiple C cards is nothing more than forward planning. Look at it from this stand point:

Stuff gets lost, stolen, damaged, or destroyed. Should your highest rated card fall in one of those categories and you have taken the precaution to only carry the highest rating you hold and put the others away, then you have the other cards to fall back on while you wait for a replacement C card.

Solution to that scenario would be an online set-up so divers can access certification profiles anywhere via the web (username/diver # and password). Then you could either print a temporary card, and supply an alternate photo ID to the dive shop/charter (i.e. Drivers License, Passport). They could even set it up so you could print a copy with the photo, on a "photo printer".

That way if you loose the card while you are away from home (i.e. vacation), and all your "fall back" cards are back home in a drawer you can still fairly easily get your certification proof to dive.

 

[namabiru]

I'm wondering if, in terms of processing, it's actually cheaper for them to just create a card with one certification than to have to input all the records again. Then again, if you're in a database, software could be modified so that just the new number would be added and a new card printed.


It's a good question. Particularly if other agencies do the "multiple certifications on a card" thing.

 

[DandyDon]

Heck, I would be happy if they just put AOW, EAN, deep, and Rescue on the recreational cards. I do not think I need Boat diver, underwater naturalist, photographer, etc... on the card.

Just put the stuff you might need to show proof of on a trip on one card that you can show a DM or boat captain.

I have a Padi Rescue with Enricher Air combo card. Not likely I'll need anything else. I do carry my TDI Decompression card, but don't expect to need to show it.

I have always wished you could op for a c-card "tag" that you could just attach to you bcd and forget your wallet. Listing your highest rating plus specialties is a good idea.
Tim

Got a Nitrox card like that, and a DAN card. I wear the DAN one, but the Nitrox was a waste - except I do carry it in case I lose the Rescue-Enriched card, then I can show the TDI Decompression and this one.

PADI has a submersible c-card just like you described. PADI also has a card, as I am sure you are all aware of, that shows your nitrox cert. It doesnt add all of the other certs. That being said, I am a little un-satisfied with the way PADI goes about the whole thing. You have to order a "replacement card" in order to get the nitrox addition to the card, they dont just "include it on every card" or even offer you the oppourtunity. I took the drager course and nitrox is a pre-requisite...so you think the card would have included my nitrox cert too! WRONG, but if I get a replacement card (for $30) the card will reflect my nitrox certs (as will any other replacement card I recieve).

When I got my Rescue, I call Padi and harrassed them into issuing it with Enriched Air added at no extra charge. They want to sell additional cards, but will do it this way if you insist.

In real travels - and I have traveled to a number of places around North America to dive, I seldom get carded. I fill out the forms with some numbers, and that's usually all there is to it. I have flashed my Padi card when in line for a bar that cards everyone - which at 59 yr old seems to work.