Historical Question for Veteran Divers- NASDS Certification Levels

[CGE925]

I've just returned to diving after a very, very long hiatus. I have a question for the real veterans out there who have been around since the 70s, as to how NASDS used to classify certifications....

I was originally certified in (!) 1976 with NASDS as a teenager. I well remember doing both the OW as well as the AOW courses, but my original logs are long lost. Looking at my C card, which hasn't yet crumbled away to dust, the card clearly says "OPEN WATER CERTIFICATION", but says underneath "This card is to certify that the diver named has completed an Advanced Training Program under the sanction of the National Association of Skin Diving Schools". The card has my name, the LDS's name, and the Instructors name on the front. On the back is a series of specialties listed, with my Instructor having dated and signed me off as completing "Life Saving", "Air Consumption", "Navigation", "Night", "Deep", "Dirty Water" and "Emergency Ascent" specialty dives.

Was it standard at the time for NASDS to call the ADVANCED OW course "Open Water Certification", (or using the same card for both OW and AOW), conferring the AOW cert by signing off certain specialties, and not give a separate AOW card as PADI does now?

BTW, I'm now PADI certified, having started from absolute zero last winter after so much time away. I have a few specialties done, Rescue and other specialties next year, and plan to go on to at least DM, so I plan to stay very active. Next dives are in three weeks in St Thomas with Blue Island Divers - woo-hoo.

 

[Pullnglide]

I am pretty sure that the NASDS OW card is their version of AOW. I believe they were bought by SSI which is now Mares. I don't know if agencies now will accept it as AOW as it may be considered comparable to the PADI "scuba diver" and the PADI OW diver. I could be wrong though.

 

[a878bob]

My original nasds ow card is just that, similar to every one else's ow card. There was no advanced class or diving with it.

 

[knotical]

You might want to ask:

Tom Smedley (see: http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/ba...y-old-nasds-divers-out-there.html#post3309485 )

and/or:
cudachaser (see http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/ba...y-old-nasds-divers-out-there.html#post2493336 )

 

[CGE925]

My original nasds ow card is just that, similar to every one else's ow card. There was no advanced class or diving with it.

Does your NASDS OW card have a big section on the back where individual "specialty" dives like Deep and Nav were checked off and signed by the Instructor? After I did the basic OW, I went on a further 5 or 6 dives away from their standard OW quarrey training site to do the extra specialties which, I believe, conferred the "AOW" I just wasn't sure hwy the card still said Open Water Certification.

And I'll try the NASDS Roll Call links as well, thanks Knotical.

 

[amtaguirre]

I was NASDS certified in the mid 70s and as I remember we were certified to do so many things that now days are done as specialties. Such as deep dives, decompression dives, navigation, first aid etc. I also seem to remember (and I could be mistaken) that when I received my AOW that it was on the same card but annotated on the back with the instructors signature. I switched over to PADI in the late 80s and all my credentials were sufficient to move right into PADI Rescue Diver. I believe that NASDS was acquired by SSI.

 

[DownDiver]

I was NASDS OW certified and can verify they were acquired by SSI - my SSI card has my orig NASDS info on it; couldn't speak to the AOW part of your question though.

 

[Cali_diver]

My husband's card from early 80's has Advanced Open Water on bottom of it.

 

[CGE925]

I was NASDS OW certified and can verify they were acquired by SSI - my SSI card has my orig NASDS info on it; couldn't speak to the AOW part of your question though.

Yes, NASDS was acquired by SSI. Unfortunately, their facility burned down a long time ago and all records of older NASDS certifications were lost, so SSI have no record of certs from my era.

---------- Post added October 26th, 2014 at 11:03 PM ----------

My husband's card from early 80's has Advanced Open Water on bottom of it.

My card dates from a decade earlier, and has no explicit "AOW" written on it. They must have started that sometime after I was certified, maybe late 70s or early 80s. My card only says "...has completed an Advanced Training Program..."

 

[GrandpaScuba]

I have both an entry level NASDS certification and an advanced diver certification. The basic scuba program, the equivalent to today's OW program, says "NASDS Scuba Diver" and is printed in red. The advanced card says "NASDS Open Water Diver" and is printed in gold. It is the equivalent of today's AOW. I remember doing the specialties like Deep Diving and Current Diving. I received these cards in 1980/1981, respectively.