Any reason to pay for more C cards?

[stuartv]

I'm taking a U-boat Diving Course right now. Completion will get me my SDI Wreck and SDI Deep full certifications. The way the course is taught, the instructor informed us that he can also issue us SDI Computer Diver and SDI Boat Diver certs at the end, if we want them. It would only cost the extra admin fees, which he said are around $15 - 20 per C card.

I can't see a reason why I'd bother to spend the extra money. Is there a reason that I'm just missing?


Background:

I already have SDI Computer Nitrox, SDI Advanced Buoyancy Control, and TDI Nitrox. I plan to take SDI Rescue Diver as soon as I have the required number of logged dives. At that point, along with the Wreck and Deep certs I'm working on now, I will just need to get to 50 logged dives to meet all the requirements for the SDI Master Scuba Diver card. And, yes, I do realize that Master Diver doesn't really get me anything except a shiny new card and the associated bragging rights (such as they are). And maybe, just maybe, an easier time occasionally getting on a dive boat for an advanced dive.

I fully intend to go on to TDI Adv Nitrox/Deco. At this time, I don't see myself ever investing in DM training, but I suppose I could always change my mind down the road. But even if I did, I don't see where having "Computer Diver" and "Boat Diver" C cards will ever afford me any additional opportunities beyond what I would have without them.

So, like I said, is there any reason at all I should consider spending the money, even though it's not much in the grand scheme, to get the extra actual cards and certs in my file?

Thanks.

 

[Wijbrandus]

After the airlines decided to lose my bag that held my C-card collection, the only cards I replaced was my Master Scuba Diver and my Nitrox. The only reason I replaced the MSD over AOW was because the dive shop said it validates that I took rescue, for what that might be worth, and I have run into DMs that have misplaced expectations over the MSD vs. AOW diver.

If you want the associated cards in your training jacket, go for it, but honestly who asks for your boat diver card to get on the boat?

Generally the only cards I've ever been asked for is my primary C-card and my credit card. Half the time I dive nitrox I'm not asked for a nitrox cert. YMMV.

 

[Doc Harry]

Depends

If you're really interested in learning new skills, and the courses actually teach you new skills - then obviously the answer is "yes" it is worth it.

Look ahead and plan where you're going. If you desire to obtain certain additional certifications, then look at the prerequisites and take those courses.

Additionally, certain dive ops (like liveaboards) often require AOW at a minimum. What type of diving do you see yourself doing in the future?

If you have no goals, then paying for pointless courses is, well, pointless.

 

[TSandM]

If there was no specific teaching directed toward boat diving or computer use, you are getting cards which represent virtually nothing, so no, I wouldn't pay for them.

Some people like cards. I have acquired a bunch of them over the years, but only at one resort in Indonesia did they care WHAT card I had. The only exception is Nitrox, because some resorts or boats want to see that to let you dive it.

 

[JohnnyC]

Some people are collectors, but really, there's no reason to have them other than to be able to validate to yourself that you've done them. Most places don't care unless it's a Nitrox card. And to be honest, most of the time I dive with my AOW and Nitrox cards unless it's a type of dive where I have to show my TDI stuff.

I seem to have read a story here that one dive shop wouldn't take a guys Navy Sat card for an air fill. That made me chuckle.

 

[redacted]

Cards like that can really open some doors for you. Just push them in between the door and the door jam where the latch mechanism is and it may push back the latch.

 

[USFpsychDiver]

Unless there are some dives I can't do without physical evidence of appropriate training (e.g. getting on a boat that's going to a dive of a specific depth, getting my tanks filled with a specific mix, having the ranger let me in to dive a cave in a state park) then I'm not going to bother with the card.

 

[covediver]

Certificaiton cards are like merit badges, a manifestation that you completed the tasks and skills required for the badge. Some people like the tangible recognition of their status. I just took an on line maritime history course offered by Southampton University. When I completed the course, I had the option of getting a certificate or not. I liked the course and got the certificate. For me it was a personal thing, although I am c-card adverse having learned most my skills on-the-dive. The exception is cards I need for participating like nitrox (yes, some places do check) and so on. Specialty cards I generally don't do.

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

I have a drawer full of cards ... and there are several that I could have but opted not to get because they'd just go sit in that drawer and never get used. The only cards I typically carry with me are to get me access (instructor or cave diver) and to get me fills (nitrox or trimix). Everything else hasn't left that drawer since I received them in the mail and tossed them in there. The one card that I don't have that could potentially be useful is drysuit diver ... and that would only be the case if I needed to rent one. Ironically, although I never received a drysuit card, I've issued many of them ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[boulderjohn]

I am not sure that I understand the situation. Please help me.

You are doing a course involving diving on a U-Boat, and you will get two certification cards for it--wreck and deep. I am a PADI instructor, not SDI, so I don't know the rules for SDI. For PADI, the Deep Diver course and the wreck diver course both require 4 dives, although a dive done during the AOW course counts as one of them. No dive can count for two different certifications, so if this were PADI, you would have to do a minimum of 6 dives to qualify for the two certifications. Are you doing separate dives for the two certifications, or are you getting double credit for at least some of the dives?

Your instructor is saying you can get two more certifications for your course. With PADI, the Boat Diver course requires two dives, and the closest thing they have to computer diver requires two dives. Are you doing extra dives for those courses, or are you getting double or even quadruple credit for some dives?

So, in summary, to get those four certifications from PADI, you would need to have gone over the knowledge reviews for all four courses, and you would have had to do anywhere from 10-12 dives at a minimum. As I said, I don't know the SDI rules, but I suspect they, too, do not allow double credit for single dives.

So, are you doing the complete work for all those dives, or are you getting multiple credits for the same dives?