Certification cards once again...

[Kingpatzer]

Well.... the unit might cost $50, but I would need to add international shipping to that. And import taxes and customs handling fees (which in the P.I. can be more than the cost of the item shipped).

And then I'd need the internet connection to use it. I currently use a USB plug-in modem. It isn't sufficient for reliable data transfer for credit cards, data links etc. So that'd up my $50 monthly internet costs to over $350 (full-time hardwired broadband access). There'd also be a lump sum for the broadband modem...and to have cable installed to the dive centre etc.

Or were you assuming that the whole world has the infrastructure, convenience and costs of the continental USA?

You don't need an internet connection to read a card mag strip.

 

[String]

You do need a card reader which isnt cheap or easy to get hold of. You also need electricity which isn't always available. You need people to standardise on a format for the strip and in addition strip reading doesnt work well half the time.
And its exceptionally easy to forge.

 

[String]

You do need a card reader which isnt cheap or easy to get hold of. You also need electricity which isn't always available. You need people to standardise on a format for the strip and in addition strip reading doesnt work well half the time.
And its exceptionally easy to forge.

 

[landlocked!!]

I stopped carrying mine around. Frankly, if I recall correctly, I haven't even been asked by a dive shop, dive boat, or resort dive op to produce a c-card since 1996. But just in case, I recently started using a cool little free easy to use app on my I Phone called Genius Scan to keep and organize all my c-cards, as well as other documents, in various document files. Great app, check it out.

 

[CapeUW]

I would photo-copy your cards and keep them with your dive log, then carry your advanced (or higher) card with you. The photo copies and log should provide a good one -two combination as proof of training and experience, and a nice safety net if the physical card is somehow lost or misplaced. If your planning a trip, it never hurts to try and contact the dive center you anticipate using ahead of your trip and find out what they require. The online tool is great, too, as a back-up, but I'd never want to count on it and risk a day of diving if someone's internet goes down!

 

[Kingpatzer]

You do need a card reader which isnt cheap or easy to get hold of. You also need electricity which isn't always available. You need people to standardise on a format for the strip and in addition strip reading doesnt work well half the time.
And its exceptionally easy to forge.

1) My idea for what it's worth includes printing the 10 most common certs on the back of the card and keeping a complete history on the mag strip. So if you only care about common certs for your operation you don't need a card reader at all.

2) If a dive shop cares about obscure certifications, decent card readers cost less than $100 and are easily shipped because of their size.

2) An inexpensive card reader will do well enough.

3) There is no need for any new standard, well established data standards for card data already exist.

4) there is no need for encryption, we're talking about a cert listing not any sort of personal data requiring securing -- it's the same data as exists on the printed cards now.

5) it is trivial to forge cert cards as is.

 

[String]

Even "inexpensive" card readers are difficult to source in lots of places and in some areas are restricted. They also need electricity

Forging a mag strip is easier than forging a cert cant.

Im struggling to see the need for loads of cert cards anyway - there are simply too many. Deepest diving depth cert, Nitrox and maybe drysuit. I dont see any others as important. I dont need to see your card to know you can ID a fish, use a camera,hover for 3 minutes or dive off a boat!

 

[Law5Guy]

Look I carry my log book with me everywhere that I go diving. In my log book I have my cards all 3. I am NAUI and as such you dont need "deep" "night" and any other specialties. Your deep,night,nav are all included in your AOW and I have never been questioned except once when I was wanting to do a night dive from an outfit that was PADI and they insisted I needed a "Night" card but after talking to the guy he backed off. NAUI does not even have a night specialty.

Any way Just bring all your cards with you and therfore you will never have to guess or be without.

Actually, NAUI does have a Night Diver specialty. It is shown on the training progression graphic:
http://naui.org/Images/ContentImages/Training-Progression.jpg

On the specialty page... it would be a 'more':
NAUI Worldwide Specialty Courses

One of the three required dives for NAUI AWO is a 'night or low visibility' dive:
http://naui.org/recreational_divers.aspx#advanced

So, you could get your NAUI AOW without doing a night dive. You could do a low visibility dve instead.

 

[Kingpatzer]

Even "inexpensive" card readers are difficult to source in lots of places and in some areas are restricted. They also need electricity

Forging a mag strip is easier than forging a cert cant.

Ultimately, so what?

If someone shows you a forged card and you accept it, you can't be held liable for that person's actions. You did your due dilligence.

And frankly, how many dive centers need to see an obscure cert and are someplace with no electricity?

The 14 people a year that will impact is not a reason to avoid simplifying the card system.

 

[Captain12Pk]

I've been diving since 1992, and over the years I've accrewed quite a few certification cards. And I bring them all with me on any dive or dive trip where I'm not going to be known to the dive operators. However not once in all those years have I ever been asked to produce a certification card.
But really we're only talking about a stack of cards about the size of a deck of cards. With all of the gear I carry, I figure I'd rather carry an extra couple ounces of paper and not need it, than come up against an operator who won't give me a particular gas because I forgot a card at home.