Puzzled over NAUI certification "name changes"

[The Chairman]

Is naui that bad these days?

They never have been "bad". Someone didn't get their way with their unreasonable demands and is condemning the agency because of it. Much ado about nada, diddly and squat, in precisely that order.

 

[2airishuman]

Well, to be fair, dive ops are sometimes particular about certifications and there is some uncertainty in using a card that isn't readily recognized and can't be checked in an online database.

And organizations that offer training and certification do, IMO, have an implicit obligation to confirm who has and has not received the training and certification they offer. An example would be a four-year degree (B.A., B.S., etc). Institutions granting such degrees keep records in perpetuity and will supply transcripts and copies of the course catalog and degree requirements from the year the degree was conferred, upon request, for a nominal fee.

If the OP's c-card has no modern equivalent, it would still seem to me that NAUI would still have an obligation to replace the card with an identical one, and confirm its validity if asked.

Whether or not some amount of recurrent training is appropriate is a separate question.

 

[kelemvor]

Well, to be fair, dive ops are sometimes particular about certifications and there is some uncertainty in using a card that isn't readily recognized and can't be checked in an online database.

And organizations that offer training and certification do, IMO, have an implicit obligation to confirm who has and has not received the training and certification they offer. An example would be a four-year degree (B.A., B.S., etc). Institutions granting such degrees keep records in perpetuity and will supply transcripts and copies of the course catalog and degree requirements from the year the degree was conferred, upon request, for a nominal fee.

If the OP's c-card has no modern equivalent, it would still seem to me that NAUI would still have an obligation to replace the card with an identical one, and confirm its validity if asked.

Whether or not some amount of recurrent training is appropriate is a separate question.

Sure, but any agency that has been around will have some similar problems. My primary dive buddy's OW card is NASDS, which is now known as SSI. He doesn't show up in the computer, and they won't issue him a replacement. The plastic card was cracking and falling apart so we laminated it. Some dive ops have taken a bit of convincing, but he's generally been able to dive with it.

I eventually talked my buddy into taking a nitrox class, so now he just shows the NAUI nitrox card everywhere and doesn't have a problem.

In the case of the OP, one of his certs turned out to be just a "fun" card. The original scuba diver naui card was what PADI would call "discover scuba" I think. NAUI no longer does anything lower than OW, so it doesn't have an equivalent. OP also had an OW1 card, which apparently equates to the modern AOW. Learning that he got burned by a shop on the fun card probably contributed to his discontent when he later discovered NAUI didn't have the old records.

It must have been the wild west with those old certifications. The aforementioned buddy told me about the caves they dove in OW class and the ice they dove under (he's from Michigan, apparently the water gets so cold that it becomes a solid up there). Now days you wouldn't do either of those things in OW class.

 

[Darnold9999]

I have my NAUI Scuba Diver card circa 1978. It was not a “Discover Scuba” equivalent but closer to AOW plus basic rescue. Took it at University and was taught by the University safety diver at UVic. Took several weeks. Had no issue when I had NAUI replace it in approx 2005 - the new card still says “Scuba Diver” on the front and “open water certified” on the back.

At the time octos where special equipment that instructors had. Buddy breathing was practiced in the pool until it was easy and J valves were how you knew you were low on air. Depth gauge was a plastic tube plugged at one end stapled to a card. Horsecollar BC had a CO2 cartridge for emergencies and no power inflator.