Posted by Wayne on April 14, 2000 at 16:04:35:
In Reply to: Re: Tech diving posted by MHK on April 11, 2000 at 12:19:30:
Boy has it been fun reading al the great opinions on this subject! I look at it a little teeny bit differently than some of you. I am in favor of having a C card for mixed gasses, deeper depths, real deco dives (as opposed to the NDL, slow ascent, and safety stop type of deco dive), and all this other stuff that is sometimes called tech diving. But only for the protection of the industry and its working stiffs.
If I were DM on a boat knowing I could get sued by the family of one of these divers who gets over his/her head, I would like to be assured that at least he/she is trained for the dive before I watch the decent from the surface. It is for this reason -- showing a DM or other diving service provider -- that we have C cards at all. It is absolutely necessary to have specific certs for the additional training beyond O/W. Let's face it, some folks lie about their background and education even when not on a date.
While I hate dive nazis as much as the next diver, lets not expect commercial dive operations to leave us be to do what ever we want to do. It is our lives, but it their insurance policy that is in jeopardy when we screw the pooch. I want a health community of dive shops and boats that all compete fiercely for our business. To this end i believe in them looking at our qualifications and refusing to sell us services that we are not trained for.