Vintage Equipment Training

[Bryan]

If we are going to make this happen we will need a lot of input from many many sources. I am suggesting that we spend the next few winter months gathering ideas and training materials on the subject and we get together via E-mail to discusss, but also set down and talk face to face at events like Sand Dog III, Lake Wazee and Portage Quarry.

[Nemrod]

Now, I am going to be the Devil's Advocate. Having an actual organization with a board and rules and standards is all fine and I think it sounds great but the facts are we are mostly a rag tag bunch of rebels, virtual outcasts from the PadI Diving World, spurned and forgotten by time.

All I want is a real looking card I can carry, issued to myself by myself and liable only to me. Self certification!!

Then if we want to got the next step and form a real organization and elect some board members to hash out rules, procedures etc, hey that is great. Not only that, we have the standards in the old Basic Skin and Scuba Diving Book.

Another way to get around extended liability in addition to incorporation is self certification and recommendation. One member certifies another who in turn certifies another and who in turn certifies another leaving a cert trail only one person long. Like this, Chucko certifies me, I certify Simmon Beabs, who certifes Emilio Largo who certifies whoever. Rob certifies Bryan who certifies Captain who certifies Howdy Doody. No single chain encompasses all members, folow that? Multiple chains leading nowhere but to a ghost organization that exists in our minds and functions when we have a get together and then like an early morning fog that evaporates into nothing as the day becomes full, upon scrutiny we evaporate. What club? Vintage Diver Club you say, well, blow me down, if you ever find them let me know so I can join up ye'hea.
James

[JES]

... All I want is a real looking card I can carry, issued to myself by myself and liable only to me. Self certification!! ...

Well put Nemrod. I couldn't have said it any better myself!

[seakrakken]

I would like to have a C card which identifies me a member of an organization of Explorers. The front of the card should have a shaded in outline of a double hose reg. I feel that should be the agencies logo. When I'm seen at the beach with my AquaMaster I'm recognized as a REAL Diver . I've had people approach me and ask if I would search for items that they've lost. I'm asked about the things I've seen and how deep I've been . I don't get those questions when I'm seen with my other types of gear . Double Hose regs are recognized almost Universally as the mark of an explorer of this planet's greatest frontier. I don't care what an LDS thinks of my antique equipment. Is he willing to tell me Jacques Cousteau was wrong? Cousteau and his divers continued using double hose regs as their choice equipment long after single hose regs were on the scene. I may not have been diving in the 40's, 50's and 60's but, that's when real diver's were made and REAL divers used double hose regs.
This C card has the potential of being more than just a self made qualification. It can be the rallying point for a return to what diving instruction should be.
I would like to see a return to the same kind of high quality instruction and training as was seen in the days when diving was considered potentially dangerous. I would like to become an instructor for an agency that cared more about the diver than about their sales.
I was PADI certified back in '78. My instructor was a dinosaur. I had respect for him and I feel he was a great instructor. He was tough and he had integrity. He actually disenrolled two people in my class and refunded their money because, he saw they would have problems diving. When's the last time you heard of anyone being ejected from a class? Current positions in the sport diving industry seem to be that a valid credit card makes a certified diver. I feel that lessens the value and credibility of their card. Their C card might as well have a VISA logo on it.

[JES]

I... I was PADI certified back in '78. My instructor was a dinosaur. I had respect for him and I feel he was a great instructor. He was tough and he had integrity. ...

seakrakken,

Great points. I like you thoughts on this subject.

I was also PADI (and YMCA) certified in 1978 by a great instructor (William Crawford) who also seemed like a dinosaur at the time (at least to me at 16 ). Small world...

[treasureman]

Spewaking of having a C card with the Visa logo on it. With enough member, we can get an affinity card which is a branded Visa. for which every time it is sued, the group (vintage divers of the world) would get a kickback off the discount rate. There would be a yearly fee for the card which we would also get a piece of the pie from. if we get enough divers, we could all end up going to Sand dog without pasying a nickle.