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Will someone enlighten me on the workings of the diving world, I'm still thinking like a FNG. I was under the impression that the whole certification business (a card for everything, or so it seems) is the way the dive industry is trying to *police itself* so that the local state and/or Feds won't do it for us. (or *to* us!). I flash my PADI dry-suit specialty card when I attempt to rent or purchase a dry suit as a means to demonstrate to the shop owner that I've had training in the idiosyncracies of diving with a dry-suit (that I'm formally within the diving community's regulatory system). That gets the shop owner off the hook (somewhat) if I get a stuck exhaust valve and mishandle a run-away ascent from depth, killing myself from an AGE. (I realize that doesn't prevent my relatives from *trying* to sue the shop owner...over my dead body literally!...and inappropriately I might add). But the fact that there is a PADI or NAUI or IANTD out there was to keep the formal law writers out of the picture. Same of course goes for simple air fills or buying regs...whatever. It seems that few folks have much good to say about the various sanctioning agencies (depending on what you're trying to get sanctioned or how it complicates your life...Nitrox, rebreathers, you name it) But, am I missing the point? Sure they're all SOB's, *BUT THEY'RE OUR SOB'S*. They are agents of *our* (the dive community's) creation rather than some non-diving legislator dreaming up some public law regulating the issuance and usage of some piece of equipment or gas mix. Please don't misunderstand. All you mixed gas breathers should keep on mixing it up (sorry for the pun) with the various sanctioning agencies over such things as the quality of the courses and the requirments and qualifications for their instructors. We new guys coming up will all be the beneficiaries. Nobody wants formal legislation regulating us and this whole sanctioning agency business was the mechanism created to avoid it. If there's a better way, I'm all ears. Some it seems forget what we're really trying to prevent (government regulation) and start fantasizing how nice it would be if we had no one to answer to. I don't think that's realistic or desirable. If there is a regulatory vacuum, *someone* will try to step into it. It might as well be people of *our* choosing. What we should be doing then is to demand more and more competence from these folks...and that's exactly what we've been doing on the Tech/Cavers lists, be it cave instruction, mixed gas rebreathers or what have you. Now, after that waste of bandwidth, I'll go back to my corner ;-) Robb W
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