In article <4859c94c$0$11594$5a62ac22@per-qv1-newsreader-
01.iinet.net.au>, dechucka@vomithotmail.com says...

Reading comprehension again...

a mind is a horrible thing to waste.

And you need a card to use a drysuit on some charters here
in Melbourne. You're looking at the wrong criterion. Free,
maybe, but litigious, definitely. Given the trend towards
people refusing to take personal responsibility, requiring
some "proof of competence"[1] is a way to prove that the
charter operator is making an effort to ensure the customer's
safety.

<rantlet>
In the long run, the litigious, sue at the drop of a hangnail,
approach limits freedom a lot more than the any legislative
body.

Here, in Melbourne, there was an incident a few years back
in which a guy who was certified on a tropical holiday died
on his first dive in Melbourne.

The key facts of the case as I understand them include:

1) It had been over a year since he qualified

2) First time diving in Melbourne - so also the first dive
  in over a year

3) First time n a 7mm wetsuit

4) Significantly overweighted

5) BC was not correctly connected

6) Apparently tried to do a shore dive to check buoyancy, but
  aborted the dive without sorting things.

He should have recognised that diving in these new
conditions was a lot differrent from the conditions
where he qualified. (In fact, I seem to remember that
the Open Water Certification mentions Something like
"conditions equal to or better than the conditions on
the qualifying dive(s)")

He should have confirmed that his air was on and his BC
was functioning correctly. If they had don a propper
buddy buddy check, he and/or his buddy should have noticed
the problem.

Finally, he should have been sufficiently relaxed that,
even if he did go off the back of the boat and straight
down, he should have recognmised that, as long as he had
air from the regulator,[2] he was OK.

Instead, he hit the water, paniced and drowned.

Now, on the local dive boats, the DM comes around and
asks us to prove that everything is OK[3] before we go. It's
more or less OK as a check, but on tech dives, the DM
frequently has no clue about the setup and would not know
what (s)he was supposed to be seeing. But it's just one
more evidence of "nannyism", It was worse, at first they
were checking valves as on or off -- I don't know about
anyone else, but I don't like people who don't know my
setup playing with the valves.

[1] I am most definitely not arguing that a PADI Dry Suit
   Diver card makes one a good (or even necessarily competent)
   dry suit user. In fact, most of the people who I know
   who use drysuits only put a minimum of gas in the suit
   and continue to manage buoyancy with a BCD. This directly
   contradicts the "PADI way". In fairness, most of the drysuit
   users that I know are tech divers who are often carrying
   a lot more gas and are thus measurably negative at the start
   of a dive. (as much as 4-8 kg in some cases)

[2] As far as I know, his cylinder valve was on -- it was just
   a case of the LPI hose not being connected fully

[3] for some definition of OK

</rantlet>

Sorry, button was pressed ....

-Don

No, you don't need it... Just like you don't need to be certified to do
regular diving... If you want to dive dry, you buy the equipment and just
go do it... There might be some private ops that require proof of
certification before letting you on their boat / in their quarry /
whatever, but that is just the fuckin' liability cowardly nanny state
idiots...

Of course not.  You don't even need to be trained or certified in scuba
to dive in the US.  You are completely free to kill yourself through
stupidity, through lack of training, or any other means that doesn't
endanger someone else.  You may have difficulty getting the cooperation
of most of the dive operations but they are not violating any laws by
letting you dive beyond your training.

Do you have to be drysuit qualified to dive dry in Australia?  Do you
have to be trained or certified at all to dive in Australia?

Nope, you don't. good idea to get some training -whether from a class or a
mentor.

Dennis

You don't need any certification to use a dry suit in the US.

Adam

[Default] Thus spake "dechucka" <dechucka@vomithotmail.com>:

No.  Technically.  Although some operators might require one.  Of
course, some operators might require an advanced cert of some sort
that shows that you're "qualified" to do deep dives, or night dives.

I suspect a shop would request one if you want to rent a drysuit, the
same as if you ask for a nitrox fill.

So, the answer is no, but maybe.

Kind of like Unix.

No.  Not at all.  I did my Advanced Nitrox & Decompression training in
my drysuit without any drysuit qualification and that is one course
where you want a trainee with good drysuit diving skills.