There's a lot of misunderstanding about what is allowed and what is not.
Many US divers believe that PADI actually makes rules for diving.  They
don't, of course, they only have policies that those who affiliate with them
are supposed to follow.  There are no rules for divers, be they PADI or
other, except those imposed, by occupational labor law, on working dive
operations.  Neither PADI, nor any other agency does much to dispell the
myth.

Restrictions on diving in certain locations are imposed by those that
control those locations.  While that's sometimes the government, it's done
more as a property right than as a general rule.  I can, for example, dive
in any cave I want that is not restricted by a private owner or part of some
governmental park or preserve, without a certification card of any sort, let
alone one that specifies qualification to dive caves.

Other dive restrictions seem more like laws because of the way they are
enforced, but carry no force of law at all. It is difficult, for example ot
buy tanks or regulators without showing a certification card. It's also
difficult to get gas fills without one and almost impossible to get a gas
fill in a tank that does not have a current annual inspection certificate
and 5 year hydro stamp. Some shops won't fill a tank with Nitrox without a
very specific yellow and green band/label on the tank, even when the tank is
clearly marked with an inspection sticker indicating it is O2 suitable or
when the fill is from a premix supply (below 40%) that does not need tanks
to be cleaned to O2 standards to be safe.  Most dive operators won't allow
divers on their boats with certification cards, buoyancy compensating
devices and an octopus of some type.  All of these are, in fact, industry
standards, rules applied by associations of dive shops rather than by any
governing authority.  Crazy, but it's true.

US divers put up with all of this either because they don't know any better,
or because, so far, the industry standard is better than regulation of our
sport by law.  Like many of our rights, we've surrendered some freedom to
avoid the hassle it would take to resist them and government actions that
would surely follow "for our own good."

Here, it is perfectly leagal to own dive equipment, to fill it and use it to
dive anywhere not specifically controlled by others, with or without any
certification or inspection, or other control as long as you, and you alone,
handle all aspects of the equipment and/or dive.  If I had my own compressor
(which I don't) and my own boats (which I do) and my own equipment (which I
have way too much of) I could dive as much as I want.

I would much prefer a simple waiver of liability, but that system has not
worked well here, largely because most waivers include all risks,
specifically exempting the results of the property owner's own acts,  and
partly because the courts have correctly held that you can not sign away
your right to legal redress.

Lee

Indeed. The price we pay for living in litigious times is overzealous
covering of back-sides.

Personally, I can't see how the bloke who stays onthe boat can be held
responsible for whatever goes on under the surface - but not all would
agree. In a court of law it takes a smart lawyer to illustrate how much of
an a.s the law can be, and on technicalities might persuade the judge to
apply punitive measures on the hapless boatman who merely took you there and
back.

Hey - I don't AGREE with the way it is, I'm merely staing it. The UK under
the present govt has gone very far down that road. There are paper processes
piled upon each other where the essential thing is to be able to tick the
right box. I have heard it estimated that 5% of all employees are fully
taken up with ensuring compliance with one other form of legislation - and
in the process, while producing nothing, merely drive up the costs for
everyone else. It will of course be the undoing of the nation, as
civilisations have on the whole succumbed not to invasion, but to collapse
under the weight of their own bureauocracies.

No idea, but as long as my insurance policy tells me that I am covered to
the depth limit of my certification, OW gets me insurance to 18m, AOW to 30m
and deep to 40m - for the same insurance premuium, the only additional
one-off cost being the cost of the PADI course / ticket.

I do not disagree with you either on this one! If you are certifdied to be
competent, then competent you should be. If you did not make the mark, then
you should not have been awarded the certification. This also raises the
prospect / spectre of certifications expiring, or being subject to
revalidation - and who decides what, how, how often etc? Bow, this is more
than a can of worms, more like snakes! You could make a film out of it -
Snakes on a Scuba Boat!

Ken

<snip>

Some of us still do, but it's getting harder to make that matter by the day.

Damn, you beat me by three years.  I was explaining to a 30-something
diver today (who was given an old tank with a plastic backplate) how
things used to work.  He was really surprised that one would ever have
had to mouth-inflate a BC.

<snip>

Well, a dive briefing during which someone specifically asks about
hazards should either include a list of those likely or the words, "I
don't know."  Other than that, I can think of no particular
responsibilities beyond transportation.

<snip>

Likewise except my first certification was from the YMCA.  To equal it
now requires at least dry suit, advanced, and decompression procedures
certifications.  (One could argue extended range but so far I have not
found anyone who actually cares about that and runs a boat.)  One could
make an argument that rescue diver should be included in the list, but
its scope somewhat exceeds my original training.  (Not by a huge amount
but by a significant amount.)

While I almost always agree with Lee's posts, in this case I think
pilot's licenses and certifications are different in kind.  If I screw
up in the water, I might die.  If I'm diving with someone else in a
buddy/team relationship, they might also die if they are not really
aware of the hazards.  If I screw up in an airplane, I can take a few
hundred people with me who never agreed to take any risk at all.  (I'm a
US-licensed private pilot.)
<snip>

John Eells

Ever come across the Darwin Awards? Can only ever be awarded posthumously,
to those who have by their stupid actions displayed sufficient good sense as
to remove their genetic material from the human gene pool. For example, once
awarded to an Ukrainian blacksmith who was using an artillery shell as an
anvil. Guess what happened?

Ken