A question about certifying agencies...

[kinetic]

Hello all,

I have a query regarding the various agencies, for want of a better word, certifying cavern and cave divers.

I understand that there are a few, NACD, NSS and possibly others.

I am an open water diver with a few under my belt and I know that, even in the open water world, there are one or two agencies to choose from. I have also seen awful threads where bickering between agency qualified divers was terrible. Does that happen in the cave world, is there a "we are better than they are"attitude? I am aware of the history of BSAC, also PADI...more so BSAC, as they are my qualifying agencies, for example, BSAC divers think they are better than PADI (generalisation).

Of course, every diving agency has safety at the top of the list, that must be the unifying factor of them all.

My query, finally, is what are the various histories of NACD, NSS and the others and is there any friction...go on, there must be???

Just trying to get a feel...I am coming to Florida in 3 weeks to do cavern and intro cave plus some ad nx and deco...can't wait.

All the best.

kinetic

[Angie Reim]

Here is not the place to post a question of this sort. Any one who answers directly on-line would violate Rule #6. Please also see rule #4 under the Forum Rules .

Rule#4

If you want to know a policy of sorts from one of the cave diving organizations, contact them direct. They are not under any obligation to monitor this forum. Any responses you get on this forum may NOT be representative of cave diving organizations. To contact a leading cave training organization, click on one of these links: NSS-CDS NACD IANTD GUE NAUI TDI CDG WKPP (links are active on the Forum Rules page)

Links to the various certifying agencies will also be found on the Resources

[Cindy]

WKPP is not a training agency Angie. Padi has a cavern course now. Cindy

[phishfood]

Hopefully, with 3 weeks left to go, you already know who your instructor will be.

No, we don't have gunfights at the top of the steps. Knivefights, however, are a different story.

Zknife in hand, I await you.

[Angie Reim]

Hopefully, with 3 weeks left to go, you already know who your instructor will be.

No, we don't have gunfights at the top of the steps. Knivefights, however, are a different story.

Zknife in hand, I await you.

Reeaallly.....I thought some of you guys were into pee-valve wiz fights. Ewwwwww.........

[Angie Reim]

WKPP is not a training agency Angie. Padi has a cavern course now. Cindy

That's what I get for just quoting something.....

[Dan Thoms]

There is only ONE....... agency

[Gibby]

Do most instructors double certify if they are an instructor for both agencies (NSS/NACD) or is it just mine that does that?

[oldguy]

I will probably bring the wrath of the moderator gods down on myself for this reply and may scrape some limestone off rules 4 and 6 but this one hit a nerve with me so here goes. Get your basic and advanced openwater certification from one of the scuba training agencies. But, when you start talking about nitrox, cavern, cave, trimix go with one of the leading agencies such as TDI, IANTD, NSS-CDS, and NACD. These organizations were leaders in these disciplines long before any of the basic scuba agencies were. It is obvious that the basic scuba organizations got into this later attempting to take market share as these disciplines became more and more popular. BUT, if you are going to spend your money in the adavanced disciplines, at least get certifications that are from organizations that are on the leading edge. My occupation is that of a commercial diver. I went to commercial diving school many years ago to be trained by commercial diving educators in cold, black, muddy water and I now use helmet gear designed for working divers. When I decided to take cavern, I went to Florida to be trained by cave divers. I modified my equipment and dive practices in order to dive in overhead and now use the technique for ALL my sport scuba activities. I went into three different "holes" in the course of two days. It made me a better and more comfortable diver and I will be eternally grateful. If I have time to get into cave, I will return to Florida for my training. I recently had a friend, who has only been diving a couple of years, to tell me that she had just received her cavern certification from one of the basic scuba organizations while training at a North Carolina coastal town. This was against my advice based on my 30+ years of diving. I asked her how many caverns she visited (since we have so many here in North Carolina, NOT). So, if you wanna be, you gotta go where they do, and you gotta train with those who are. Enough said.

I will probably bring the wrath of the moderator gods down on myself for this reply and may scrape some limestone off rules 4 and 6 but this one hit a nerve with me so here goes.

Well Oldguy, I would say you are a bit on the wrong side of the fence with your post above... Hmmm... do we ban you for 30 years, edit your post, or lock the topic/thread? Hmmmm...