Log book mockery?!

[Lorenzoid]

lozadora, so it seems that in 60 or so replies, not one person admits to mocking or having been mocked for keeping a log book. There are few things that get such a unanimous answer on SB.

Of course, SB may not be representative of the larger worldwide diving community. My guess is there are a few out there who might sneer at someone whose face is buried in a log book on the boat. Screw 'em.

 

[lozadora]

I'm always amazed with the sheer number of responses each post gets on this forum - my thanks as ever to everyone who has replied and sharing your opinions!

 

[boulderjohn]

lozadora, so it seems that in 60 or so replies, not one person admits to mocking or having been mocked for keeping a log book. There are few things that get such a unanimous answer on SB.

Of course, SB may not be representative of the larger worldwide diving community. My guess is there are a few out there who might sneer at someone whose face is buried in a log book on the boat. Screw 'em.

While I agree that there probably aren't many divers who mock people for logging dives (I don't know that I have met one), in reality people who do mock people for logging dives would never admit it in a thread like this. It's like asking if people beat their wives and, if so, why.

 

[Kharon]

I use a self-developed full page log for every dive no matter how nominal. The entries are quite comprehensive but I don't bother with the ones that aren't important on a particular dive. I also load the data from my Mares Icon onto my computer so I can have a detailed record of dive profiles etc. I like to have a record that I can look back to. It helps with dive planning. There may be something about depth, bottom profile, attractions, current, etc that I don't remember because I havent been to that site in a while.

 

[TSandM]

I wouldn't be surprised if there's an instructor out there who rolls his eyes and shakes his head over some new diver wanting to log what he views as irrelevant details after a dive. After all, I've been loudly mocked for insisting on proper buddy teams, for wanting to go over a dive plan, and several times for doing an equipment check before diving.

To the OP: If you want to put down the details of your dive, do it! Six months from now, you may well find that that log entry that includes water temperature is very useful, when you're trying to decide what exposure protection or what weight you need for a trip. If what you are doing is safe and impacts no one else, pay no attention to anybody else's attitude about it. You will find, over the next few years of diving, that not everybody with a "professional" stamp on their resume is a paragon of diving virtue.

 

[Lorenzoid]

. . . After all, I've been loudly mocked for insisting on proper buddy teams, for wanting to go over a dive plan, and several times for doing an equipment check before diving. . . .

Now THAT's the poll to take. How many of us have mocked others or been mocked by others for doing things that we KNOW from our training and experience are good protocol but which seem to slip by the wayside out there on the water? I'm guessing there has been a discussion of this before.

 

[ScubabunnyCR]

To mock someones personal preference is mean and as a fun bubbling scuba junkie I think we should not be mean ! Don't personally keep one anymore but used to up until I was an instructor. When I have had an exceptionally cool dive I think sometimes I would like to log it but then forget : ( I remember one of my old divemaster students had a particularly fun one where instead of writing details he drew a funky picture to represent the dive. Highly amusing sometimes. Keep logging alive !!!!!

 

[tdtaylor]

Recently experienced a form of this off a boat in the Northeast. The boat is occupied every Saturday morning by a standing group, and I joined the boat for two dives, one site they had dived many times. They were friendly and welcomed me, but when it came down to more formal "plans" and "checks," I was essentially talking to the wind. The only info that was discussed was turn back pressure, and I asked a couple of innocent questions about his equipment because I was unfamiliar with a number of the items. Fortunately it was a fairly straight wall and easy to navigate, but vis was 10-15 feet at 90 FSW, and worked out that my air consumption was better than my instabuddy. Worked out fine, and most stayed fairly close, but a little more planning would have been appropriate. The one nice gesture was one of the leaders did take a reel from the anchor line and draped it over the wall, which helped greatly with navigation. While I wasn't mocked, I was very politely dismissed. Not sure that is much better.

 

[Divin'Papaw]

Not at all! I have no problem signing other's logs either and don't find it silly at all. If you enjoy it and it works for you, that's all that matters. It is your log book.

 

[drrich2]

What I think some of these posts, like TS&M's, get to is a fundamental fact of human nature; some people tend to be sticklers for protocol, to some extent, some people are very informal about such things, and sometimes the latter may roll their eyes, chuckle or otherwise indulge in a minor bit of amusement at the former's expense.

Kind of like if a group of people were on a long road trip, and when it's Joe Smith's turn to drive, Joe mentions he never deliberately exceeds the speed limit, and that everyone should obey all the traffic laws. It's pretty likely there'd be some eye rolling on that one.

At one point adherence to formal protocol, such as pre-dive prep., post-dive detail logging, etc..., is perceived as amusingly excessive will vary by person. Sometimes you just gotta have a thick skin.

Richard.