Ineligible log entries

[Landstander]

At this point I've switched almost exclusively to logging dives electronically. The only exceptions are training dives which get signed by an instructor, and items where I might need a signed log entry for followup visits. Bonne Terre Mine is a good example of the latter... in order to skip the checkout dive after your initial visit, they require you to present the signed log entry from a visit within the past 12 months.

Initially I was logging items both on pre-printed logbook pages and electronically, which lasted for the first 100 or so dives. I've found that I don't miss the paper version at all, as the electronic version is easier to search and more importantly to back up... I know several divers who have (partially or completely) ruined their paper logbook with an inadvertent dunking. Plus I can easily make all of the entries available on my phone, and produce a PDF/printed copy if needed.

Heck, even my Self Reliant (Solo) instructor accepted my electronic log entries as proof of completing the requisite 100 dives... I just gave him a link to the appropriate subsection of divelogs.de when he asked to see my logbook. To be fair, however, he already knew me from an earlier sidemount class (and by that point I was fairly well known to the shop as well).

So far, this approach hasn't caused my the slightest hint of grief with instructors. Should that ever occur, I'll most likely just look for a different instructor... someone not entrenched a decade (or more) in the past.

 

[Bruno Genovese]

I do all my logging on scubaearth, the one that PADI logs to. It is clunky and buggy, but I hope it is one that will persist.

I find the OP's problem a bit funny. Most of the outfits I dove with can't be bothered with things like stamping or even reporting your dives as "training dives". I feel lucky that I managed to get he instructor's dive number for most of my dives, and I always record it in the comments... so that if I ever encounter an idiot like the one the OP had to deal with I can tell him to look up and contact the instructor.

But my recommendation would be to dump such an instructor, there are plenty of good instructors that won't give you such a hassle.

What I think might be more common is when you are trying to sign up for a specialty certification and they don't want to recognize your past dives that qualify, mainly so that they can sell you extra dives. In such a case the best thing to do is the same, find another outfit to do the specialty with.

But don't be too rigid... for some specialties it really is necessary to do certain specific dives as part of the certification, and PADI's documentation of what is required during the cert and what can come from prior certs is thin and hard to find. Do a lot of googling before you dump a diving shop, they might really be looking after you instead of trying to milk your pocketbook.

 

[peocro]

I keep an electronic log (downloaded from the computer), but I try to include as many details as possible of the weighting and configuration, like drysuit undergarment, backplate weight, fins, tanks weight, accessories (canister light, etc) so I can refer back to my files to use the optimal weight. That is purely for my own reference.

And of course, nobody has ever asked to see my log...