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olly86

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hey everyone, whats a divers log book? Im guessing its a book where you write down all the places you've dived but do you actually sign for it? What other info does it contain? Ive seen to become a pro you have to have completed a certain number of dives but wouldn't some people just lie?
Im just about to start an Open Water Course and am guessing that I'll need one of them right?
 
hey! a log book is, indeed, where you log your dives. depth, time underwater, air consumption, water temperature, what you were wearing (like how thick your wetsuits were, so you can judge how much you need next time with similar temperatures), visibility...all these things and more can be put for dives. if you're doing padi, the book comes with your instruction kit. if not, it probably does, i just can't say. there is a place for your buddy's signature, but none of mine after the initial ones from my instructor are signed. yes, someone could lie and fill in dives they haven't done, but more commonly people put off filling it in and have more dives than the log says. when places or boats want to see it, they are trying to get an idea of how the dive they are going to take you to fits in with what you've already done. i'm sure there is someone somewhere who scammed the log and advanced in diving when they shouldn't have, but you can only control your actions. hope this was helpful, and hope you enjoy your diving!
 
Yes. At least in PADI, it logs all your dives, plus has an up front section to record specialized training, things like drysuit, nitrox,...
The PADI log has glossy pages -- I'd recommend a fine-point china marker (sharpie) to use for writing in it, available in many stores, though a ballpoint also works -- don't use a gel pen, as it smears all over :)
 
The best thing about a log book is filling it up with dives. The next best (in my opinion) is laughing at how much I was overweighted early on -- by as much as 20lbs!! I probably only have about 1/3 of my non-training dives "signed" by a buddy. I'll usually put my buddy's name, but not always get a signature.

You'll almost certainly get a log book as part of your Open Water course, but there are also online options, too. One that I found is DiveRecord.com. You can check out my dives as an example or another ScubaBoarder, Walter's dives.

Good luck with your class,

-Rob
 
Its definitly an honor system were you would only be cheating yourself if you fudged logs if you felt the need to.
 
olly86:
hey everyone, whats a divers log book? Im guessing its a book where you write down all the places you've dived but do you actually sign for it? What other info does it contain? Ive seen to become a pro you have to have completed a certain number of dives but wouldn't some people just lie?
Im just about to start an Open Water Course and am guessing that I'll need one of them right?

Logbooks are fun. I treasure mine. You relay your dive experiences anywhere from "Fantastic, doing much better on controlling buoyancy; saw a great harbor seal" to "this dive was total crap, no vis, horrible conditions, aborted after ten minutes, next time go to aquarium, stupid."

The primary reason to lie in a logbook would be either to get on a dive that required a more advanced status or to get into a class that required a more advanced status. In both cases, all you're doing is setting yourself up not only for failure, but for extreme danger. You're also clearing the dive shop/tour/whatever of liability if you die on a trip because they can say "he told us he had two hundred dives off ice sheets in the Arctic; we thought a swim through at 120' in the tropics wouldn't be too taxing". I'm sure some people do it, but the majority don't. Since diving isn't heavily regulated by government thus there's no legal requirement for anything, there's no real reason to do so.
 
ok ok cheers for clearing that up i know what they are now; look forward to getting mine and filling it up.......LEGALLY.
 
Ishie:
Logbooks are fun. I treasure mine. You relay your dive experiences anywhere from "Fantastic, doing much better on controlling buoyancy; saw a great harbor seal" to "this dive was total crap, no vis, horrible conditions, aborted after ten minutes, next time go to aquarium, stupid."

The primary reason to lie in a logbook would be either to get on a dive that required a more advanced status or to get into a class that required a more advanced status. In both cases, all you're doing is setting yourself up not only for failure, but for extreme danger. You're also clearing the dive shop/tour/whatever of liability if you die on a trip because they can say "he told us he had two hundred dives off ice sheets in the Arctic; we thought a swim through at 120' in the tropics wouldn't be too taxing". I'm sure some people do it, but the majority don't. Since diving isn't heavily regulated by government thus there's no legal requirement for anything, there's no real reason to do so.
Wouldn't that be a nice favor to the dive operator! The next thing you know there will be a new line on the waiver for you to initial:
______ All information in my log book is complete and accurate.
Let's all hope there isn't a move to put more regulation into our sport.

-Rob
 
rab:
Wouldn't that be a nice favor to the dive operator! The next thing you know there will be a new line on the waiver for you to initial:

-Rob

Does this mean I have to delete the log entry where I had one foot on the manta ray, one foot on the great white, and used them to cruise the depths of 500' while using only air?

Didn't get bent, neither!
 
Something else you can put in your logbook that they don't have an assigned space for is contact information (email, phone, address) for buddies or divers you meet. This is especially nice when you don't have a regular buddy.
Ber :lilbunny:
 

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