Question For purposes of logs and certifications, what counts as a "dive"?

[Divercouple]

We intend to do a bit of pool practice during winter, we'll have more than one hour in water each session where we plan on practicing our skills as much as possible. Should we or should we not log those dives as dive time even though we're not out in the open?

 

[Searcaigh]

I log my photo gear on each dive too even though some meta data is available on the photo file, it doesn't include what strobes and other equipment I was using, exposure protection etc.

This has proved useful when linking various nudi species to specific dive spots and temperature ranges for these critters as well as seasonal variation at specific local dive spots.

 

[Leatherboot69]

We intend to do a bit of pool practice during winter, we'll have more than one hour in water each session where we plan on practicing our skills as much as possible. Should we or should we not log those dives as dive time even though we're not out in the open?

It’s up to you! The only control that training agencies have over what you log is with training dives as part of a course. But I personally wouldn’t log swimming pool dives or dives in confined water, no. And I suspect an instructor would ignore those dives for the purpose of dive count eligibility for a particular course.

 

[Ukmc]

We intend to do a bit of pool practice during winter, we'll have more than one hour in water each session where we plan on practicing our skills as much as possible. Should we or should we not log those dives as dive time even though we're not out in the open?

You can log it, if you would like to have it for your records, however, I would not count it towards a total dive count.
The way I think about it, total dive count is an indirect measure of experience- why would I want to lie to myself? Practicing skills is what it is. It is not a dive.
My general rule is no confined environment, over 20 min , 20 ft to constitute a dive. I have my computer set that if I pop out for whatever reason and go back down - it counts it as a single dive.
If I go down and find a large air leak at 15 feet and go back to the boat - it is not a dive. However, that is just my personal rules. Anybody can do whatever they want, until scuba police will come around.

PS - A few years ago I was on the trip where there was a young man who had 30 dives and enough courses to become a master diver. So to run up a count he would go out on a shore dive and would do 20 min dive to 20 ft, come up for 10 min SI and then another and then another while we were enjoying the dive. Technically he “was following the rules” - but for me at made me feel gross, like watching someone cheat even though it was not effecting me none.

 

[Rilelen]

I personally count an entry and exit from the water as a dive, as long as it was in the spirit of doing a real dive. So deliberately hopping in for five minutes to up my dive count? No. A dive at Fanning Springs for an hour that technically never exceeds 15’? Yes.

In psychology measurement design we talk about how scales are intended to measure “latent factors.” That is, I don’t really care about your specific answers to these specific questions, I care about how well they tap into your underlying happiness (or extraversion, or whatever). Dive logs are the same way.

What we really want is a number that reflects your underlying experience…twenty pool dives doesn’t “mean the same thing” as twenty dives to the Spiegel Grove. When I decide whether to count a dive, I consider whether that dive (as short or deep or whatever as it may have been) is a good proxy for having accumulated real dive experience.

 

[Edward3c]

We intend to do a bit of pool practice during winter, we'll have more than one hour in water each session where we plan on practicing our skills as much as possible. Should we or should we not log those dives as dive time even though we're not out in the open?

As I said in post 3. It’s entirely up to the individual what they log.

My pool sessions were signed-off as lessons in my QRB, but not as dives. I do record pool lessons I teach, but that’s because I’ve had some, not many, approach me months later asking to have a lesson signed-off. When I check my log it’s recorded as a practice not a pass. Which is why I recommend all instructors log the lessons they give.

 

[chrisch]

...
The way I think about it, total dive count is an indirect measure of experience- why would I want to lie to myself? ....

It is exactly that - a rough guide to experience - you are 100% correct. People lie to themselves for all sorts of reasons it is only when they lie to other people it really matters. The number of dives as a prerequisite to the next course is intended to ensure the person is ready for the development. You can dive the same basic dive 40 times and you have not really learned much or gained any experience, but will have 40 "logged dives" (or the more idiotic and extreme example you gave of in and out the water to make up the numbers - yes that is "cheating")

 

[NothingClever]

I’m the lowest common denominator here.

My DC logs my dives and every once in awhile I remember to synch it to my cloud and add data. Most of the time I simply forget. The memories are there but more like an impressionist painting than a useful scientific journal. I call myself the lowest common denominator because when I was diving with British folks (BSAC ), I marvelled at their diligence with their logs and considered it an honor when they’d ask me to sign it. Despite knowing what right looks like and valuing it, I’m an incorrigible slacker.

 

[SouthernSharktoothDiver]

Personally, I log 1 tank=1 dive. So, except my initial open water training dives, that’s what I’m done. My 27 total dives would probably be more like 35 if I logged each surface to descent as a dive, but IMO counting each tank as a dive speaks better to total experience and underwater time

 

[kiwdahc]

I was taught at least 15 feet for at least 10 minutes by an SSI instructor.