My early dives were logged in my PADI logbook, the old little navy blue ones that you can't get anymore. It has since gone missing, but I was able to recreate 90% of it into a little ScubaPro log book I picked up at my LDS, because most of my early dives were with two three different buddies who still had their books, and I could copy the basic dive info down.
I've since bought a Uwatec SmartTec computer. Uwatec has free log software for mac, pc... and palm. And has an IR interface. So I just bring my phone (palm-based Treo) with me to every dive (like I would leave home without a phone), and beam the dive logs right from the computer into the AquaDiveLog software on my Treo. I fill in the basic info the computer can't get (tank size, weight worn, visibility, current, etc.), and add notes ... just like I would on a paper log, so no extra effort, and I get graphs and dive profiles, and even air usage since the computer is AI! Then my entire log is in the palm of my hand.
(I copied the important info from my early dives in by hand, so the software has a complete record).
The Palm software syncs to my computer on a regular basis anyway, and everytime I do, the ADL logs are backed up. Uwatec's SmartTrak software, on the PC, imports the backup files automatically, and sometimes I add in additional detail, sometimes I don't.
In the end, I have my entire dive history on my phone (with me at all times), and in two places on my computer at home, which gets backed up automatically (daily). At some point I'd like to print out the logs to put in a binder-style logbook, but haven't taken the time to do so yet, and then I would have it all in three places, all backed up somewhere!
All of this is very hands-off except the initial notes, which go directly into the phone, taking the same amount of time it would take to update a paper log. (The Treo's qwerty keyboard works quite well, even on a pitching and rolling dive boat.)
LOVE IT!
I've since bought a Uwatec SmartTec computer. Uwatec has free log software for mac, pc... and palm. And has an IR interface. So I just bring my phone (palm-based Treo) with me to every dive (like I would leave home without a phone), and beam the dive logs right from the computer into the AquaDiveLog software on my Treo. I fill in the basic info the computer can't get (tank size, weight worn, visibility, current, etc.), and add notes ... just like I would on a paper log, so no extra effort, and I get graphs and dive profiles, and even air usage since the computer is AI! Then my entire log is in the palm of my hand.
(I copied the important info from my early dives in by hand, so the software has a complete record).The Palm software syncs to my computer on a regular basis anyway, and everytime I do, the ADL logs are backed up. Uwatec's SmartTrak software, on the PC, imports the backup files automatically, and sometimes I add in additional detail, sometimes I don't.
In the end, I have my entire dive history on my phone (with me at all times), and in two places on my computer at home, which gets backed up automatically (daily). At some point I'd like to print out the logs to put in a binder-style logbook, but haven't taken the time to do so yet, and then I would have it all in three places, all backed up somewhere!
All of this is very hands-off except the initial notes, which go directly into the phone, taking the same amount of time it would take to update a paper log. (The Treo's qwerty keyboard works quite well, even on a pitching and rolling dive boat.)
LOVE IT!
