Logging Dives - why exactly?

[OldNSalty]

Please excuse this newbie question.

But if most don't log their dives, how do agencies like SSI confirm the actual number of dives which they also require aside from actual training?

So I walked into my buddy's dive shop several years ago, there he was, having never really logged dives. He had a log book out that he had taken from the shelf and several different colored pens. He was busy writing and thinking, thinking and writing...I asked him what he was doing. He said he was getting ready to take his instructor's course....needed to show about 100 dives.

 

[ScubaSteve1962]

So I walked into my buddy's dive shop several years ago, there he was, having never really logged dives. He had a log book out that he had taken from the shelf and several different colored pens. He was busy writing and thinking, thinking and writing...I asked him what he was doing. He said he was getting ready to take his instructor's course....needed to show about 100 dives.

So the message I get from this thread is, if you plan to go pro log your dives, and if you don't, it's a personal preference. If I'm diving with my own equipment which would include my dive computer, plus and electronic log from my PC would that not be enough for a dive op?

 

[herbdb]

I am amazed at the number of people who say they never have to produce a card or logbook. I don't have to produce a card for air fills at my two LDS anymore, but they still look at and record my Nitrox cert number for Nitrox fills.

I am not a super experienced diver, but I have used six different operations in south Florida, NC Offshore, one on Roatan, one in Cozumel and three on Bonaire. I have never been allowed to dive or use Nitrox without producing a certification card. I have never seen an operation in the Keys or North Carolina that would put you on a deep dive without AOW or a logbook to prove experience.

I could understand if you are always shore diving and getting fills at your LDS. Just doesn't match my experience.

 

[Jim Lapenta]

I still log my dives though what I put in them changes. It used to be everything that happened. Then it went to data mainly. Depths, times, temps, weight used, etc... Then I started keeping a list of all the issues students would have and how we worked through them. Good reference when two years later you get someone with a similar problem and a quick glance back can save a lot of time and frustration. Then tech training and needed to keep track of gas mixes, depths, times, deco schedules, gear issues etc.. Right now I'm in that data mode again with some gear stuff as I have started teaching some of the deep and intro to tech courses. I like logging dives. Sometimes I do it at the end of the day at home by going through the computer. The Predator is fun to go through the dive log on as I can see my profiles.

 

[Phil_C]

PADI is good like that- from the best of my knowledge NAUI, CMAS and BSAC don't operate such a database- please correct me if I'm wrong.

I'm hold CMAS/PADI and BSAC qualifications and I don't know about CMAS or PADI (as I don't use their systems) but I can log in to the members area of the BSAC website myself and pull up details of my Q Cards for anyone to see from an internet browser. A good thing about BSAC is that if you e-mail them scans/copies of other agendcy qualifications they will enter them on their database as well with the BSAC equivalence, so you can see my CMAS qualifications on the BSAC site. Haven't got round to sending them my PADI ones yet but no reason to think they wouldn't put them on as well. Cheers P

 

[Searcaigh]

PADI is good like that- from the best of my knowledge NAUI, CMAS and BSAC don't operate such a database- please correct me if I'm wrong.

I'm hold CMAS/PADI and BSAC qualifications and I don't know about CMAS or PADI (as I don't use their systems) but I can log in to the members area of the BSAC website myself and pull up details of my Q Cards for anyone to see from an internet browser. A good thing about BSAC is that if you e-mail them scans/copies of other agendcy qualifications they will enter them on their database as well with the BSAC equivalence, so you can see my CMAS qualifications on the BSAC site. Haven't got round to sending them my PADI ones yet but no reason to think they wouldn't put them on as well. Cheers P

You can log on to PADI and do the same thing for PADI qualifications, not sure if they add others like CMAS etc though

 

[Phil_C]

Guessed you could probably log on to PADI site and see them yourself, I have never registered/used their site. BSAC have a section on your personal file called -

Other Diving Agency Qualifications

[TD="class: Text"] [/TD]
[TD="class: Text"] [/TD]
[TD="class: Text"] Other Agency Grade [/TD]

[TD="class: Text"]

[/TD]
[TD="class: Text"]CMAS[/TD]
[TD="class: Text"]2 star [/TD]

Skill Development Alternative Qualifications

[TABLE="class: Login"]
[/TABLE]
Other Agency Technical Diving Grades

[TABLE="class: Login"]
[/TABLE]
Other Agency Technical Instructor Grades

[TABLE="class: Login"]
[/TABLE]
Instructor Trainer Grades

[TABLE="class: Login"]
[/TABLE]
Technical Instructor Trainer Grades


(copied from the site)

So they will enter other agency technical and basic qualifications as well as instructor grades and skills courses. Don't know if dive centres can access this, but the member can log in to his own profile and show this. You cannot update or add any details yourself, they have to be updated by BSAC HQ. i think it is a good system. I keep my login details as a backup for if I loose or misplace my cards. Similarly my logbook is all online (direct download from my dive computer to Diving Log 5 program) and backed up so I can show it if necessary - P

 

[TMHeimer]

Yes, I've of course always had to show my cert. & nitrox cards. No one's ever looked at my log. Not for a charter (7 different ops) nor for any course. Guess that's a "trust me" log....

 

[shoredivr]

Lots of good reasons for keeping a log, and I agree with all of them. But I sort of wish I were still keeping a paper log. I really love to pick up the two from when I was first diving, and flip through the pages, and see the excitement that was there. The day I passed Fundies has fireworks drawn all over the page!

I like to draw maps of dive sites, fish life, etc, etc. Still using a paper log, I like to unwind after diving by reviewing whatever the dives were and writing/drawing. I log for all the reasons people have covered: to remember equipment, temperatures, what went wrong, where I dived, weight combos for cold water and warm water exposure suits, etc.

 

[windapp]

If you dive in different conditions with different exposure protection, your log can be a useful reference for weighting and exposure protection requirements. If you dive in a general area, you may not remember which dive site you dove before. I log all the basic info, and then add stuff if I think it might be useful later.