Magna Doodle really works!

[Ironcat]

I just had a birthday and since everyone reads how good magna doodles are as slates, one of my friends actually bought me a small magna-doodle (mostly cuz I am the only one in my group willing to break rule #6 and wear the thing) and I have to tell you it really works perfectly!
I dove yesterday in Largo (awesome conditions by the way) and the magna doodle works like a charm. We wrote small, we wrote big, had it on a caribiner so we could remove it and pass it around the group.
It does not write as well underwater as it does above, but we weren't trying to write out the Gettysburg address so it didn't matter. For normal underwater messages (shark, air, etc) it did great.

I only had 3 problems with it, but none of those problems would be enough to make me quit wearing it...

1. Even the smallest magna doodle is just about 8"x10" and a half inch thick. You do look a bit comical wearing it. Strict adherents to rule #6 wil NOT want to wear a magna doodle.
2. Because of it's size, you will want to hook it to one of your higher D-Rings so it doesn't dangle... which means it will either be banging around your inflator hose or banging around your reg and octo. This didn't present a problem but I imagine it could in an emergency situation.
3. It's big, it displaces water, so it pulls. I bought a brand new (30 frigging dollars out the window) retractor and the magna doodle popped the ring off of it. Luckily, since it is orange, and 8x10 my buddy saw it fall and brought it back to me.

So... :06: If anyone knows a way for me to defeat my slight magna doodle problems, feel free to offer your advice, I'm all ears!

 

[Firefyter]

There is a way around all your problems. I use a Magnadoodle as well, but I went to the section of the store that carries the travel games and found one that's much smaller. As a matter of fact, it fits in a Zeagle pocket very well, and eliminates all of the problems you describe.

 

[archman]

Fyter's right, there are small toystore doodlers, 4" by 6". I picked up half a dozen at Target a few years back.

You may also want to check out the mini-Quest and QII slates from Innovative Scuba Concepts.
http://www.innovativescuba.com/

 

[_Bella_]

I don't recommend the QII. Sizewise, they are perfectly small and versatile. However, for me they only lasted about a year or around 250 dives. Now all the particles are stuck and it doesn't react to magnets anymore and is essentially unreadable. The white slate is still good though.

 

[markfm]

WalMart carries a fairly small one, a whopping 88 cents

 

[DA Aquamaster]

I have a mini-quest and the 4x6 toystore magnadoodle screens work great as replacements you just have to disect the glued together case to remove it and then install it in your mini quest whose case is held together with screws.

The mini quest is nice as it has a protective cover for the screen as well as a slate on the back and it fits quite nicely in most BC pocket.

The downside is that they are hideously over priced compared to the buck or two you pay at Wal-mart for the 4x6 magnadoodle toy version.

The larger quest in my opinion offers no advantage at all over the much cheaper magnadoodle toy versions.

 

[Rev. Blade]

I also use the Target store Magna Doodle. It fits fine in a pocket, and I only whip it out when I've got something to share. (From my fewer than .1 posts per day, you might guess I can normally resist writing under water.) The magnets rust out of the "pen" pretty quick, but at $6 each for the slate ...or $.88 at Wal-Mart?!?! it's not too bad to replace.

 

[Footslogger]

WalMart carries a fairly small one, a whopping 88 cents

=======================================
That was the one I was going to suggest. Bought a couple and brought them home and the proceeded to drown them in the bathtub. As has already been said ...they don't work as well underwater as they do in air ...but hey, we're righting one-two word signals and not long sentences. For an investment of $ 0.88 I'm willing to give it a shot. Plus this one is little is really small and fits in my BCD pocket. Oh yeah, and did I mention that they come in RED ??

'Slogger

 

[archman]

The larger quest in my opinion offers no advantage at all over the much cheaper magnadoodle toy versions.

The larger writing surface can actually accomodate a decent sentence. You really can't get that with the mini-quest without using acronyms or abbreviations.

The removable white slate on the back is also bigger, so you can fit more junk there too. The combination stylus/pencil holder is great.

I don't use my mini-quest for teaching anymore; the Quest is much more useful to me.

The QII is a piece of junk.

 

[Jim Baldwin]

I just had a birthday and since everyone reads how good magna doodles are as slates, one of my friends actually bought me a small magna-doodle (mostly cuz I am the only one in my group willing to break rule #6 and wear the thing) and I have to tell you it really works perfectly!
I dove yesterday in Largo (awesome conditions by the way) and the magna doodle works like a charm. We wrote small, we wrote big, had it on a caribiner so we could remove it and pass it around the group.
It does not write as well underwater as it does above, but we weren't trying to write out the Gettysburg address so it didn't matter. For normal underwater messages (shark, air, etc) it did great.

I only had 3 problems with it, but none of those problems would be enough to make me quit wearing it...

1. Even the smallest magna doodle is just about 8"x10" and a half inch thick. You do look a bit comical wearing it. Strict adherents to rule #6 wil NOT want to wear a magna doodle.
2. Because of it's size, you will want to hook it to one of your higher D-Rings so it doesn't dangle... which means it will either be banging around your inflator hose or banging around your reg and octo. This didn't present a problem but I imagine it could in an emergency situation.
3. It's big, it displaces water, so it pulls. I bought a brand new (30 frigging dollars out the window) retractor and the magna doodle popped the ring off of it. Luckily, since it is orange, and 8x10 my buddy saw it fall and brought it back to me.

So... :06: If anyone knows a way for me to defeat my slight magna doodle problems, feel free to offer your advice, I'm all ears!

I have used the same large magna doodle in Cozumel for the last three years and it has worked for close to 200 dives with no problems. I think it was about $12 from Toys-R-Us.

I added a small piece of one inch webbing at one corner and a brass snap. I added an extra D-ring on my Hog rig midway down my right shoulder strap. I can clip it off and it's out of the way. It's large enough that you can write the names of coral, sponges, fish and also ask questions without code.