recording a dive in your logbook?

[bobcatdiver]

OK this is a newbie question. I have seen people trying to run up the number of dives they have. What counts as a dive that should be logged in your logbook. Example we were diving at a local quarry that is only about 20 feet deep so we had a lot of bottom time, we would dive for 1/2 hr or so and get out and take a break and then get back in (it was a little cold). Some of the divers in the group were saying that each time we would get out and then back in it was a new dive. Some divers were saying each new tank of air counted as a new dive. And then some felt that we were just at one location so it was just 1 dive.

I would just like to know the what the rest of the diving community thinks. Thanks for your help

 

[TrickyRicky]

As far as I know every surface interval creates a new dive in which you need to work out on your dive tables to figure out your pressure group before the next dive. It's alot easier with a computer, however the tables can offer redundency in case of computer failure.

Rich

 

[ron63]

The way a dive was explained to me many years ago, was 20 minutes bottom time or half your air whichever came first AND then you had to have a least a ten minute surface interval. I'll use your profiles from the quarry as an example. You made a dive to 20 feet that lasted 30 minutes. You got out and partook of some warm refreshment but did not change your tank. Let's say your surface interval was 15 minutes. You got back in the water and made another dive for twenty minutes and then got out due to being cold. You would log two dives.

Now having said that I due not know what the training agencies consider a dive. That was what my first dive instructor taught us many years ago.

Ron Shephard

 

[wardric]

a 30 minutes dive in very cold water gives you at least as much experience as a lazy 1h30 dive in warm water. If you'd only come up for 5-10 minutes without getting out of the water to talk with your buddy or adjust something, then i'd say you should consider it a single dive but it's not the case.

 

[Stu S.]

Many dive computers have an automatic logbook. These can help you to fill out a paper log, or download the data for a log on your home computer. My dive computer defines a new dive as anything greater than 10 feet with a previous surface interval of 10 minutes or more.

I did this once by floating around on the surface at Devil's Den in Florida. We were not trying to add dives to the log, just floating on the surface for a break. I logged two dives for this, just like the computer.

By the way, after 30 years of diving, how many dives does not mean that much. You either got it, or you don't.

 

[Diver Dennis]

a 30 minutes dive in very cold water gives you at least as much experience as a lazy 1h30 dive in warm water. If you'd only come up for 5-10 minutes without getting out of the water to talk with your buddy or adjust something, then i'd say you should consider it a single dive but it's not the case.

This is very true, in fact cold water diving is almost a different sport IMO. I live part time in Canada, wardric lives there too, and although I don't dive there anymore I agree that cold water diving is far more difficult. Tropical diving with good vis and warm water is easy compared to a cold water quarry or as wardric does, ice diving.

 

[Reefraff2]

A diver's log book is really only a "personal reference". A logged dive to me would be from the time you go down till the time you come up to your safty stop (always a good practice). Tanks and location have nothing to do with a dive, except tank pressure start/finished a dive, and where you are diving at. You may make 2 30 minutes dives on the same tank of air, so that would count as 2 dives at the same location. Hope that helps a little.

 

[wardric]

This is very true, in fact cold water diving is almost a different sport IMO. I live part time in Canada, wardric lives there too, and although I don't dive there anymore I agree that cold water diving is far more difficult. Tropical diving with good vis and warm water is easy compared to a cold water quarry or as wardric does, ice diving.

We will need now Dennis

Each dive has it's own challenges, that is why I said "at least as much" in a very pc way A tropical dive with 4 ft waves and a ripping current does have it's own difficulties too I'd say. But it's normal that a cold water dive can be shorter than a warm one and need a SI just to warm up.

For example, I dived Lake Willoughby last week. It's in Vermont, USA. air was in the upper 70's and the water was 39F. No thermocline. We did a 39 min one (116') and a 43 min one (102'). So we sweated in our drysuits before going in the glacial water. It was freezing since we were humid and since there was no thermocline, we didn't get to warm up at the end of the dives. We needed a long SI just to warm up and take some calories for the second one .

2 weeks ago, I was diving in Cuba and doing 1hour+ dives with minimal exposure protection in a 79F water. :sigh:

 

[wardric]

Many dive computers have an automatic logbook. These can help you to fill out a paper log, or download the data for a log on your home computer. My dive computer defines a new dive as anything greater than 10 feet with a previous surface interval of 10 minutes or more.

I did this once by floating around on the surface at Devil's Den in Florida. We were not trying to add dives to the log, just floating on the surface for a break. I logged two dives for this, just like the computer.

By the way, after 30 years of diving, how many dives does not mean that much. You either got it, or you don't.

What computer do you have? My Suunto needs only a 5 min SI for starting a new dive which is a bit annoying.

 

[Stu S.]

What computer do you have? My Suunto needs only a 5 min SI for starting a new dive which is a bit annoying.

This is what we did yesterday:

I use the Cressi Sub Archimede II. My buddy has the Suunto Vyper, I think. My daughter uses the Aeris Atmos 2. We took a 45 minute dive at Blue Springs in Florida, then floated around the surface a couple of minutes.

We then drifted down the spring run to our exit. Max depth on the run is about seven feet. Suunto logs an extra dive for this short and shallow trip. The Cressi computer adds the six minute mini-dive to the deep dive, logging a 51 minute dive. The Aeris computer does not register any activity after the 45 minute "real" dive.

Buddy deletes this mini-dive after download. These are the small quirks in otherwise excellent computers.