Should I log swimming pool dives?

[Zef]

[QUOTE="However, I wouldn't do Nemo again. The diving wasn't sufficiently interesting to tempt me back..[/QUOTE]

Pretty much my point....Nemo is something you do once to say you have done it. I have gone 3 times but only because I live 40 minutes away and I wanted my wife and kids to experience it and they could not go at the same time due to personal schedules...so I took each of them there separately.

-Zef

 

[beaverdivers]

Excellent question.

We recommend for our divers that they log pool dives from their dive computers. The computer starts to register the dive when you hit 3'. Then we download their dive. It is logged as a " Pool Dive ". It does not count towards their Open Water dives.

However, it is valuable to see their Surface Air Consumption ( SAC ), heart rate, buoyancy & ascent rates.

A pool dive does provide for a refresher which maybe a requirement to go diving on their vacation. The log provides for verification.

 

[chillyinCanada]

Go on a dive vacation or two. You don't need a buddy of your own to go with Singledivers.com. Singledivers is for people who don't have a regular diving buddy whether married or not. The 'single' doesn't stand for not having a significant other, it means you don't have a dive buddy for the trip you want to go on. Check them out, you might see a trip or two you'd enjoy.

 

[admikar]

I missed going here with my club, but in their words, did not miss too much.

 

[chillyinCanada]

That's quite the pool! Must take a lot of power to keep it warm enough to dive in nothing but a speedo.

 

[admikar]

It's a warm spring water, so no heating necessary.

 

[SCRedWolf]

If I ever have a chance to dive in the over 33-meter deep NEMO 33 pool in Brussels, you can bet I'm going to log that!

Get with the times man! NEMO 33 is old hat and so shallow. Now Y40 in Italy is the hot ticket with overhead environments included for training.

For the OP I personally don't log my pool dives unless it's done for training or equipment testing (either worked on or taking new stuff for a test drive) and then I don't number that pool dive. It's in my logbook so I can document the training or the equipment (did it work properly, was it comfy, would I buy it in the future, etc) So if someone asks my dive count it's the number of open water dives I've done + the one confined dive I did in the EPCOT aquarium. So in summary - I'll log pool dives if they had a specific purpose aside from getting wet but they don't get dive numbers.

If you're doing pool dives, and those things get boring very quickly, bring some toys to make it more interesting. When my kids were learning to snorkel I'd bring plastic rings and such for them to find and collect after I tossed them into the pool. Find ways to make it interesting. Good luck and have fun.

 

[chillyinCanada]

Do your skills in the pool. Hoovering horizontally or even slowly finning remove your mask. Breathe without your mask on for a bit. Replace your mask. Clear your mask. Flood your mask, clear your mask. Swap your primary for your octo and back again. Don't forget to be releasing a bit of air from your lungs as you do this exercise. Don't forget to purge your regs before breathing from them again after the swap. Practice buoyancy control. And so on and so on.

 

[restondive]

Nothing like reviving an old topic. Plus I need posts to allow me to DM.

If you kit up with gear and breath from a regulator underwater you are Scuba Diving. You ARE learning from the experience; buoyancy control, proper weighting, or other techniques. Everyone gains the same experiences in open water. So, log everything. In fact, take notes. (weight, exposure suit, gear, the position of the tank on the BCD, water temp, etc). I reference previous dives all the time, including a mangrove dive in 10-12 feet, which felt like a swimming pool to me.

Now, if you are padding your logbook to meet a 50-dive minimum for an advanced dive, or to gain bragging rights, shame on you. Check your ego at the door, you're going to get yourself or your buddy hurt.

A good DM can assess your skills within 60 seconds of you getting wet (and most likely while you are suiting up), so a thick logbook doesn't mean much. I have dove with many "Advanced" and "Master" divers with hundreds of open water dives who should have their credentials revoked and sent back to the pool.

 

[rob.mwpropane]

My kids OW instructor apparently did.. he claimed he had 30,000 dives

I do not, but do whatever you want. Nobody really cares about # of dives as much as they'll have you believe. It's the where, when, how long we're more interested in.

Example... guy has 100 dives in 39 different countries vs guy who has 1000 dives at his local YMCA. Who has better overall experience?