Tell me about a dive log.

[lmorin]

I log a minimum of date, dive number and location (dive site, state/country). I do it for three reasons. One is just because it legitimizes the dive count. A second is that the log serves as a reference for location at which a particular photo (time and date stamped) was taken. The third reason is simply that the log serves an historical record of interesting things seen or done at particular locations/dates/times.

My log book consists of a 3"x4" diary type booklet with about 100 blank pages. I also use some of those empty pages for creating lists of things to do or measurements of spaces or items, or of contact info for people or places encountered on trips.

 

[beanojones]

As noted, on the advice to stop using paper log books

OK - it's probably not a good idea for the only existing record of your diving career to be a physical object made of paper, and then take it to sea on a boat. Or leave it in your basement. Or anywhere else it could be lost or destroyed.
...
You mean you enter the information twice? Or you just keep a digital log and then print it out for redundancy?

doctormike hits the point of water and paper, and adds the fact of physical objects potential for getting lost. I stopped logging dives when my log books became chunks of cardboard from getting welded together. Once they stick together, all the dive info is lost.

My big point is that log books are most useful at the dive site, and that's when we are wet. Since weatherproof log books are easily available, there is every reason to not use the paper log books.

On top of that, a weatherproof log book can actually come in the water with you, so they become much more useful for recording things like what we see, and for making maps while we are actually diving.

Of course online is more durable than even weatherproof paper, but it can only be done when we are well away from the dive so we can forget things, and maybe don't have our buddies to sign etc.

 

[JanR]

...I once dived with a couple of trainee DMs who wanted to jump in, swim around until they have used half a tank, ascend, float around, and then drop down again so they could log two dives from one cylinder...

It can be worse. Last month I went with a group to a dive site. I was excited because it was going to be during this weekend that I was finally going to go over 50 dives...a totally arbitrary number, but to me a significant milestone in my personal diving experience. One couple remarked that they were closing on their 100th dive. I thought this was great and continued to suit up, got into the water with my dive buddy and began the dive. After about 50 minutes, we came up and saw the couple on the surface. They called out and asked how many was that and I said "49" and started to get out of the water to change out tanks and begin my surface interval for dive #50.

That's when they declared that they had already got four dives in for the day. "Excuse me?" I asked. They explained that every time they come up to the surface, that's a dive. So, the wife had to come up after a couple minutes to fix her mask...dive #1. They went back down and got separated in the murky water and came back up as part of their lost diver drill...dive #2. Then they got lost and couldn't remember which direction the dive platform was and came back up to get their bearing...dive #3. Finally, they had blown through their cylinder and was now heading back in after finishing dive #4.

I pretty much realized then that the number of dives that someone tells you they have is a very subjective number.

 

[Storker]

You mean you enter the information twice? Or you just keep a digital log and then print it out for redundancy?

I enter the notes twice. Once in my paper log and once in DivingLog software after downloading the dive from my computer.



I started logging in my blue PADI logbook during my OW class. When I bought my own gear, it came with a Suunto Cobra with PC transfer capabilities, so then I started downloading to my PC look at my depth profiles.

The way I do it these days, is to download the dive(s) to the PC, check the boxes on tank size, exposure protection, weighting etc. and enter my notes on the PC. There's usually a little bit of rewriting to get a fairly coherent text, so I prefer to do that on the PC. After that, I just transfer the notes and the basic dive data to my blue PADI logbook. If I've been diving with an instabuddy, I've usually had him/her sign the logbook page in advance, and if it's a resort dive, I've had the page stamped in advance.

I don't think it's much of a chore to do it this way, and the process of writing a decent log gives me plenty time to properly evaluate the dive and find out what I could have done better - or at least differently. This way the "chore" of writing the log becomes a learning tool

I have to get myself a new logbook pretty soon, though. I've only got a few blank pages left

--
Sent from my mobile. Typos are a feature, not a bug.

 

[Gecko JK]

I use my log for my own reference for temperatures, weights, air usage ect. Going to start converting my paper logs onto a computerized log soon. Still haven't picked a program to use.

The best log book I have seen was a local diver who had created his own sheets and had photos attached from almost every dive he had done. A lot of work but a great book to look at


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

 

[tdtaylor]

Electronic logs for me. MacDive and Dive Log. Being an UW photographer, I do attach pictures to a few of my more memorable dives. I also make a .pdf every 25 or so dives and keep this in a different location as a backup.


2 weekends ago I worked with with a Stress and Rescue class, guided 2 deep dives for another class, and then guided a low viz, night diving class. 14 hours at the quarry. My computer told me I made 26 dives- I crunched them down to 4 dives. I know that several of the folks that were only in S&R logged their time as 3 dives to my one- they are trying to get enough dives to start DM training.

When I started DM training, they did not so much verify the number of dives I had, but were more interested in the hours I had been UW. I forget the numbers now, but several of the candidates had almost as many dives as I did, but half the hours. I think this may be a better measure. By the way. MacDive gives you this info.

Terry

 

[Sir-Dive-A-Lot]

My first 10 or so dives I would fill all the fields out in the log meticulously, calculate my SAC rate and write a lot about my experiences.

After about 40 I still wrote my logs in my paper logbook and then copied the transcripts over to Diving Log 5.

After about 70 dives, I now only use the paper logbook if I get a stamp. All other times, I just enter everything on my laptop after the diving day into Diving Log. Then after about every 5-10 dives I will bulk transfer the data over from my dive computer into the program. I'm now finding I write a lot more than when I first started because I am more efficient at typing and am not constrained by the small rectangle my paper logbook gives me to write things.

 

[doctormike]

Another vote for MacDive - the developer is amazing, he responds to emails within minutes, have used it for years, and I sync it with my phone so I always have my complete log with me wherever I go.

I am a data junkie, and I spend a lot of time writing up my dives. This is far easier with an electronic logbook, I can type long descriptions of conditions, supplemental information about the site, etc... Also, I usually do most of my commentary when I have Internet access, often you can get a lot of good information about a dive site online that you can incorporate into your own journal. If I'm on a long dive trip away from my laptop, I do make some paper notes but then I use them to complete my log as soon as I can, with data from my dive computer.

I don't really understand the use paper logs these days. So scary to think about all that precious information being lost forever, so much better to have all of your data with you all of the time, just so much more convenient to use a computer log.

There are only 3 reasons that I can think of for using paper:

1) The concern that an instructor or dive charter would want to see a physical log - I hear that a lot in these discussions, have never encountered anything like that myself, maybe an urban legend? If I ever needed a paper log, I could print out a very detailed on in minutes. Can't imagine that not being adequate, but I guess anything is possible.

2) Buddy signatures. My phone log can actually record a signature, I never use this. Not sure what the point is, or what the legal issues are. I can't imagine a situation where you would want to do a dive or training and someone would say that the electronic signature is no good. Seriously, these aren't legal documents. It's not like you have them notarized - if you wanted to fake a dive log, you could just fake the signatures as well.

3) Stamps. Some people like the stamps that dive operators give out. I guess if you really want those, and don't want to scan them into an electronic log, then you should use paper!