To log pool "dives" or not to log...

[BlueTrin]

Hello, as a complete newbie, who has just started IANTD OWND training, I have found this therad searching for the %subj% question.

So far, we have had seven pool lesson, one hour each, with approx 30 to 45 minutes bottom time. The pool is 4,5 meters (15 ft) in depth, learning all the basic stuff (neutral buoyancy, mask on/off, SMB deploy, air sharing, slow ascending, safety stops etc.).

As open water here in Czech Rep. is quite cold, I have also tried 7 mm wetsuit and 5 mm gloves (and more weight) just to be ready for the upcoming open water lessons and for the certification.

Do you think I should log these #1 to #7 pool dives? Thank you!

(...Well, honestly, I already did , taking detailed notes about the equipment used and things learned.)

Log all your dives but mark these as pool dives.

 

[Insideout]

I log every dive, pool, lake, ocean. I don’t intend for it to pad my numbers or pass it off as experience towards a higher level of training, but it is experience, it’s something that I want to track, so I do it.

I should mention that I have an elog that I can easily filter the pool stuff out if I need to.

 

[GDHLEWIS]

I only log pool dives that have a reason such as training, gear configuration and similar. If messing about in the pool and not under for any real measurable amount of time I dont bother

 

[Ukmc]

Mixing pool and open water dives for logging could get confusing. You can record weight/exposure suit or whatever notes you want to take from pool dives but I would not recommend to log them because they “do not count” towards your open water dive count. It is hard enough keeping a good chronological log switching between different computers, without worrying about sorting out pool dives.

 

[Hoag]

This is nothing more than my personal opinion, nothing more, and I am not saying it is right, only what makes sense to me.

First of all, whether a pool dive is, or is not logged is the sole discretion of the person who did the pool dive. Second, I see that in some cases, a pool dive has some very definite advantages and in some cases, having a record of that dive can be useful.

I typically get one dive trip a year. Due to let's call them "circumstances beyond my control" that affected the ability to travel easily, my last dive trip was in 2019. It has been 3 years since my last dive trip. Additionally, I have lost a significant amount of weight (and more than 6 inches off my waist). I have a trip booked to Cayman Brac in the late fall. I also have 2 new dive computers (a PERDIX AI and a TERIC) that I have never dove with.

IMHO, it would be foolish for me to NOT do a pool session (or two) to sort out the changes in my buoyancy, refresh my skills and muscle memory as well as to get a couple dives in with my new DCs before I head south. Will I log this pool dive? Absolutely - especially if there are any glitches. Do I think every pool dive needs to be logged? Well, like I said earlier in this post, I will leave that entirely up to the individual.

For me, however, when I show up in Cayman Brac, if anybody asks when my last dive was, I would rather be able to show them that I did a pool dive in prep for the trip than to hang my head and say not since 2019.
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As a side note, I have found that if you have both a 5mm and a 3mm wetsuit, a 5mm suit in a pool or other freshwater gives a very close approximation of how much weight you will need in a 3mm wetsuit in saltwater.

 

[GameChanger]

I crack up when I hear divers, DM's & Instructors bragging about their log counts, and the only place they ever dive is a local shallow pond.

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

I never dive in a pool, there just isn’t one around where I live to use for scuba and I don’t know anyone who has one.
I do many dives in the ocean that are only 8’ to 12’ deep right off the beach and I’m collecting purple urchins doing urchin removal. Technically the depth is not deep enough and the time is not long enough to be considered a “dive”.
I can get three dives off one tank and it takes me about 15 minutes to fill a bag with urchins. I get a load, go in and dump the bag into a big container sitting on the beach, and go right back for more.
Are these considered loggable and numbered dives? Personally I don’t think so, not for use towards another certification, but they may be useful logged as special circumstance work dives.

With pool dives, no they are not generally considered “real” dives by the industry because they are not in open water and they can’t go towards your official number count. If you want to log them numberless then fine. But If I was an instructor teaching a DM class for instance and found out one of the candidates had a padded up log book with half of their dives they were counting done in a pool, I’d be pissed. That’s just lying.
Never have I heard of any agency approving pool dives as being officially loggable.

 

[DanBMW]

It's your log book, a reference and mostly just for you to do with as you prefer.

 

[Bored]

How about some of those deep pools such a Dive Dubai, etc. Those look worthy of logging.

 

[rx7diver]

... if anybody asks when my last dive was, I would rather be able to show them that I did a pool dive in prep for the trip than to hang my head and say not since 2019.

Is anyone ever asked to show his/her log book? I have been diving since 1986 (certified in 1987), and I have never been asked. I haven't written a log book entry in several decades, not since the late 1990's, IIRC. I suppose if I ever need a recent log book entry in order to be permitted to dive some particular place or other, I will simply grab a pencil and an old, neglected log book the night before, and "recollect" something.

rx7diver