what can be considered a loggable dive?

[Sas]

Our buddy who dives with us is going for an instructor and he needs dives now. Once we were diving in the bay and half of the dive I ran him on a long hose just to show him some new things , 45 ft dive 77 mins. He logged it as 2 dives as he figured out noone would believe he did 77 minutes on 1 AL80

77mins on AL80 at 45ft sounds believable to me... I would have about 200L approx left personally.

 

[Aquatic Eagle]

I should know this since I'm taking a DM class at the moment but can I log any of my confined pool dives towards the 60 dives needed to complete the course?

Typically a dive is logged when it is open water and 15ft/20 mins. Those are the dives that count towards future certifications. There is still reason to log other dives though. I worked at an aquarium for some time and logged every dive that I did during that time. Why? I was an exhibit diver and dove in three different tanks. One tank was full of small-midsize marine life (with teeth) and required constant awareness and animal handling and feeding. I got bitten a few times and had my mask knocked off once so it definitely gives an opportunity to work on being calm underwater, especially in front of a hundred people during a feeding show! Another tank was extremely cramped and required constant awareness, streamlining and excellent buoyancy skills. The third was huge but had very large sharks and sawfish (lots of teeth!) so required a lot of situational awareness, buoyancy and even included some overhead environments. All of these dives contributed to better air consumption and buoyancy.

I have one log for open water and one for aquarium dives. I also include my skin dives in my open water log because they contribute to my skills and comfort level and are in open water. I count all of those dives when asked for total lifetime dives because they all contributed to my current skills and comfort in the water. Again, each log entry will tell you whether it was scuba, skin or aquarium so I'm not trying to fool anyone. They all contribute something.

 

[elan]

77mins on AL80 at 45ft sounds believable to me... I would have about 200L approx left personally.

For this you would have to have a SAC rate of 0.35 cuf

I will hardly believe a guy would have such a rate after 50 dives in 38F water, still learning how to use the dry suit Especially if he used it for suit and BCD inflation and consuidering once he gets into the water he loses about 200 psi right away due to cooling which is around 7% of the full tank. And he is a guy/not a girl An how would he explain an instant drop of the SAC from a week ago

 

[Sas]

An how would he explain an instant drop of the SAC from a week ago

He shared air during the dive, which is what happened right?

 

[boulderjohn]

For this you would have to have a SAC rate of 0.35 cuf

If the entire dive were spent at that depth, which is often not true.

I have logged deeper dives for longer on an AL80 because they were multi-level dives with a significant portion spent on a shallower section of the reef. Dive logs usually record your maximum depth, not your average depth.

 

[elan]

If the entire dive were spent at that depth, which is often not true.

I have logged deeper dives for longer on an AL80 because they were multi-level dives with a significant portion spent on a shallower section of the reef. Dive logs usually record your maximum depth, not your average depth.

80% of the dive at that depth. the other 20 on 30ft. not a big deal

 

[SDAnderson]

If I get in the water with scuba gear on, I log it. That doesn't mean it was worth anything, either as entertainment or training.

YRMV but this is (more or less) what I apply to my students: Dives don't count unless: (1) the maximum depth exceeds 20 feet, and; (2) the runtime exceeds 20 minutes, and: (3) it has been at least 20 minutes since the last dive ended, and; (4) it's open water.

They're encouraged to log every sub-surface adventure but know that I heavily discount pool and quarry dives when it comes to evaluating their experience. Is 20 minutes in the pool practicing your hover worth 20 minutes at the quarry dodging bluegills? Possibly. In the long run, however, neither holds a candle to an honest to goodness open water dive.

Pools and quarries are ersatz experiences and neither beats getting out in the real world and diving. What matters is experience and skill. Being able to execute a Praying Buddha in the pool has it's place but isn't nearly as important as being able to hold your position on a safety stop in rough water with a current. Badge collecting is silly and leads to chasing numbers. Developing skills and abilities is where your focus should be. I learn more about a student's abilities by watching him gear up and jump in the water than I do by reviewing his logbook.

 

[elan]

He shared air during the dive, which is what happened right?

Absolutely but he did not want them to know I guess and he could not miss the opportunity to have 2 dives logged

 

[Sas]

Absolutely but he did not want them to know I guess and he could not miss the opportunity to have 2 dives logged

He didn't do two dives though. And seriously if a someone who wants to be an instructor is struggling to get 100 dives, and does stuff like this, they really should get more experience.

I don't get why people who want to be instructors can't wait just a bit longer and do some more dives, especially given they want to make a career out of diving! It makes no sense and generally results in poor instructors given their lack of experience.

 

[boulderjohn]

PADI's official position for OW dives (for OW training) is at least 15 feet for 20 minutes, or at least 50 cubic feet of air used.

There is no limit on surface intervals. There is a question in the knowledge reviews about the minimum surface interval between two dives. The metric answer is 0 minutes and the imperial answer is 4 minutes. That is a pretty strong implication that two dives that each meet the requirements cited above are two dives, regardless of the surface interval.

Now, let's ask ourselves why we might be "fudging" the definitions in counting logged dives. If one is trying to meet the minimum requirement for a certification like DM, then ask yourself what the real benefit might be. Those requirements exist because of a belief that there is a learning benefit to having a certain number of OW dives before being put into a diving leadership position. I think the intent of the OW requirement is clear. If that belief is true, then you are looking for a loophole that allows you to violate the intent of the rule. To me, that is cheating to allow someone to get a certification to which he or she is not entitled.

BTW, there is a word for doing the bare minimal dives under the rules in order to reach this level. It is called "teabagging," and it is not a compliment.

I wonder why others who are not aiming at a professional certification would do it as well. What is the benefit to inflating the number of dives you have? In the past couple of weeks I have gone into a pool and done quite a few dives to practice skills I need to master for cave training and tri-mix training. These were each over an hour long and they used doubles, so some here would argue that I should log two dives for each. In fact, in some cases I was carrying and using both a stage and a deco bottle, so I guess I should log each of those as four dives. What would be the point of any of that? If I am trying to impress people with my logged dive total on ScubaBoard, I could do that much more easily by lying, which to my mind is not much different.