What is a legit logged dive?

[UnderSeaBumbleBee]

What is considered a legit logged dive. I was thinking about 20 minutes in some body of water other than a pool. What do you think?

Some folks have told me that unless you use a whole tank of air, then it isn't a dive and that you should combine all underwater time from a tank into a single dive even though you have a surface interval. Others log pool time of 5 minute dives teaching students. Others have told me unless you reach a depth of 20 feet that it isn't a dive and that you have to stay deeper than 20 for a certain length of time.

I am certainly not thinking of doing jumping jacks in the water and logging a dive each time my head pops up (I love doing those in pool), but what is reasonable. I am not wanting to log dives for the sake of logging dives. I want to advance my certification levels and many of those require having a certain number of logged dives.

I generally log a dive after 20 minutes or more. If I have a couple of short dives, I combine them until the total is over 20 minutes. I have had to go the the surface a couple of times with people calling the dive and then gone back down. My computer starts a new dive with each surface pop.

So what is the word on this matter from the collective mind of Scuba Board?
Leah

 

[Scuba_Jenny]

It all depends on the individual. You are logging dives, not tanks of air, so logging using the tank method way would be logging tanks not dives.
For me, I log if I have been down more than 5 minutes. I do this because I do many shallow dives, usually under 20fsw.

 

[Paco]

It depends on many things, but since the log book is for you, log what you want. I generally go with 20 min at 20 ft, but not always. I had some ice dives, for example, that were less than 20 min., but because of the extreme nature of the dives, I logged them. You might do the same with a deeper dive or even log a shorter, shallower dive, if there is something particulary noteworthy about the dive. In the end, it's your book, put in it what you want.

 

[Walter]

What's the purpose of the log? Define that and you'll define what you should log.

Most agencies have rules with regard to what counts toward training. If training is the only purpose of the log, follow their definition. If training is not the only purpose, decide what is and work out what works best for you.

My log is a log of open water dives. I log all dives in open water. I do not count pools, aquariums, etc., but I do count shallow and or short dives in open water.

 

[mike_s]

I've been told by instructors that it's a open water dive of 20 minutes and at least 20 feet deep.

However does that mean I can't log an hour long dive at 18 feet? I don't think so... I'd log it.

I wouldn't log pool time, but I'd definately log something like a Disney Quest dive. If nothing else just to have a record of when I did it. I dove in a NASA tank once also. Technically that's a pool, no matter how deep it was, but it was still neat enough to log it.

As for the person who told you that you have to use a whole tank of air to log a dive, tell them that it's not your fault if they have poor air consumption


As a general rule, many of us just let our computers log the dives and then copy/record the data from it. I'd say that most folks if their computer logs an open water dive, then they'll log it in their logbook.

 

[NadMat]

Back in the days b4 dive computers, your dive log was how you figured whether you had any current nitrogen load to consider when your buddy called you and said ' let's go diving' and you had already been diving that weekend. So I always logged any dive time that would incur any nitrogen load. Often that was way less than a full tank. I have many 10-20 minute logged dives, some were planned for longer and were cut short for one reason or another, others were simple recovery dives where item was found quickly and retrieved. But in days when I always had complete equipment set and spares, and kept several full tanks handy in garage, no telling when I might be off for a dive, or how often in a given week or weekend.

I also occasionally would 'log' a dive that did not incur nitrogen load, as when got to dive site, geared up, but then called dive because of conditons or other factors, especially if was a 'new' site and wanted to record site info for later use or review.

Your log book is for you, and you should record what is important to you in it. The obvious diving related info is just a starting point, and will help you get a feel for equipment configurations that worked or didn't, air consuption under different conditions, weight needed for differing conditions and configurations. But I also record things like name and number of local dive shops and or charters, and whether I liked or did not like them, contact info for other new dive friends I met at dive, local emergency numbers at a new site, and a lot of other info that varies from site to site.

I have gone digital for my dive logs, only carry a couple of reusable cards to note info at site, and as b/u in case of dive computer failure before can download most recent dives.

JMAO, YMMV

 

[genxweb]

As others say it all depends on the diver. PADI teaches dive today meaning even the pool dives though in a pool or confined space is still a logged dive. (learned that in my dive master to be book )

 

[mobster75]

So going by that 20 minute min rule my AOW Deep dive yesterday to 100 ft for 15 mins wouldn't be logged..... Yeah... that one is definitely going in the book

 

[jpsexton]

I let the computer do the logging and then I'll fill out the book later. Also on my computer if you come to the surface for a short amount of time and go back down it just continues it as the same dive. I think you have to be on the surface for several minutes before it logs another dive.

 

[ItsBruce]

Log what you figure ought to be logged. Surfacing because someone calls a dive and then resuming the dive does not count as two dives in my book. Cleaning the bottoms on 20 pleasure boats in one day does not count as 20 dives... though each boat should be logged to show it was cleaned.

Advancing a certification is not like a video game where you want to accumulate "points." Develop your skills. In the process, you will log good dives.