Who logs every dive?

[PhotoTJ]

The reason I started this poll, (in case anyone was wondering), I have been diving since 78, got certified in 95, at a Club Med, and have never logged a dive. It was the one thing that was never taught to me in class. (It was at Club Med, so they were a trifle...casual...about everything. Casual dives, casuas dress, casual sex. You know how it is.) Now, I am thinking about going for Dive Master, perhaps instructor, so I am gonna have to start logging. Man, do I have some work ahead of me!


Thanks,

TJ

 

[clockradio]

i log all of my dives. i haven't been diving but a little over 2yrs.
one thing that i like is being able to go back and read about a certain dive,what the weather was like,what i saw and that sort of thing.i really enjoy looking back. let get wet.

 

[navy85]

PhotoTJ once bubbled...
Now, I am thinking about going for Dive Master, perhaps instructor, so I am gonna have to start logging. Man, do I have some work ahead of me!

...is certainly a good reason for logging dives. For example, all SSI certifications beyond the basic OW course require a certain number of logged (OW) dives.

Personally, I log all OW dives to keep track of the experience - equipment configuration, weighting, conditions, description of the dive profile, the sights, dive boat, etc. It helps when I go back to the same site. It also helps track my improvement as a diver and is a learning tool.

So far, I have gotten a signature on every dive - usually from the Dive Master. It's a block in my logbook pages, so I have done it.

As for pool dives, I haven't done any since BOW. I wouldn't count it as a "logged" dive, but certainly would highlight any significant experiences.

The log book for the average recreational diver is really a matter of personal preference. I do, however, highly recommend it for newly certified divers as an improvement tool.

 

[navy85]

ibnygator once bubbled...
<snip>calculate your SAC rate for each dive. This is important data to have for planning future dives.

SAC - something that wasn't covered in my basic OW class, at least with this terminology, but I have seen in other posts on this board. I gather it has something to do with the rate at which you use air.

First, what does the acronym stand for - possibly Standard Air Consumption? and of course, how is it calculated? I have seen SAC expressed in units of liters/minute and cubic feet/min, so is it simply the volume of air used divided by your underwater time? The next question is how to calculate the volume from PSI - do you use a ratio of the tank volume at rated pressure to PSI In and PSI Out to determine the starting and ending volumes in the tank?

As a hypothetical example, you have an 80 cu ft tank at 3500 PSI. PSI In is 3150 psi and PSI Out is 700 psi. Does this mean that the actual volume at the start of the dive is (3150/3500) * 80, or 72 cu ft and the ending volume is (700/3500)*80 = 16 cu ft, for a usage of 56 cu ft (then divided by your dive time, say 28 minutes, for a SAC of 2 cu ft/min)?

This is the only way I can think of to determine these numbers - my head hurts from trying to recall the ideal gas law.

Finally, what is a good SAC rate (or range)?

Thanks.

 

[Vixyswillie]

navy85 once bubbled...

SAC... First, what does the acronym stand for - possibly Standard Air Consumption? and of course, how is it calculated?

Hey! Look what the newbie found, who was equally confused about what SAC was! :tease:

 

[lanun]

so no pool dives (except the drysuit though i didn't put in a count - more as personal observations), and a few others in open water - an 80'ish minute shore training session, following my DM buddies when they set the dive float, that kinda thing.

couple of short logged dive (< 10 minutes) - a momentous occasion when my buddy signalled to abort the dive, and my first aborted dive - the surge was beyond my skill.

 

[richhagelin]

Been diving for 45 years. Never, ever had someone ask to look at my "logbook" Of course for the first 20 or so, no one had come up with another idea of how to get student's $$

Rich

 

[DiverBuoy]

every dive that meets PADI's criterion for counting a dive.

 

[Charlie99]

DiverBuoy once bubbled...
every dive that meets PADI's criterion for counting a dive.

Why PADI's criterion rather than your own?

It is YOUR logbook, after all.

 

[willanz]

I set up a spread sheet on my Palm to keep track of my dives.

Date, Time, Depth, Temp, Location, Team and a Check box (to keep track of which dives I have posted trip report on).

I have 37 dives logged in there so far. I can see how the water got colder over the winter and is now warming up.