Logging dives?

[Linedog]

I quit logging dives, I do download them from my dive computer, I don't ask anyone to sign my dive log. Is there really any reason to log every dive?

[Grateful Diver]

... only if you want to ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

[spatman]

I log my dives mostly for the heck of it. The most useful info I go back to is my weighting with various tanks and exposure protection. It has saved me quite a bit of guessing over the years.

[Linedog]

I record my gear and stats on my computer, if I need to change I change only one thing at a time. So all my gear, weighting, tanks, right down to what underwear I'm wearing (I'm serious) is recorded. Do I really need someone to say they dove with me and it all went as planned?

[renoun]

I quit logging dives, I do download them from my dive computer, I don't ask anyone to sign my dive log. Is there really any reason to log every dive?

If you are attempting to become a zero to hero instructor/DM it might matter. If you participate in a scientific diving program it might matter. If you have a certification from an agency that regires logged dives to renew a cert. it might matter.

None of these apply to me and I was never interested in collecting merit badges so I have't logged dives for quite a while. I haven't every used journaling as a tool to process, analyze, or improve my performance in other sports either. Logging dives is a legitimate tool, just not one I'm employing at the moment.

[Joshua Smith]

I quit logging my dives right around #100, a little over 5 years ago. It hasn't stopped me from doing anything I wanted to do, which has been quite a lot- that is to say, I haven't had to produce my log to prove anything to any one. I haven't even been asked for my C cards very often, even when I wanted high helium/ low oxygen trimix fills.

That said, when I started diving CCR, I was introduced to the concept of a written checklist. Every time I assemble my Meg, I use a written checklist, which I started using as a sort of divelog- I fill it out before my dive, instead of after, and I don't have anyone else sign it, but it has become a sort of divelog for me......

[Dusty2]

I quit when I hit around 250 and they started looking like carbon copies. When I was just getting started and went to Florida for 5 weeks they required my logbook because I was new and doing my first boat dives and I think it was also to get everyone to checkout through the office so they could keep track. Some vacation destinations ask to see it if your a newish diver but beyond that it is not required for anything I know of other than an advanced dive class instructor might ask for it just to get a feel for where you are experience wise. Not required though.

I guess I'm to far behind to think about restarting. over 1000 and not really counting anymore.

[oldsalt]

I didn't log dives for over 20 years, then a dive charter operator in Hawaii asked to see our logs and divided us up into sharks and guppies based on our logs. I dived with the guppies on a wreck I had penentrated before but was only allowed to swim around the upper decks on this dive. I have since kept logs, and have enjoyed doing so. Last summer a charter operator on the East coast initially denied my participation on a dive trip because I lack tech diving certs. Upon viewing the number of deep cold water dives in my log he reversed his decision and included me.
-Curt

[Zen Diver]

For me, logging dives has always been an enjoyable part of my post-dive rituals. I like to jot down critters seen, esp if I can't get my REEF survey submitted right away, any milestones, any issues, etc. Then again, my dive logs have always been part journal & part scrapbook as well. I'm just geeky that way, but it's been handy on more than a few occasions.

[raptor]

I logged the first 100 in a book. Now I just down load them on comp. I think there is good info that you can pull about trends in your diving.

[Joshua Smith]

For me, logging dives has always been an enjoyable part of my post-dive rituals. I like to jot down critters seen, esp if I can't get my REEF survey submitted right away, any milestones, any issues, etc. Then again, my dive logs have always been part journal & part scrapbook as well. I'm just geeky that way, but it's been handy on more than a few occasions.

FWIW, Val's divelog is a work of art. I feel extremely inadequate whenever I see it. It's a pretty cool way to be geeky.

[Tom Nic]

I love logging my dives.

Weighting and gear configs are a bonus as has been mentioned, and I record any significant conditions or events.

I have designed my own dive log, and have included a complete REEF survey form on the back of each page of my log, and do one each dive, keeping track of critters seen.

When I go to Bonaire or BC I design specific pages for those trips. It is fun, and helps me remember amazing times. Without my log pages the dives all kind of blur together.

I don't have anyone sign them unless I have friends along on a milestone dive. Those are special pages, and who knows, one of my dive buddies might be famous someday and I can sell their autograph and buy a rebreather! I've never been asked to show a log on a trip, although I am told that there are places that require a log.

I also know exactly how many dives I have which is kind of cool.

However, if you don't log your dives it's way easier to impress people by over-estimating / lieing about the number of dives you have. "Oh yeah, I've got x hundred dives now." "Do you log your dives?" "Uh, no, but I'm sure I have at least that many..."

[CaptnJack]

I quit for awhile since I misplaced my logbook. I started again recently after finding the book and because I need 100 post full cave dives (logged) in order to apply to dive emerald sink in FL.

At some point you'll forget the actual depth of a site and will bicker with your buddies over it until one of you whips out your log

[Dusty2]

For me my log book is my photo directory's each folder is a dive day though it might represent more than one dive it is a dive day. So I can tell you without any doubt that I have 630 dive days and 43,873 photo's for port Townsend alone and 243 Folders 16,482 Files, for other sites in puget sound which contain allot of sites where we regularly do 2 or 3 dives in a day there are allot more than 243 dives there. Plus this doesn't cover the dives from 02 to 06 which were lost due to a hard drive crash. I can not only tell you the days we dove but what we saw to the minute we saw it and what the water conditions were like that day with photos to prove it! That's a minimum of 873 dives plus 4 years of lost info so I can safely and confidently say Well over 1000 dives
Thus no bragging or exaggerating here.

[60south]

Mine was a work of art, literally. Sketches of fish, signatures, stamps and caches, even the occasional DNA or accidental blood sample. It was a joy... and way too precious to lose. It got so massive that I stopped taking it on trips, instead bringing only a few relevant pages and a bunch of blank ones. And soon even that was too much...

Now it's all on a spreadsheet. But I'll still sketch the fish, or make maps of new dive sites. No special paper. I scan in the sketches and include 'em in the spreadsheet folder.

[Grateful Diver]

For me, logging dives has always been an enjoyable part of my post-dive rituals. I like to jot down critters seen, esp if I can't get my REEF survey submitted right away, any milestones, any issues, etc. Then again, my dive logs have always been part journal & part scrapbook as well. I'm just geeky that way, but it's been handy on more than a few occasions.

Besides which, it's fun to read.

Coolest logbook ever ... complete with descriptions, artwork and stickers ...

... Bob (Grateful DIver)

[BASSMAN]

+1 on Val's dive log!
I download my computer to my home PC and that pretty much keeps track of my # of dives, with the occasional description or found treasure. As far as paper log? I think I quit those around dive # 300.
I mostly enjoy looking at my graphed profiles and SAC rate, to look for any specific differences from one dive to the next.
All of my Aquarium dives are logged at the Tacoma, Zoo/Aquarium. I also make sure to log all of my training dives and complain about having to whear the dreaded, death snorkel during training.

Another thing I can do, if need, is print out my dives and put them into my dive log book.


Cool thread, thanks!

Keith

[Zen Diver]

For me, logging dives has always been an enjoyable part of my post-dive rituals. I like to jot down critters seen, esp if I can't get my REEF survey submitted right away, any milestones, any issues, etc. Then again, my dive logs have always been part journal & part scrapbook as well. I'm just geeky that way, but it's been handy on more than a few occasions.

FWIW, Val's divelog is a work of art. I feel extremely inadequate whenever I see it. It's a pretty cool way to be geeky.

Aw shucks, thanks :luv:

[Zen Diver]

For me, logging dives has always been an enjoyable part of my post-dive rituals. I like to jot down critters seen, esp if I can't get my REEF survey submitted right away, any milestones, any issues, etc. Then again, my dive logs have always been part journal & part scrapbook as well. I'm just geeky that way, but it's been handy on more than a few occasions.

Besides which, it's fun to read.

Coolest logbook ever ... complete with descriptions, artwork and stickers ...

... Bob (Grateful DIver)

At the risk of sounding self-serving, it IS fun to read. I've gone back and re-read some dives that were exciting for me, for various reasons, and I can remember the dive/day and feelings just from reading my notes. Like I said, part dive log, part journal, part scrapbook.

[scubnewb]

I use mine as more of a journal but I dont think I have ever have anyone sign it. It is nice to be able to check for my wieghting info for certain gear configs tho... But most of all I keep notes on who I dove with and how the experience went for future reference of dive buddy choices... I probably wouldnt want a few people to read my log now that i think of it

I quit logging dives, I do download them from my dive computer, I don't ask anyone to sign my dive log. Is there really any reason to log every dive?

[Nwbrewer]

I use mine as more of a journal but I dont think I have ever have anyone sign it. It is nice to be able to check for my wieghting info for certain gear configs tho... But most of all I keep notes on who I dove with and how the experience went for future reference of dive buddy choices... I probably wouldnt want a few people to read my log now that i think of it

I quit logging dives, I do download them from my dive computer, I don't ask anyone to sign my dive log. Is there really any reason to log every dive?

At least now I know why you keep blowing off my dive invites....

[airsix]

I love diving and someday I won't be able to do it anymore. I log my dives to record who I was with and what we did/saw. It's a journal more than anything else. It lets me relive those moments that otherwise may be forgotten or fuzzy with time. Important experiences with friends should be recorded. I don't get to dive frequently enough for it to become routine or boring, so to me they're all important.

Ben

[scubnewb]

LOL... I was actually hoping to get up there today but I have to wait around my house to meet this guy who is gonna buy my 60" tv that I am selling since I upgraded to a 73" recently

I use mine as more of a journal but I dont think I have ever have anyone sign it. It is nice to be able to check for my wieghting info for certain gear configs tho... But most of all I keep notes on who I dove with and how the experience went for future reference of dive buddy choices... I probably wouldnt want a few people to read my log now that i think of it

I quit logging dives, I do download them from my dive computer, I don't ask anyone to sign my dive log. Is there really any reason to log every dive?

At least now I know why you keep blowing off my dive invites....

[Gdog]

I log my dives I think just because I like the ritual of it, and I tend to be a bit OCD with my dive gear. Everything in its place, same way every time, in the same order. It helps me not forget anything when Im loading up to go dive. The divelog has become the post dive ritual to tie it all together at the end. I dont think anyone really cares about it but me, but it pleases me!

[Zen Diver]

I think you've hit the nail on the head, the act of logging really does tie it all together. Well put!