Why do you log dives?

[BabyDuck]

i do it for the abe davis, baby... only 97 more to go.

i had the chance to see walter's once, and it's a work of beauty. it's a 'blank book' not an 'official' log, and i'm sure he has the normal dive stuff (number, weights, air used, whatever), but he sketches unusual fish or writes a paragraph about the sunset or puts in other 'remembrance' things, too.

so that's what i do now. i got a blank journal from b&n and use a page per dive. nice to track little changes in what i'm doing, nice for scratch paper to work out a sac, nice to see how far back i got into the system last time, nice to have.

but i've only ever signed someone else's once. i don't collect signatures or stamps or stickers. i don't think less of you if you have no desire to ever log a thing.

 

[Reg Braithwaite]

When diving at Isla Juventud in Cuba, I met a schoolteacher from Japan with an interesting system. She had a big sticker book with tropical fishes and other undersea creatures in it, and she would put a sticker in her dive log for everything she saw on that dive. It makes for a memorable dive log to review. The stickers were quite nice, if I was into reef diving I would look for them.

 

[DaleC]

Probably the most useful information I log is my weighting configuration. It's a good resource when switching between tanks, wetsuit/drysuit, undergarments etc... I have a pea sized brain so I don't have room to store all that stuff mentally.

Plus I make stuff up like "swam with a dolphin" or "saw a naked mermaid" or "wrestled with an alligator" etc... It's much better reminiscing about those dives than about 24' for 50 min. with 5' vis at 45 degrees F.

One day someone will stumble upon my log and wind up making a movie about me

If I had no log that would probably never happen.
Something to consider no?

 

[delray.piper]

I wish I had logged more of the dives I did way back in the 50's and 60's. It would bring back memories of friends that are no longer with us, dives that I can only half remember, and dive locations and people that are lost to time.

It's easy when we are young to think that we will remember everything forever. Believe me, it ain't true.

Keep a log. Not just the time and depth and weights and temp, but what you saw and who you dived with and what happened. Make your dive log a diary or journal.

You will be glad you did in the fullness of time.

 

[Walter]

I've been diving for 15 years now and never logged a dive. Some of you brag about dive counts like you get a Gold watch at 1000 or something. What's the point?

I've been diving for 25 years now and have logged every single dive. I know of very few who brag about dive counts, but I did get something much nicer than a gold watch at 1000. I made a dive with several of my dear friends who wanted to make that dive special for me. Their thoughtfulness created a memory that beats a gold watch any day. As for the other dives, my log helps me remember fun times underwater with friends or a relaxing hour or four alone. I also enjoy the process of logging dives. As was mentioned above, a log is an excellent place to keep helpful information.

I've known several divers who've told me they wished they'd logged all their dives. I've never met anyone who told me they wished they hadn't logged their dives.

i had the chance to see walter's once, and it's a work of beauty. it's a 'blank book' not an 'official' log, and i'm sure he has the normal dive stuff (number, weights, air used, whatever), but he sketches unusual fish or writes a paragraph about the sunset or puts in other 'remembrance' things, too.

I'm touched, Darlin'. Of course, I filled 9 of the "regular" logs before I hit upon the idea that I didn't have to use a fill in the blank log. Free form suits my personality much better.

 

[RAWalker]

Logging isn't a matter of bragging rights to me.
I use my log to track the different conditions in which I have dived and my setup for those conditions. Since I dive freshwater and saltwater coldwater and warm the configurations I use are more easily reviewed from my log than commited to memory.
It also allows me to track when I have changed the gear I use for a particular environment.
As the dive environments you dive in become more diverse the equipment requirements and possible combinations also become more diverse. The logs can help in predive planning of these dives and help to configure a predive checklist which can keep problems minimized
As others have mentioned there are requirements for some advanced certifications and as I have decided to continue my diving education I do need some record of the milestones required as prerecquisites to the training I seek.

 

[Sas]

I love logging my dives and reading over them later. I like how my logbook has all sorts of stats too, so I can see what percentage of my dives have been at night, or at certain temperatures and so on. I am just like that, a nerd really. In my calender I pretty much write down what I do each day such as if I meet friends for lunch or go to the movies, so me liking to record stuff is not just limited to diving

 

[bamamedic]

I've been diving for 15 years now and never logged a dive. Some of you brag about dive counts like you get a Gold watch at 1000 or something. What's the point? Is it for the insurance company because this is a business?

WHAT? I don't get a gold watch at 1000 dives??? Darn... *quickly thumbs through old NAUI OW book* I swear they promised me a gold watch somewhere in here!

Seriously, I log my dives mainly for future reference. It's nice to be able to look back and have a reference for when the water started warming up, what kind of weight I wore with a single tank, etc, etc, so on, and so forth.

I've got a really detailed log (I made my own form on MS Word) so I've got space to record quite a bit of random stuff, plus a narrative section so I can write notes on how the dive went, cool fish that I saw, etc.

I think that some instructors do like to see a logbook before taking you on as a student for some advanced classes....

 

[sam1]

I'm an Engineer. I log everything.

I'm not an engineer!---but I, too, log everything. In the case of diving, apart from general anal tendencies, it's to track my SAC.

 

[LeadTurn_SD]

Probably the most useful information I log is my weighting configuration. It's a good resource when switching between tanks, wetsuit/drysuit, undergarments etc...I have a pea sized brain so I don't have room to store all that stuff mentally.

Plus I make stuff up like "swam with a dolphin" or "saw a naked mermaid" or "wrestled with an alligator" etc... It's much better reminiscing about those dives than about 24' for 50 min. with 5' vis at 45 degrees F.

One day someone will stumble upon my log and wind up making a movie about me

If I had no log that would probably never happen.
Something to consider no?

I've read your posts and I am certain your brain is at least walnut-sized

But in my case:

My wife: "You know, you really ARE a dinosaur".
Me: "Thanks honey.... Ummm, is that because I'm really big and strong"?
My wife: "Uhh, no.... Because relative to your size your brain is QUITE small".

I log to keep a record of weighting relative to wetsuit and equipment configurations, somtimes to record depths and compass courses to cool stuff. And just because I like to.