Dive Slates - Kids Toys

[Tim Ingersoll]

I bought a wrist slate and was very unimpressed. It was a cheapy (in relative terms $13.00). It was one of those that you write on with a pencil and then spend twenty minutes trying to clear underwater. In Cozumel our divemaster was using a kids toy for a dive slate. It was a $5.00 " mini-magna-doodle". It worked awesome. My dive buddies and I have all adopted this piece of equipment and don't plan to ever dive without it. We can finally communicate underwater easily and without spending a lot of time with it. Does anyone else use the kids toy?

[Big-t-2538]

One of the best toys that "Mr. Gadget" bought was his dive slate. It is just a magna doodle that has a clip and holding case. It is a dream for playing hang-man...connect the dots, or anything else you want to talk about u/w. Erases easy, hasn't flooded yet, and we enjoy having it.....By the way, "Mr. Gadget" is my dive buddy...he is always buying some toy/tool/etc. Not always diving related, but usuallly that's the motivation.


P.S. those wrist slate things suck...good for writing a plan on though...just remember which one is the current plan

[Soggy]

shellbird has one that we tested in 25 fsw a few weeks ago...it worked great.

[Tim Ingersoll]

Anyone else have any toys/tools that work great u/w?

[Big-t-2538]

toypedos (the bigger oens, the little ones are a joke)....u/w frisbees....and some people have told me spear guns are a lot of fun too.

[Genesis]

are a great deal of fun :)

The BBQ loves what they bring to feed it :)

[Dee]

The mini-magnadoodle is cool. Alot of prople don't like the thick line it uses but we've found it to be alot easier to read underwater. And with the ability to erase it quickly, you can always write more.

It will eventually flood. I replace mine once a year whether it needs it or not! The last one cost me less than $6.

[MgicTwnger]

I got a no-name one at Big Lots for $1.98, and it's still going after about a dozen dives.

[DaveO]

What depth are these things rated to?!

[Soggy]

DaveO once bubbled...
What depth are these things rated to?!

I dunno, but more even more important than that question is...Are they DIR?

[norcaldiver]

I have "THE 'QUEST' SLATE W/HOLSTER" tada....

It's a little bulky, but it works great and has a real slate on the other side for stuff I don't want to forgit, like the dive plan, bearings, skill list for the dive, etc.

It's a dream for working with students especially when they are doing something wrong and I can explain it to them quick without having to surface. Or on the tour dives, I can point stuff out and tell them what it is right there, not in the debrief.

[WetDane]

whatever happened to the wetnotes we always carry in the pocket? Many pages, pencil will work on all pages and you don't loose your tables from erasing them... Also great if you need to pre-write stuff for surveys and similar things...

Dane

[Mo2vation]

About 2 months ago, on a long weekend live-aboard, I was doing the Deep Dive of my AOW dives.

My instructor wrote me a note at about 110 feet. I wrote back. It was perfect. I've taken my Quest on about 20 dives since then and its been perfect. Its been great to communicate with my wife, apart from our sign language. I love the thing.

K

[Wendy]

http://www.diversdirect.com/scripts/ecatalogisapi.dll/Item?Item=6062&Template=9990000001000999&Group=37

Kinda pricey, but it has a picture in case anybody wants to see what they look like.

Question though, if you bought a kid's one from a toy store are they waterproof?

[Tim Ingersoll]

The kids toys are waterproof. We tested it at the pool and other divers have stated that althought they eventually flood they are good for a lot of dives.

[MSilvia]

I'm suprised to hear it, as the hexagonal cells in the writing surface are filled with a viscious fluid that prevents the ferrous metallic powder from settling out due to gravity.

http://www.howstuffworks.com/magna-doodle.htm

I'd think they would be pretty resistant to squeeze, not having any air space.

[Soggy]

MSilvia once bubbled...
http://www.howstuffworks.com/magna-doodle.htm


Best...site....ever....

[Groundhog246]

AaronBBrown once bubbled...


Best...site....ever....

It is a great site and I've bookmarked it for future visits. However, I tried that age old question " How does the female mind work" and still didn;t find a satifactory answer :jester:

Kent

And I'm off to buy a pair of mini magna doodles, Christmas stockings maybe.

[Tim Ingersoll]

You won't be sorry. For our group of three divers it has changed the whole experience. For once you can comment on things you see and that happen as they occur. You are not stuck back on the boat trying like hell to remember what you saw. Any problem underwater is so much easier to resolve when you can communicate exactly what is wrong. No guessing. No aborting the dive when you don't really need to. It takes the whole experience to a new level. Tim Ingersoll.

[FLL Diver]

Wendy once bubbled...
http://www.diversdirect.com/scripts/ecatalogisapi.dll/Item?Item=6062&Template=9990000001000999&Group=37

Kinda pricey, but it has a picture in case anybody wants to see what they look like.



Those ones are expensive. You can get the real McCoy here cheaper AND it comes with the additional tools and toys :D

http://www.virtuallyshopping.com/cgi-local/index5.cgi?eToys|magnadoodle|http://service.bfast.com/bfast/click?bfmid=38572&sourceid=5978306&bfpage=keyword&C=magna+doodle

Marc :jester:

[tholt576]

There's also a slightly larger quest. These "magna doodles" are made by especially for divers, so they have a few features the kid ones don't have, like a conventional slate on the back for perminant information, more secure attachment points and higher quality construction.

http://www.scuba-accessories.com/catalogpage.php?under=-1&cat=6#Quest_Magnetic_Slate