when is a dive log official

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Gaucho

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Im only now starting to keep a reliable dive log. Im a gadget lover so Im using my Palm Pilot for this, but, dont you need a dive master to sign off to make it official?
 
Your buddy can sign off on a log. But wouldn't this make it difficult to see the screen on your palm after a bunch of dives?

I'd consider keeping a paper log anyhow. It's easy to replace paper if it got a dunking in the ocean.



Did you hear about the Aggie who couldn't use his computer anymore? He couldn't see the screen through all of the white-out.
 
Yeah, I agree on the paper log. But, doesnt a dive master have to certify dives at some point? I mean, I could just go ahead and invent a couple of dozen dives and have different friends sign. Dont you need a minimum no. of dives to get advanced certification?
 
Gaucho,
That a person could get in some pencil dives is true. However when it comes to doing a dive with someone who will evaluate you it will probably show that you don't have the ability that you claim. It would be very easy for any certifying agency to request the dive logs of the people that signed your log. You could open yourself up to charges of fraud along with your buddies. The FAA has devised ways to track this kind of thing amongst the airline pilot wannanbe's. It would be something the dive certification agencies could do as well. If this became a problem and people died due to incompetent dive professionals there would be a good chance that some gov't agency would be asked to regulate the dive industry. Then we would have a another FDA(Federal Diving Administration) Und er the FAA it cost me $4500 to learn to fly. Under the current diving industry set up it cost me $500.
 
As with many things like a diver log, honesty goes a long way. You could make up dives in your palm pilot too. I guess the only way you couldn't make up dives is if you had a computer and had to DL to a desk top. That would keep an accurate tally of all your dives. But the object of recording dives is to have a reference to work from or at least for me. I am always referrring back to old dives to see what conditions were or see how I was weighted with a particular configuration. I also believe experienced divers can spot someone who is bluffing their experience levels by observation. By inventing log entries you are only really hurting youself and putting your own life in jeopardy.

MHO

Tom
 
Exactly what do you mean by official? A dive log is a log of experience, memories and events in your diving history.

Nobody needs to sign it to make it "offical". By logging false dives you are cheating nobody but yourself. And even if you did log false dives, any diver with any amount of experience will be able to tell if you are lying or not. Not only that by logging false dives and showing them to somebody else they will think you have more experience than you actually do, and this is an invitation to tragedy.

I still log each and every dive, no matter how signicant.
I use this as a list of the friends I have made along the way as well as a tool to use as a reference to a dive site, certain water temps at different times of the year etc.

Before you mark down that dive lie, who are you lying too.
Think about it.

ID
 
I agree with you all. As Im still quite new to Scuba, I did think that there was a way to get your divelog certified to prevent those that chose to from cheating.inflating their logs. I guess the self-regulation method is good enough and I also agree that you are risking your own (and perhaps your buddies life) if you play around.

The question for me came up as we are organizing a large dive trip with a couple of friends, and the dive master in charge has asked to see our dive logs. He is requesting a minumum of 25 dives (he mentioned 25 dives with a dive master he could check with) to take us to this wreck. Therefore the question came up as to how he would check each of our histories, especially for those with dives outside the country.

In any event, the final resolution was that the DM decided that on the first diving day he would check out all of us and make sure he thought we could handle ourselves well enough before going to the wreck. It sounded to me like that is the best way to go (for everybody's sake).

Finally, do you need a minimum no. of dives for advanced certification?
 
Hi Guys

I agree with Iguana and jbd, why cheat when logging your dives is a record specifically for you to reflect on. The people you meet, what you see, conditions, aquatic life, your configeration, your weights etc etc. If you are adding extra dives just to prove to other divers that you are a diver then you are in the wrong arena. The only person that you have to prove anything to out there is you!

Don't be fooled into thinking that if you add dives people will respect you more. Divers can always tell someone who has dived a great deal compared to someone who hasn't. The only person your fooling is yourself.

Dive and be happy.

Hocky
 
I always have my buddies sign my log, but there has been more than once that they comment that I was the first one to ever have them sign off. Could be one of those "original instructor" issues where their o/w instructor did not make a big deal of signing.

Iggie Don's comments are right on. It is both a tool for future dives (such as the wreck dive you mentioned) and recording helpful info about often visted sites (such as "Note to self: be more careful about running into u/w trees with head")

On needing a certain number of dives before an advanced certification, that depends on the agency and the level of certification. Most agencies don't require any particular number before the AOW classes, but most do have a certain number before Divemaster. I think it's smart to space out your training to something comfortable and dive as much as possible between classes to reinforce what you learned, and to increase your skills at the basics.

And I almost parlayed my dive log into a free dinner. A friend asked to read my log, and when she saw that I had been to Cairns Australia, she told me she was going their in the fall and wanted to know all about what to do and what to see there.
 
When I certified in May 2000, my instructur told the class that more and more boat captains and dive shops are asking to see logs when you wont to do anything beyond 60 ft.

When I did my first post cert. dives, I hired a DM to come with my husband and I (in Key West), the first couple of dives, and she offered (and did) sign my log book when she saw that I was keeping one. During dives I have taken after that, the shop offered to stamp my log with their name and address. This works great for me, in case I ever want to go back and dive with them, as I now have name, address and telephone number.

My practice since my initail, positive, experience is to try and find someone "in charge" (i.e. DM) or whomever is along to sign my log. My husband does this too, as it is in keeping with the practice required by the FAA he has for his piloting logs. -Starfish
 
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