Post-certification practice (pool) dives

[MtnDiver]

Do you log them?

We don't live near any decent open-water places (min 6 hour drive to closest one).

Occasionally, we will go over to the pool where we certified and practice skills (mask clearing/replacement, bouyancy, etc.) just to keep current. Should we log these dives in our log books?

Just kind of curious as to what everybody thinks about this.

 

[stu_in_fl]

I don't log pool dives, however,
- if you haven't been in the open water for a while, a dive operator may want you to do a refresher course - you shouldn't need this as you are practicing skills in the pool (in which case you may want to make an entry in you log book)

 

[scubasean]

Do you log them?

We don't live near any decent open-water places (min 6 hour drive to closest one).

Occasionally, we will go over to the pool where we certified and practice skills (mask clearing/replacement, bouyancy, etc.) just to keep current. Should we log these dives in our log books?

Just kind of curious as to what everybody thinks about this.

Nope...I only log open water dives....But, if you want to keep a running tab of what you haven't practiced in awhile, some sort of log might be a good idea.

As for the pool dives possibly being accepted by a dive operator in lieu of a refresher, I think that may depend on the dive....The operator might treat a dive having a solid bottom at 40-50' differently than a wall dive having a bottom at 500'.

Of course, there is not much substitute for doing actual dives....That way, you are exposed to a wider variety of diving conditions and can experience the reasons we all became certified.

 

[MikeFerrara]

You can write anything in your log that think is of value.

 

[Wendy]

You can write anything in your log that think is of value.

Ditto what Mike says. Its your log book, write in it what you want.

As for me I don't log pool time. Although I may make note of them in the log. for ow dives, a dive to me is anything 10 mins or more, 10' deep or more. Actually now I don't even keep a log, I keep a journal and write whatever I want in there and include drawings of the layout of wrecks and photos of the site. My buddy said I was a geek, but then he also said he liked it.

 

[Rick Murchison]

You can write anything in your log that think is of value.

When most folks ask "do you 'log' thus-and-such?", they are implying logging the event as a dive and as such, I wouldn't 'log' a pool dive. However, every pool training session I do, as either student or instructor, is in my logbook to document the skills each student performed (or the ones I performed if I'm in the pool as a student). Those sessions aren't logged as dives - that is, they aren't 'counters' - but especially if I'm instructing I want to document what we did, and the logbook's a convenient place to keep that.
In keeping with what Mike says, some of the other things you may find in my logbook from time to time are beer labels, receipts from particularly good restaurants, calling cards from divers I've met or other interesting folk... Phone numbers, a calendar, weighting chart, tank specs, tables etc...
If I'm just in the pool practicing something I don't usually put that in the log book, but if I discover something worth documenting I'll stick it in there.
It's your logbook - put whatever you want in there that you think will be useful to you.
I like to use a loose-leaf (I use the SSI format book) rather than a bound book, so as it gets too full I can remove the pages that have the least relevance and stick 'em in my "logbook" drawer. That also lets me put pages specific to a particular destination back in when I'm headed there.
I use my logbook so much now that I really wish I hadn't waited 25 years to start one.
Rick

 

[vtown7]

I started diving a year ago and keep my OW dives in a log, but then I also keep a journal which is more detailed and has some pictures in it, as well as stories of training and meeting dive-related people.

I think that the more you log/write down, the more you get out of it... but that's just me.

Ryan.

 

[Patch]

We got certified about two weeks ago. Our OW 'final' was in a pit ... vis about 20' at best. My granddaughter and wife said NO WAY to going back there.

We have a large inground pool, so we decided to practice there. Sounds pretty silly to you experts, but we can practice bouyancy, regulator stuff, buddy breathing, and most of the basics. In fact, I looked down in the deep end, and my granddaughter was taking off here BCD and putting it back on sitting on the bottom.

When you are newbies, practicing the basic is vital I think, even though it is in the pool. You are still under 8' of water.

I don't think we will log this stuff, I think an official PADI dive must be 20' for 20 minutes, but I think these dives are very usefull for us.

John

 

[starfish365]

We got certified about two weeks ago. Our OW 'final' was in a pit ... vis about 20' at best. My granddaughter and wife said NO WAY to going back there.

We have a large inground pool, so we decided to practice there. Sounds pretty silly to you experts, but we can practice bouyancy, regulator stuff, buddy breathing, and most of the basics. In fact, I looked down in the deep end, and my granddaughter was taking off here BCD and putting it back on sitting on the bottom.

When you are newbies, practicing the basic is vital I think, even though it is in the pool. You are still under 8' of water.

I don't think we will log this stuff, I think an official PADI dive must be 20' for 20 minutes, but I think these dives are very usefull for us.

John

an underground pool is an excellent place to practice skills, as you say you are still 8' underwater. You feel safer, so you can also concentrate on the skill you're doing without worrying about fish and other distractions of OW.

If you want - use the back of your log book. Start at the back pages and work your way forward to log skills. Or make your own "special" log sheets yourself on your own computer. Use them to keep track of skills worked on, the weight used, etc. Log books are cheap enough to have two. Why the heck not.

 

[MtnDiver]

If you want - use the back of your log book. Start at the back pages and work your way forward to log skills.

Actually, this is exactly what I had decided to do. I think that it would be good to be able to look back and see "when was the last time I practiced <insert skill here>". Not counting them as dives so much as keeping track of what I've done.

Thanks for the responses!