Online Scuba Logbook

[DivemasterDennis]

I too am a log book ( not log file) keeper, and have great enjoyment reviewing my dive log volumes. The funky water stains, dive center and boat stamps, comments, and of course the dive information, are a living memory book as well as data collector. Unfortunately for younger people, things like handwritten letters and note cards are like the dinosaurs. A hand written log book is to a computer log "file" like a Rembrandt painting is to a bad black and white Polaroid. (remember Polaroids?) To each their own, but I'll take a real log book any day, if the keeper takes time to log the cool information and make a little art in the process!
DivemasterDennis scubasnobs.com

 

[RTee]

I keep two logs...one handwritten using a form that I found on the Internet which allows Nitrox and two successive dives on the same page and electronic ones containing the download of my computers (Suunto Dive Manager and Shearwater Predator desktop) so I can have visual representation of my diving profiles. None of which are internet based for the reasons stated by others. Furthermore, it is easier to produce such logs to dive shops/charters if they do request it as I carry them (or part of them) with me.

 

[Searcaigh]

I too am a log book ( not log file) keeper, and have great enjoyment reviewing my dive log volumes. The funky water stains, dive center and boat stamps, comments, and of course the dive information, are a living memory book as well as data collector. Unfortunately for younger people, things like handwritten letters and note cards are like the dinosaurs. A hand written log book is to a computer log "file" like a Rembrandt painting is to a bad black and white Polaroid. (remember Polaroids?) To each their own, but I'll take a real log book any day, if the keeper takes time to log the cool information and make a little art in the process!
DivemasterDennis scubasnobs.com

Actually this post reminded me of when I made my 800th dive at a Japanese Dive Resort in the Maldives (Vadoo), I had lots of stamps and drawings from my six buddies on that dive, as well as a T-shirt signed by almost everyone who was there with lots of cartoons etc written all over it.

 

[ElChe]

Well I tried some of the online logbooks but my experience is the same, the websites disappeared without warning... So I trust my good old paper logbooks and sometimes it's fun to browse the different stamps. I use to download my dives nowadays and make a more detailed electronic log but basically I prefer the old school logbooks. (Certainly after so many dives I use my own designed template for the logbook. There are people who like one dive on one page style, I like 2 dives per page, other guys write only the basic data, so they need only a row for a dive...)

 

[aquacarnet]

Wow! Thanks for all the interest (whether it be for or against my site idea). This thread has already helped me greatly in my quest to make a dive log website that thwarts all of the above stated problems.

Sorry for those of you who thought this was spam. It is not. I did post on a local Maine scuba group because I live here in Portland.

The main issue seems to be a fear of the website disappearing. For one, I can tell you that I am dedicated to keeping this online forever. But of course, trust is earned so I have decided to create the ability to Download your entire logbook with the click of a button. That way you can use my site to share your dives with friends on the internet and maintain a copy of your logbook on your computer. I will have the option to download in PDF or CSV.

You will also eventually be able to Import your CSV dive computer log file for a dive.

** The site is also in English and French

Thanks again for your time

 

[adutto]

MODS This is spam. I am also getting these request through our local scuba club emails.

Sent from my Nexus S using Tapatalk

No it is not! I feel agravated, this is my honest opinion!

 

[beanojones]

If you get the whole system up and running, either sell it, or give it to a large dive agency.

Although I hate the fact that PADI still forces those god-awful log books, printed on regular paper, and filled up halfway with wasted pages on Open Water students, there must be some reason for them to do it that way.They are not likely to be switching to an online dive system.

I wish they would. They have made some C-Cards available on smart phones, and it would just make so much more sense to have online logs than to have to send OW students off with that crappy log book they get.

 

[beanojones]

MODS This is spam. I am also getting these request through our local scuba club emails.

Sent from my Nexus S using Tapatalk

I love it when someone complaining about spam has spam imbedded into their posts.

Posted from my Turbo iPhone/Android/Nexus using the Tapatalk killer program Text4Lyfe.

 

[racerx_]

+1 for diving log

 

[ksporry]

Sorry to drag up this discussion again, but fo me it's quite topical...

Actually, PADI uses Scuba Earth as their log provider. I found that scuba earth automatically updated my profile to include my last 2 specialties. I sure as hell didn't put them on there myself!
I too started generating a tool for electronic logging. It won't replace the paper copy, for reasons already stated by others, but having an electronic database to allow analysis of statistics and determine how you are improving (especially as a beginner like myself), is quite useful.
I started with a template in excel that I intend to morph into an app on Mac, and then slowly start integrating phone capabilities. Maybe I need to convert to xml, as at work we are using xml to perform tool based development for interfaces, and I noticed other tools use a similar format (UDCF, XML, and others)

So far I found that most electronic log providers (online, mobile app based, or desktop app based alike) are lacking one thing or another.
I noticed Reefbuddy looks clean and slick. Many existing logs have something in their favour, but are missing other bits. Most tools don't even tell you where they store their database, let alone allow you to select its location. I got some serious issues with Dive Log Manager, which doesn't allow exporting databases. I asked them where the database is stored, but they tell me a lot without giving me the answer to my question...

As a note, I do like divelogs (en.divelogs.de), as it allows direct import from computers, and you can print out your log as PDF files or as epub ibook. I also like diveboard (Diveboard : Your online scuba logbook. Track, share and explore scuba diving through community dive logs), which seem sto have a nice interface and is fairly comprehensive. But again, like most tools, they do not include all parameters I'd like to see.