Best Way To Log Dives?

[GLENFWB]

Tomorrow I am doing my first post-certification dive. I want to get started on the right foot logging dives. In the training I have done and in reading here I really haven't heard any of you experienced guys talk about what your "system" is to log dives? What works best?

• Do you make notes immediately after the dive?
• I have a dive computer on order this week, do you just wait to get home and download info. to the software?
• If you have software do you also keep a log book or do you print something from the software and put that in the book?
• If you could start over again what would you do different?

Thanks for any help you can give.

 

[jeckyll]

Personally, I'm finding that I'm chaning my logging as I'm getting more dives (and have seen other do the same).

Initially I was getting other folks to sign my dive log. That stopped around dive 10. Then I would always log each dive once I got home, noting who I went diving with instead of getting them to sign it (which gets very tedious really).

Around dive 60 I found that I started logging dives when I could, often days after when I realize "oh, yeah, I should note this down".

Really, do what works for you. The log is _your_ way of keeping track of your underwater adventures

Have fun!

Bjorn

 

[H2Andy]

no software here. i've never had people sign my book. i always log my dives, though (so far... 240+)

this is what i do:

at the end of the day's diving, mostly at home (or hotel), i use one page of my logbook to record the dives for that day. looks something like this:

Dive 1: Blue Reef (boat dive). 44 minutes @ 80 feet max. lots of fish; saw french, queen angels. usual parrotfish. two morays under ledges.

Dive 2: Green Reef (boat dive). 32 minutes at 55 feet max. very nice coral, healthy; still, some dead patches near the mooring line. nurse shark, smallish. good open water ascent with buddy (practice).

Dive 3: Purple Beach (shore, night). 46 minutes at 40 feet max. excellent nite dive. at least 5 turtles. tons of sleeping parrotfish. two octopuses.


i wish i hadn't used one page of book per dive entry. i find it more economical to use a page per day of diving. if it's only one dive, so be it.

 

[Charlie99]

I use a waterproof notebook (see www.riteintherain.com for an example) and jot down a few notes during the SI and the trip back to the dock. Typically just things like start/end air pressure, dive site name, buddies, anything unusual sighted, average depth.

Later, (maybe that day, maybe weeks later) I'll scroll through my dive computer and extract info like max depth, start time, SI time, N2 and O2 loadings, etc.

Then I'll put it into a dive log. If more than 12 dives have gone by before I get around to extracting the dive computer info, that data will have scrolled on out of the computer and I'll just skip it.

I typically use 1 page per dive boat trip. Shore dives at local spots I tend to jam together on one page, not even in chronological order. For divesites I go back to frequently, I won't bother logging the dive at all. You can cram a lot of info into a typical 4x6" logbook page, particularly if you just ignore any preprinted sections you don't use and fill that up with misc. notes.

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At the end of a multiday trip I'll usually take a page or two and jot down some general comments or little mini-reviews about different boats, dive ops, hotels, restaurants, etc.

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Your log is YOURS. As time goes by, you will figure out what is of value to you.

My basic rule is to pay attention to what I wish I could look up in my log, and then go ahead and log that in the future.

Charlie

p.s. The question made me go look at my dive log. Yep. All I have for the last 4 dives on the Sunday 8/27 before Ernesto chased me out of the Keys is a page that is blank except "Wreckreation Charters" and Aquarium / Fanta-Lobster (sp?) / 2 spots abt 1 mi E of American Shoals. Time to suck some data out of the computer and finish up that entry.

 

[nolatom]

I write up the dive on the boat, either between dives or on the way in. Makes for bad handwriting, but easier to remember how much weight you wore, who your pick-up buddy was, whether you were cold or not, and everyone else is still around to help you identify that fish, or estimate the visibility, water temp, who the captain and deckhand/DM were, how you liked the dive, whether anything went wrong or right, that sort of thing. Also, you get the "real" buddy signature or boat stamp.

This stuff is easier to remember right after the dive, and is useful to refer back to if I'm going back to the same site again, especially the weighting and water temp info.

I don't download anything from the computer, and don't know how to. All I do is look at the time, max. depth, and maybe the nitrogen ticks if I ever got into the "yellow".

Now if I was diving tables, I'd log more about pressure groups and surface interval. But I almost never see tables divers any more.

 

[marshallkarp]

I don't have a computer, so, generally, when I am out of my gear and wetsuit, dried off, and into short/sweats & tee shirt, I record my dive and run through the dive tables to get ready for the next dive.

On a pitching boat and all wet, forget it. I do check the tables, though, but record the dive back at the motel.

 

[SparticleBrane]

I either record or remember my starting and ending pressures. My bottom timer gets the rest for me. Then I input all this info into a huge dive log Excel spreadsheet that I have...

 

[www.scubamazing.com]

I like to log any conditions that I think I would want to remember- Harsh Currents, Strong surf etc... That way if I return I'll know how to prepare a little better.

I also like to record what I saw. I try to share my logs with others, so I mostly like to keep details on how to keep them safe, and what they will see. It's nice to know if someone has a chance to see certain wildlife.

I also note down depths. That is a good thing to know for future planning.

 

[REII]

Hi Glen;

I take the info out of my computer at the end of the day that I dive, and log it into a waterproof book that I can carry with me if I travel.

Living in Florida we are fortunate to be able to dive pretty much year round so I will note things like water temps, wet suit used at different times of year etc. I also like to make notes on visability or anything else interesting that I may wish to visit again.

TOM

 

[The Horn]

I log the start and end pressure on my wrist slate for each dive. I hook up to the computer when I get home and then down load the dive. I use Aeris software and also Dive Log 4.0. I have a lap top if I travel. Its alot easier and you have a pretty detailed profile, water temp, time of day, surface interval etc so all you need to remember is a few things about your dive that stood out. If I had to write it all out etc. I would be back in 91 with my 6 logged dives and just a c-card to show i had taken training.

since you are getting a dive computer you can also get some pretty good log software either with it or purchased through the internet like dive log 4, Wlog or a few others depending on your brand. Some allow you to input pictures, maps , GPS location of the site etc plus an array of other features, depends how Log-core you want to go.

Some of the Internet stuff allows for direct download from the dive computer and some will import your computer data after the manufacturers software downloads.

have fun