I dove quite a bit before I ever got certified and never logged any. Then came my cert. and I kept up with it through probably 3 full books (at 50 per book). Back then I don't remember having to get them signed by any divemaster (heck, I was really my own dive master most of the time) I would just log who my buddy was. Did a lot of solo diving and usually fudged it with a friends name to not feel guilty. Then I moved back to Florida from Hawaii (couldn't justify reupping just to keep diving in paradise) and the ship my stuff was shipped back on showed up minus a few containers. During a storm, cargo had shifted and some containers (semi trailer sized) went in the drink. Yep, it was my luck...my stuff. In with all my books I had also placed my logs. I was devistated, because I'm usually really lazy when it comes to paperwork...I never write on the back of pictures, wait until the end of the week to get my job paperwork in, etc. But I had painstakingly logged almost 150 dives that had taken place all over the world. Places like Diego Garcia, that only Navy personnel can dive (and sneakingly at that), Phillipines, Guam, Australia, Tasmania, New Zealand, Thailand, Maldives, Pago Pago, Madagascar. I mean if we made port somewhere, I was in the water! I even dove in Hong Kong harbor! It went in my log book as "fun with a dead, bloated dog in zero vis" after we bumped into it while doing a hull survey. We had a swim call near Guam over the Marianas trench and a friend and I convinced the Captain to let us go down and "keep an eye out for sharks" while everyone else swam. The vis must have been 1000ft or more. It was positively dizzying, the feeling of utter emptyness. We went down to about 180 ft. for a few minutes and looked up at the ship (Knox class frigate, 430ft. long) and it looked so small bobbing up there. Anyway, what I am saying is that all my memories (adventures) are only just memories now. I can't show them to my kids when they get old enough to dive. I'm bitter about that, I guess. Now I still log everything electronically, but I don't bother adding notes and such to it. Just the bare bones profile. I wish I did have an idea of how many dives I've actually made. I don't know why; I feel comfortable with any diving situation and don't need log books to prove it to anyone. I never even did a "boat dive" until my wife refused to do anymore beach dives with me. She hates schlepping equipment as much as I hate DM's who try to tell you where, when, and how deep to dive. Oh well, as I get older, the dive boat thing is starting to grow on me, just as long as they keep their hands off my equipment, dammit! There's a place for dive logs, no doubt. Especially for tech divers, cavers, wreck penetrating divers, etc. But for rec divers, IMHO, they are just a bit of nostalgia. So far, no one has asked to see my log book to prove whatever it is they think I need to prove, but a lot of people I've talked to on boats say it's something they have experienced. The first time someone asks for mine, I guess I'll just reach for my laptop.
Dive logs, has there time passed?
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I don't log but i do know someone who logged his 17,000th dive last year...so...some do it, some don't. Personal choice, but i don't see it ever going the way of the Dodo. Most people get a kick out of listing different critters and such and more power to em...
I also log for my personal benefit only. Makes for a good recall tool when recalling previous dives. Dive computer and PC keeps all the data and tracks for whatever record keeping is required. Of course there is also the chance of computer related loss, but so is paper. Any blow bubbles... have fun! 
Like many others I have not, nor do I expect anyone to ever ask for my log book. However I enjoy keeping track of the experiences, and who I've had a chance to dive with - With just under 100 dives it's been fun to look at the data and see how I've grown in the sport - long way to go still, but it's been fun so far
Aloha, Tim
Aloha, Tim
wow - even at 30 minutes per dive that would be 354 days underwater ...
H2Andy
Contributor
he would qualify 3 times over for the Platinum Pro 5000
he would beat Sheck Exley's dives by 13,000 dives
... that's a LOT of dives
he would beat Sheck Exley's dives by 13,000 dives
... that's a LOT of dives
There is a guy at a local dive shop who only dives in quarries. He has something like 600+ dives, but all are in local quarries. It's like the same exact dive, 600 times in a row. For a guy like that, logs are a bit unnecessary.
OTOH, I also know people who dive all over the world, single tank, doubles, cold ocean water, tropical ocean water, caves, freshwater rivers and lakes, wetsuit and drysuit, etc.
For people like these, logs are absolutely invaluable. When you're changing your gear configuration around, like wetsuit to drysuit, warm ocean to cold freshwater lake, etc., your weight requirements are going to change accordingly. If sometimes you have a camera, sometimes a scooter, or sometimes you're going down to collect mussels and spear dinner, the day will come when you're rigged for environment A but find yourself diving in environment B.
The ability to look in your log, check how much weight you needed, or check what happened the last time you were at this site, or recall what you forgot the last time you went from tropical vacation diving to a drysuit in British Columbia, is invaluable.
And of course, if you respond to another diver in distress, or participate in a response that winds up in a medical emergency (or a lawsuit), your log could even be used to recreate the sequence of events, who did what to whom and when, etc. during a later investigation.
So, some divers need and use their logs often, while others don't and won't. It depends greatly on the individual diver and how they dive.
FWIW...
OTOH, I also know people who dive all over the world, single tank, doubles, cold ocean water, tropical ocean water, caves, freshwater rivers and lakes, wetsuit and drysuit, etc.
For people like these, logs are absolutely invaluable. When you're changing your gear configuration around, like wetsuit to drysuit, warm ocean to cold freshwater lake, etc., your weight requirements are going to change accordingly. If sometimes you have a camera, sometimes a scooter, or sometimes you're going down to collect mussels and spear dinner, the day will come when you're rigged for environment A but find yourself diving in environment B.
The ability to look in your log, check how much weight you needed, or check what happened the last time you were at this site, or recall what you forgot the last time you went from tropical vacation diving to a drysuit in British Columbia, is invaluable.
And of course, if you respond to another diver in distress, or participate in a response that winds up in a medical emergency (or a lawsuit), your log could even be used to recreate the sequence of events, who did what to whom and when, etc. during a later investigation.
So, some divers need and use their logs often, while others don't and won't. It depends greatly on the individual diver and how they dive.
FWIW...
Talon
Contributor
Necessary???? Absolutly not in my opinion. Never been asked to see my log book and if anyone did, I would have to tell them to drop by my house and look at my computer. But with that sad, I log ALL my dives and some of them get rather long. Why??? Purely for me. The benefit/use of the logs has changed over time. In the beginning is was more about learning (i.e., weights, technique, etc.). Later it become more about the "experience". What happened on the day - in and our of the water. I browse though the log from time to time. And it just makes me want to go diving more
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