Do you log ‘gear test’ dives?

[Centrals]

This is a FREE world so if anyone want to log 'gear test" dives, I am in no position to suggest anything!

 

[Bob DBF]

If you look at an actual log book given to beginning divers, you will see that the dive time portion is set up to use for planning dives using tables. It has a place to put in the bottom time and a place for the ascent/safety stop. The bottom time, not the total time, was the time you used to plan your next dive. The bottom time, not the total time, told you your pressure group at the end of the dive. You would than use your surface interval to calculate your allowed bottom time (not total time) for the next dive.

Two items not clarified are that the decent to depth was done as quickly as possible, whenever you stop, it starts the clock. The ascent for the tables was given as "direct ascent to the surface". This meant ascending at the proper rate, including deco stops if necessary, to the surface. If one ascended a bit and stopped to look at a critter, the bottom time would add that time to the bottom time, as well, until you made a direct ascent to the surface. The depth used for the tables was the deepest depth of the dive.


Bob

 

[Aloha Joe]

I’m getting close to 100 dives now. I think my logbook got water logged, because it’s getting really hard to pull out of the drawer.

 

[TMHeimer]

I may have suggested way back in the thread to not take a paper log book on a boat or near the water. Keep it in the car, etc. and take a sheet of paper & pencil to the boat/beach and put in a water proof jar.

 

[Aloha Joe]

Lol I was joking “my logbook is too heavy to pull out of the drawer.”

 

[Bob DBF]

I may have suggested way back in the thread to not take a paper log book on a boat or near the water. Keep it in the car, etc. and take a sheet of paper & pencil to the boat/beach and put in a water proof jar.

Lost one log book to the water, now I use the dive computer and notes on a slate to remember what I want to put in the log until I get to somewhere dry.


Bob

 

[nolatom]

I want to be able to refer back to what I wore, what worked, what didn't, how much air used, how much weight and whether I had to adjust it.
So in order to record such things for the future, I have "logged":

--Diving zero vis in the marina to (finally) find the glasses I had lost off a boat. My first absolute "braille dive", and it took a few tries to find them. I had to surface just to read my gauges and see how much air left on the pony bottle I was using.
--shore dive at a boat launch ramp to determine if the concrete ties the ramps are made from, were displaced by Hurricane Isaac (a couple were, the rest weren't--this was good news for the local marina board I'm on who has to repair it). And yes we did get "real" divers in later to do the survey for the actual repair bidders.
--cleaning the bottom of the 34' sailboat I get to borrow because I help out by doing stuff like this, varnish brightwork, etc. It took about an hour, with several breaks, and was my first and only time so far, doing it. I have respect for the pros who do this for a living, as a result.

These "offbeat" dives I probably wouldn't include for something that required X number of dives (since I didn't get below about 9 feet on any of them), but I have logged and numbered them for the sake of good order in my logbook, and will refer back to them for handy pointers if/when I have to do any of these type of "dives" again.

Also, in a way they were more challenging than most of the "prettier" dives I've done.

No, I probably wouldn't log a quickie "gear test" dive, but if you want to, go ahead. The scuba police probably are busy with more serious crimes.... ;-)

 

[dhaines429]

I dive a Shearwater and it has a log of my dives. I did have the app and download them to my phone for a brief period but I don't do that anymore either. I think most dive computers keep an electronic log. As for needing the 100 logged I'm assuming that it's for Self Reliant or Solo depending who you certify with. Depending on how well known you are in the dive community where you live they would probably accept the dive number on your computer.

 

[Scuba-74]

With this thread about to go on its 9th page I'd probably be beating the dead horse, but here are my two cents. I will log all dives I make except the pool dives. My reasoning is: if the number of dives is an indicator of experience, then travelling to a dive site, assembling and checking the gear, choosing the correct amount of lead, making an entry/exit in real-life conditions, descending/ascending, disassembling and packing the gear gives you as much experience on a gear-test dive as any other dive. Maybe more, considering that most gear-test dives are shore dives, so they pose more entry/exit challenges than boat dives.

I don't think parameters such as depth, bottom time, conditions, etc. have any bearing on whether to log a dive or not. I think any scenarios where a simple number of dives is a prerequisite (such as 100 dives for a PADI Dive master I believe) look as much at what happens outside of the water as what happens during the wet portion of the dive. Same with the date of the most recent dive - a dive operator would be more interested in when was the last time a prospective client had a chance to go through a full cycle, rather than how deep or how long their dive was, or what was the purpose of it.

 

[TMHeimer]

With this thread about to go on its 9th page I'd probably be beating the dead horse, but here are my two cents. I will log all dives I make except the pool dives. My reasoning is: if the number of dives is an indicator of experience, then travelling to a dive site, assembling and checking the gear, choosing the correct amount of lead, making an entry/exit in real-life conditions, descending/ascending, disassembling and packing the gear gives you as much experience on a gear-test dive as any other dive. Maybe more, considering that most gear-test dives are shore dives, so they pose more entry/exit challenges than boat dives.

I don't think parameters such as depth, bottom time, conditions, etc. have any bearing on whether to log a dive or not. I think any scenarios where a simple number of dives is a prerequisite (such as 100 dives for a PADI Dive master I believe) look as much at what happens outside of the water as what happens during the wet portion of the dive. Same with the date of the most recent dive - a dive operator would be more interested in when was the last time a prospective client had a chance to go through a full cycle, rather than how deep of how long their dive was, or what was the purpose of it.

Agree on all points. It's still early in the thread though. For some reason the "What should I log?" topic tends to draw a crowd each time. Case in point, my post now.