What is a logged dive?

[TMHeimer]

Just read/skimmed through to see if I already posted on this same old thread with slightly new title. Dives that "count" are those you need for taking a certain course, thus those that are accepted by the of instructor of said course. Other dives count if you want them to. I agree with most in that pool never counts (except MAYBE that big 100' deep one somewhere in Europe--I'm on the fence there). I use 5 mins. as minimum surface interval to divide dives and count surfacing and not hitting land as one dive. Think I have counted as little as 13 mins. as a dive and as shallow as 4-10 feet. And yes, hours may count more than total dives, but that can depend too--what kind of dives, conditions, depths are some of those dives that go into those hours? So of course it really doesn't matter what you count. Just remember it's a race to 500 and I'm almost there. Anything past 500 doesn't count as being better than me. Because I said so and those are my rules.

 

[boulderjohn]

Basic rule of thumb I was taught a long time ago... Pool never counts, minimum 20 ft for 20 min... Min 10 min to count it as surface interval. It was pre computer so I think it was to make tables simple.

As was explained earlier, there are rules for what can constitute a dive when an instructor is teaching a student. Those rules guide the instructor in making plans. There are no rules for what you do in your private life.

I believe the depth and time limits mentioned here used to be the PADI rules for training dives, but the depth is now 15 feet for a PADI training dive. I do not believe there has ever been a minimum surface interval int eh PADI system. In fact, in the table version of the course, there is a question in which students have to determine a minimum surface interval between two dives. In the imperial version of the question, the answer is 4 minutes. In the metric version, the answer is 0 minutes.

 

[Lorenzoid]

Basic rule of thumb I was taught a long time ago... Pool never counts . . . .

I wouldn't count a pool dive as part of a total number that I needed in order to meet some course requirement--agreed. But I have recorded a few pool dives in my logbook--these were dives in a dive shop's pool in which my buddy and I tested new gear and/or practiced skills, sometimes for an hour. I wanted to records things that would be useful to me in configuring my gear, like where to put trim weights for certain gear configurations. In one set of such dives, my buddy and I tracked our progress as we slowly honed some new skills (propulsion techniques, long-hose air-sharing drills, hand signals, etc.) over the course of several trips to that pool. So, maybe there are some reasons why some people might even want to log a pool dive now and then.

 

[WildcatChris]

As a relatively new diver I would never have thought to count pool dives.

After my certification my instructor has allowed me to continue "playing" in the pool while he instructs. This means that in the last year and a half I have accumulated about 35 "dives" of about 45 minutes or more. This has allowed me to work on my breathing, buoyancy, skills, and relative comfort underwater. Because I live in Kansas, which is probably one of the least diveable states, I have logged significantly more pool time than actual dive time. While this has made me extremely comfortable in the water, I realize that I am still woefully inexperience in open water environments.

That being said I could understand why someone might log a working dive that took place in a pool, not necessarily to up your dive count, but to have a record of the dive for future reference...which I guess is really the point of any log.

 

[Hawkwood]

As was explained earlier, there are rules for what can constitute a dive when an instructor is teaching a student. Those rules guide the instructor in making plans. There are no rules for what you do in your private life.

I believe the depth and time limits mentioned here used to be the PADI rules for training dives, but the depth is now 15 feet for a PADI training dive. I do not believe there has ever been a minimum surface interval int eh PADI system. In fact, in the table version of the course, there is a question in which students have to determine a minimum surface interval between two dives. In the imperial version of the question, the answer is 4 minutes. In the metric version, the answer is 0 minutes.

The only minimum surface interval that I am aware of in any PADI training class is during the Ice Diver class. A one hour surface interval is required between the training dives.

 

[stuartv]

As a relatively new diver I would never have thought to count pool dives.

I wouldn't have, either, until I was posting something here and made the parenthetical comment "not counting pool dives" and one of the Scubanati quoted that part of my post and asked "why not?"

 

[TMHeimer]

Yes, of course one can count pool dives for whatever reason. A lot of people use the pool to work out new gear, etc. I haven't because unlike most, I still use most of what I originally bought. As far as weighting with various different exposure suits, tanks, etc.--I have this stuff written somewhere separate from my log book, as I have managed to drop 4 pounds overall in 10 years (for whatever reason). No need to do anything with this in my log book. Likewise for which of my 3 wetsuits I use for which water temperature. Once you figure this stuff out and jot it down, I can't see a reason do use the log book for it. Ei.--If the water temp. is 65 and air is 90F I use the shorty. If water is 65 but air is 58, I probably use the farmer john or top part of it only. This stuff probably won't ever change. So, no need for me to count any pool work/dives in my log book.

 

[Divemaster Internship]

A underwater record of a diver

 

[Hoag]

I don't get to dive nearly as often as I would like to. It is not uncommon for me to go for more than a year between dive trips. Because of that, I will almost always do a pool dive prior to a trip to knock the rust off so to speak before I go on a trip. I do log these, because I almost always have some objective such as sorting out new gear, reconfirming how much lead I need etc. That way, when I get to my destination, I can look at my log & have a record of when my refresher dive was (and the results) and when I did my last open water dive.

 

[JackD342]

Just a casual question. What do you consider the requirements to log a dive? The question came up the other day at the LDS. Back when I got certified only the ocean dives counted. Just after that PADI started making noises about counting the pool dives as well. Talking at the LDS it appears this never happened. I remember the rational back then was two fold. First was marketing on their part. Sooner students logged a dive the better. Second was that if a student, or anyone else, is underwater, wearing scuba gear and breathing air from a scuba tank then that was a scuba dive.

Does where you're diving make a difference?

Many students don't use a pool for their confined water work. When you are in a confined water, but it's actually a lake, quarry, ocean, do those dives count toward logged dives?

Does how long you under the water make a difference?

My buddy lost a fin during a dive. We know where it is. After a surface interval of an hour I go back and get it. It's in 60' of water, but Im only under the water for a total of about 5 minutes. Is that a dive?

If you're in a pool, for an hour doing an in-water repair of some kind is that a "dive"?

Does how deep you are make a difference?

I was under a boat, on scuba, at about 5' doing a repair on a pranged prop for a couple of hours. Was this a dive to log? I did a night dive, laying in the grass along the shore for about 2 hours watching sea horses at about 6'. (I actually fell asleep for that one for a few minutes, according to my dive buddy). Is that a dive?

Thoughts?

I am curious about your comment “PADI started making noises about counting pool dives”. That is not my experience, with the exception of what I will “practice” logs for experience classes, like Seal Team.