Where to Log Dives

A dive log is useful for "proving" your diving skill and experience.  It might be the difference between going to a stellar dive site a mediocre dive site.  Logging dives is also important if you are pursuing advanced certification or professional ratings. 

I was shocked when nobody looked at my logbook, when I became a scuba instructor. Probably a 

standards violation, but it got me wondering how often anybody ever really looked at my logbook?  The answer- almost never.  Usually people just go on your word.

I remember being a new diver and writing page after page in my logbook, I would connect my Citizen Aqualand dive watch to my computer, download my dive profile, print it out, and add it to my paper logbook. I bought special "adventure log" pages, which gave me more room to write stuff. I wrote every fish, coral and invertebrate I saw. When I started doing scientific dives, I wrote extensively in a separate Wetnotes journal.  Often my logs said "see pics." Over time I slowly began to write less and then most often I skipped logging dives at all.

Nowadays logging dives is a complicated problem. There are so many different choices for logging dives.  There are websites, digital logs, apps, apps that connect to your dive computer, apps the connect to your phone, old fashioned paper logs of all kinds, and free log pages you print out online.  Trouble is none of these integrate and none has emerged as a leader, which means I have dives logged on my computer, on paper, on ScubaEarth and the back of napkins.  While I expect the need to prove one's dive experience will not go away, I am not so sure what will happen to the dive log. As an instructor I can't ask a student diver to pay an extra $20 for a paper dive log that required the killing of trees to produce, was trucked across country, and can be ruined as soon as water, the stuff we dive in, touches it, but I sure wish there was another universal viable solution.

How will this play out?

Which Scuba Weights Are Best?

Not all scuba weights are created equally.

Scuba weights have evolved over the years, but like all scuba equipment, there are gimmicks to avoid.

There are soft bean bag weights which constantly form lead dust which then leaches toxic lead all over your boat and equipment.  These can never be threaded onto a standard weight belt.  Lead shot weights are difficult to get in and out when used with most weight integrated BCD pouches or cartridges because they bunch up.  Some pools will not allow lead shot weights at all because of the potential for lead contamination and lead shot ending up in the pool drains. For these reasons I avoid soft bean bag weights of any kind. Sell them on eBay right away in a well taped USPS flat rate box. 

Uncoated block weights are the way to go in my opinion, because they take up less space than rubber coated weights, work well in weight integrated BCDs, but also can be threaded onto a weight belt or harness whenever needed. If you need to do a quick free dive to clear a boat prop or swim with a whale shark, you don't want to waste time finding the right weights or belt. You may have noticed these are what you find in professional dive operations the world over.

Not all block weights are created equally, however. None of the weights on the bottom row (above) can be threaded onto a weight belt.  They have been dropped so the slot is too narrow, or were molded poorly to begin with.  You don't have to spend a lot, but do yourself a favor and buy the nicely molded weights in the middle, they have nice big wide slots to accomodate even an old frayed weight belt, are nicely moulded on both sides, have comfortable rounded edges, are well marked on both sides, and are usually made from sturdy modern alloys.  

I do not recommend molding your own weights even if you get the lead for free. You will work hard, sweat a lot, expose yourself to toxic lead solid and fumes, and after your hard work, the product will be inferior.  It is tough to remove all the slag that forms even with the proper flux, and getting the weight correct can be difficult.

What's your opinion on weights?