Underwater Dive Slates; What do you use yours for?Underwater Dive Slates.I once knew a divemaster that could talk underwater. I don’t mean that he made sounds that could be deciphered by people who knew him – I mean he could actually talk underwater the way a person would talk at the surface. He even taught his girlfriend how to do it. The two of them would jabber away on dives talking about whatever. It was pretty annoying. For most people, however, underwater communication consists of a mixture of hand signals and notes scribbled on an underwater dive slate. This blessedly silent device has other uses as well. Here are a few things you can use your dive slate for other than conversing with your buddy: Underwater Dive Slates - Underwater NavigationYou can turn your dive slate into a mini map to help you navigate your way around the reef and back to your dive boat.In fact, many dive slates have a compass built into them to facilitate this purpose. Of course, you don’t have to painstakingly draw a reproduction of the reef. All you need to do is draw key landmarks and write down your bearing when you turn at one of those landmarks. Using a dive slate to help with navigation will eliminate your need to do frequent “boat checks.” Underwater Dive Slates - Taking Notes On Your DiveIf you’re the type of diver that likes to record every interesting detail about your dive, you might want to keep a dive slate around to jot down items of interest so you can transfer your notes to your dive log.Even if you’re not interested in taking notes on your dive, it’s a good idea to write down your maximum depth and dive times especially when you plan on performing multiple dives over multiple days. Making an error as minor as 5 feet (1.5m) could make a big difference in a situation like that. Underwater Dive Slates - Test Yourself For NarcosisThis is a little trick deep divers use to make sure their judgment isn’t affected by nitrogen narcosis.You write a series of basic math problems on your dive slate at the surface and then you perform those problems when you hit your target depth to see how much the depth is affecting your judgment. This test is usually done on preparatory dives to make sure you can handle your target depth under normal circumstances and the test is usually timed. I did this once to test myself the first time I went below 130 feet (40m). I looked at my watch and wrote down the time, then completed the problems and looked at my watch again. It looked like 45 minutes had gone by. Not believing my eyes, I looked at my dive computer. The total elapsed time was 3 minutes. I was narc’ed. Underwater dive slates are very versatile tools. Of course you can use them to communicate but you can also use them to navigate, take dive notes and perform self-tests. Dive slates are relatively inexpensive pieces of equipment and they’re something that every diver should have. There are just too many uses for this simple slate. Return to Underwater Diving Equipment Home Page.
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