DIY Dive Slate

Instructions on how to make a 3-pager dive slate out of everyday materials. (All you need: diskettes, pencil, aquarium air hose)

Dont want to spend on a $5.00 dive slate? or just plain DIY fun? This is a very easy to make project, cheap too! For the thrifty and the bored.

Step 1: Materials for the Slate

All you need are the ff:

- 3 (or more) diskettes
- an aquarium air hose (14 inches or more)
- a pencil
- a knife/cutter

Step 2: Take Off the Front-part of the Diskettes

Dismantle the diskettes. We will just need the front part for the writing surface.

Step 3: Cut the Pencil in Half

Use your knife/cutter to split the pencil in two.

Step 4: Tie the Hose to the Slates

Tie one end of the hose to the rectangular hole on top of the diskettes. Make two simple knots if you need to.

Step 5: Tie the Other End of the Hose to the Pencil

Tie the other end of the hose to the pencil. You can make a single knot, but do it real tight.

Step 6: Wrap the Pencil Around the Slate

Wrap the hose around the slate, and tuck the pencil in.
Dont forget to sharpen your pencil.

Step 7: Final Word

A sharp pencil works best.
You may use the first page as a safety cover, so as to protect what you've written from accidental erasure.
Tie the slate to your bc or belt.

Comments

[0.775volts]

i like to use the flat "construction" pencils. they have fatter tips which are much harder to break,and you can sharpen them with your dive knife(if you carry one) in a pinch. also they have no eraser, so you can double-end them.

[Ribs]

good point. i never thouht of that my penciles are always breaking. thanks

[Ribs]

You could, instead of tiying the pencile to the hose, just push the end of the pencile into th opening of the hose. and i tearms ofthe accidental erasing that is realy unlikely. mw slate still has a note on it from my 80th dive which has lasted 15 or so dives without comming off. but it may be differet with the disks. thanks for the intructable.

[JoshuaTerrell]

oooooh, I'm going diving this summer, this will come in handy...thanks!

[buchd]

Wow! This is the perfect solution for me-- I spend a lot of time thinking in the shower/bath, and I was looking for something like this! Thank you so much! =^n.n=

[mrbob1000]

well these things work great in my pool and i made mine out of those old cases for the nintendo games (theyre clear and work great)

[gelsenangelopua]

Yup, bringing along an extra pencil is a smart thing to do. I tried a mechanical pencil once, (0.5mm lead) very useful but the tip got rusty after some dives. doctorkb: Its a schrade "simple simon" ss1 pocket knife. pretty sharp but a bit risky to handle coz it doesnt have a bolster to protect your fingers.

[doctorkb]

leevonk -- wax isn't as eraseable as standard pencils, so you'd have to toss the slate once you'd used it. Standard pencils are perfectly visible underwater -- as long as you're not trying to write on something black! :-)

[doctorkb]

nice knife, too... what is it? I have one similar, a Columbia River Knife & Tool "K.I.S.S."...

[leevonk]

wax pencils or crayons might work well too.

[mrbob1000]

whoah neat did you try those fat preschool pencils that write real thick (they would be verry visable) and domt forget an extra pencil or two in case one breaks

[chuybregts]

Awesome Idea! Out of sheer boredom I'll have to make a set and add it to my dive kit :) Thanks for sharing your ingenuity!