DIY Dive Slate

by gelsenangelopua

19K1512

Intro: 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.

12 Comments

0.775volts 17 years ago

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 16 years ago

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

Ribs 16 years ago

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 17 years ago

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

buchd 17 years ago

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 17 years ago

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 17 years ago

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 17 years ago

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 17 years ago

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

leevonk 17 years ago

wax pencils or crayons might work well too.