Drinking & Diving

[DennisH]

To sum up: most of the people with medical backgrounds have weighed in saying they are uncomfortable with drinking and diving. The original poster has agreed that anyone who agrees with him is right and "understands" his thread. Everyone else is split.

Think I'll stick with the docs on this one.

 

[DiverLS]

I used to be a recreational diver. I say that to mean I jumped in the water with minimal training (AOW) and had fun for 20 years. I did a lot of boat diving and that included a glass of wine or 2 with dinner.

Now I've turned Teck. Now I know what various gasses do to your body (Advanced Nitrox) and figured out that alchohol shouldn't be in the mix.

So a year ago I went to Mexico to go cave diving with an Intro to cave certification. I knew I didn't want to drink, I needed all my concentration to dive the caves. Then after we were done, I told my snuggle buddy that I'd have a margarita. Guess what - I forgot about it.

So I've found out I don't need booze. I haven't quit drinking. I do have a drink with the family when I'm no where close to diving. I now use the 48 hour rule.

And I'm not spending near the $$ I used to do when I go grocery shopping, that was when I bought my wine.

 

[Tanked]

I know. I was just trolling the Americans.

You I find that hard to belive:mooner:

 

[Medicdiver0125]

It all comes down to being responsible for yourself on the surface, so you can be capable of being responsible for more than yourself underwater if necessary.

 

[Thalassamania]

I'm still amazed that we don't have definitive data on dehydration and hydration ... and let's not forget negative pressure breathing diuresis.

 

[billmosel]

To sum up: most of the people with medical backgrounds have weighed in saying they are uncomfortable with drinking and diving. The original poster has agreed that anyone who agrees with him is right and "understands" his thread. Everyone else is split.

Dennis, this is my original question.

My question is..
If I have a beer at lunch (noon) and want to dive at 3:00, how is that going to impair my judgement or dehydrate me?

. I was not looking for anyone to AGREE with me I was trying to find facts and logic behind the "rule".

I do understand the policies of liveaboards and thier potential liability.

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

I'm still amazed that we don't have definitive data on dehydration and hydration ... and let's not forget negative pressure breathing diuresis.

Why does that amaze you, given that the variables that would go into producing such data vary from one individual to another. Do you honestly believe that one beer would affect a 240 lb man in the same way as a 90 lb woman? What about a fit person vs a similarly sized unfit one? What about someone who maintains good hydration vs someone who doesn't? Does age, fat percentage, health history, even genetics play a role? How do you quantify those things?

It's the same reason why we don't have definitive data on what amount of nitrogen exposure is "safe" with respect to DCS ... there's just no "line" to define what's safe and what's not ... there's just a huge gray area of "well, maybe" ... and one side of that gray area increases risk potential while the other side decreases it. Where you or I are on that continuum depends to a great deal on our unique physiology ... not to mention our state of wellness on the day of the dive.

As with most things scuba-related, it's up to the individual to decide how much risk is acceptable. I truly wish we'd stop trying to protect other people from themselves and instead have some frank conversations about what we do know ... and then allow people to decide for themselves how much risk they're willing to take.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[Diver0001]

. I was not looking for anyone to AGREE with me I was trying to find facts and logic behind the "rule".

.

There are two sets of "facts" at work here and you still seem to have missed it. The scientific facts of what happens to your body and whether or not it will cause a problem diving..... and the social "facts" that drinking and then engaging in something like diving is one of a cluster of risk acceptance behaviours that is incompatible with norms surrounding this sport (and many other sports as well).

On the on hand, I think you can safely say that if you drink 1 beer and go diving 3 hours later that it's not the biggest risk in the world in terms of what happens in your body...

On the other hand, that's not the important thing at work here. the important thing is that it's a taboo.... and not all taboos are bad. They didn't arise for no good reason and they serve a function....

I know of divers who drink beer and dive. They all come from Belgium, which doesn't seem to suffer from the same social norms in this area as the rest of the world. They also have abnormally high accident rates as compared to, for example, the Dutch, who are prudish and much more risk averse. What the chicken and the egg are here isn't clear, maybe, but when I see divers drinking on their surface interval then I don't generally think of them as being "safe" divers.

Sure... that's just me, but I have enough anecdotal evidence to see a risk in that behaviour (or cluster of related behaviours) that I wouldn't let anyone who drank on the surface interval get back in the water again. And *that* is a fact.

R..

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

I think it's important to keep in mind that there's a huge difference between having a beer with lunch and drinking to excess ... and that there are many "taboos" associated with scuba diving that are little more than rules of thumb designed to accommodate the lowest common denominator.

By no means am I promoting the notion that one should drink and dive ... but I am a big fan of "think and dive" ... and that requires one to question every taboo and rule of thumb associated with diving until you understand why they exist ... and then make your own decisions from an informed perspective.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[Tortuga68]

On the on hand, I think you can safely say that if you drink 1 beer and go diving 3 hours later that it's not the biggest risk in the world in terms of what happens in your body...

On the other hand, that's not the important thing at work here. the important thing is that it's a taboo....

So don't worry about science, it's taboo. Rhymes with voodoo

...and not all taboos are bad. They didn't arise for no good reason and they serve a function....

Not all are bad, some are. Some arose for good reason, some didn't

Taboos should be questioned, broken down and examined to see if they are based on fact or superstition or outmoded ideas, be they factual or cultural

Discuss