Tell Us About Your Narcisode

[TSandM]

The first time I was badly narced, I didn't have any idea that was what was wrong with me. I was doing a dive on a local site that I knew pretty well, but we were going deeper than I had gone before. I was with two other divers who I didn't know well, but trusted. Visibility was very poor. I got confused about where we were going, and felt anxious about everything looking the same around me (which it does, in transit, in that site). We got to the destination (a log pile) and I became completely convinced that I was about to begin an uncontrolled ascent, so I dumped all the gas from my wing and my suit, and went kersplat! into the silt.

The second time was at similar depth in the same site, where I became convinced that my regulator was malfunctioning and not delivering air as it ought. That time, I knew what the problem was, so I told myself just to keep calmly breathing and I would be fine. The little voice in the back of my head was hard to silence.

Nowadays, it appears that my narcosis symptom is pretty much a low-level, floating anxiety or feeling of discomfort. Again, I never realize it's narcosis until I get to the surface and think about the dive in retrospect. I have also been completely comfortable and simply made really stupid errors, usually of omission.

 

[knotical]

The first time I knew I was narced: - - We thought we were directly over a patch reef, but were only close. As we descended diagonally toward the reef, I became curious how deep the bottom was so descended to the sand and checked my (capillary) depth gauge… and I checked it… and I checked it… and finally figured out that it said 120 ft. I realized it had taken me way longer than it should have to read my gauge (perhaps 5-10 seconds?); then thought: "I must be narced … - … Cool!". I then swam up to the reef and continued the dive.

Since then, I know I'm narced when I feel a similar pleasant detachment. That acts as a signal to ascend a bit.

Fortunately never had a "dark narc".

 

[HowardE]

The first time I was really really narced was doing an air dive to 185 fsw. There are symptoms of narcosis at shallower depths, but it was never like it was or like it is when you're considerably deep.

I could feel tingling in my face, and I felt pretty high. I could almost hear an echo from my breathing, since otherwise it was so quiet at that depth. Having followed the Grateful Dead in my younger years, this feeling didn't freak me out at all. I was just very conscious of the feeling, and that it was definitely narcosis. I had my camera with me, and I had to think long and hard about which levers performed which functions on the camera housing. Beyond that, it was mostly uneventful.

Perhaps the "dark narc" is felt by people who never smoked pot or experimented with anything else in their life ever... and it really freaks them out to be in an altered state of mind.

 

[Kern]

The first time I was really really narced was doing an air dive to 185 fsw. There are symptoms of narcosis at shallower depths, but it was never like it was or like it is when you're considerably deep.

I could feel tingling in my face, and I felt pretty high. I could almost hear an echo from my breathing, since otherwise it was so quiet at that depth. Having followed the Grateful Dead in my younger years, this feeling didn't freak me out at all. I was just very conscious of the feeling, and that it was definitely narcosis. I had my camera with me, and I had to think long and hard about which levers performed which functions on the camera housing. Beyond that, it was mostly uneventful.

Perhaps the "dark narc" is felt by people who never smoked pot or experimented with anything else in their life ever... and it really freaks them out to be in an altered state of mind.

Wrong!

 

[TSandM]

Perhaps the "dark narc" is felt by people who never smoked pot or experimented with anything else in their life ever... and it really freaks them out to be in an altered state of mind.

Uh . . . no.

 

[HowardE]

It was just a thought.

 

[inventor]

Bump!

 

[oggy666]

Hey Inventor,


I have never heard of anyone getting violent or aggressive when narc'd but I would guess it is possible. However, underwater it would be difficult to get violent. Trying to throw a punch or fight with someone would exhaust you.


Darrell

I have some footage for yahttp://www.divescubasteve.com/video/raptureofthedeep.wmv

 

[inventor]

Bump!

 

[inventor]

OK, and who changed my avatar to a crab?