MASS-Diver
Contributor
When I first started diving I was tauhgt "the old narcosis check": you flash any number of fingers at your buddy and he (as fast as he can) shows you the same number of fingers plus 1.
Alot of divers don't use this method or haven't heard of it. Do you find it usefull? It doesn't work well with mits and everyone likes to give you one finger back (the middle one), but, even when diving with NITROX (or for more advanced divers TRIMIX with a realitively shallow EAD), I think it's important to keep track of how impaired you and your buddy may be. I don't feel it's ok to say, "well were diving with Nitrox at 90' so there's no need to even think about narcosis.
I have a few shipwrecks that I dive over and over, somtimes I feel narced, sometimes I don't. I don't think this is just me noticing it sometimes either, because in observing my buddy sometimes he seems a little off and sometimes he looks fine (when you dive with someone alot, it's easy to pick up on even small changes associated with narcosis).
So, that's what worries me about narcosis, in my limited experience, I can't predict it. For example, if I go out tonight and have 4 beers there's not much chance I'm going to wake up the next morning half naked on my lawn. I have a pretty good idea how 4 beers will affect me. With narcosis I've had a lot of trouble pinning down why sometimes (on the same wreck,at the same depth) I feel fine while other times I'm imparied. Narcosis seems very complicated to me.
So, back to the original question, what do you think of the finger test and do you have any other ones (besides ripping off your buddy's mask at 100' and observing his reaction)?
Alot of divers don't use this method or haven't heard of it. Do you find it usefull? It doesn't work well with mits and everyone likes to give you one finger back (the middle one), but, even when diving with NITROX (or for more advanced divers TRIMIX with a realitively shallow EAD), I think it's important to keep track of how impaired you and your buddy may be. I don't feel it's ok to say, "well were diving with Nitrox at 90' so there's no need to even think about narcosis.
I have a few shipwrecks that I dive over and over, somtimes I feel narced, sometimes I don't. I don't think this is just me noticing it sometimes either, because in observing my buddy sometimes he seems a little off and sometimes he looks fine (when you dive with someone alot, it's easy to pick up on even small changes associated with narcosis).
So, that's what worries me about narcosis, in my limited experience, I can't predict it. For example, if I go out tonight and have 4 beers there's not much chance I'm going to wake up the next morning half naked on my lawn. I have a pretty good idea how 4 beers will affect me. With narcosis I've had a lot of trouble pinning down why sometimes (on the same wreck,at the same depth) I feel fine while other times I'm imparied. Narcosis seems very complicated to me.
So, back to the original question, what do you think of the finger test and do you have any other ones (besides ripping off your buddy's mask at 100' and observing his reaction)?