Do you thumb a dive when narced?

Dive plan was to go to 115fsw to a specific spot at LJ Shores. Started getting narced at ~90fsw, which is unusual for me, but it wasn't too bad.

By 100fsw, I was out of my gourd. I've been this deep many times before, but this time was different. My internal monologue:

"Wow, I'm pretty narced. Maybe I should signal to buddy that I need to ascend a bit. Well, let's look at the gagues. Um, wow, it's a bit hard to read 'cause my head is loopy! Um . . . plenty of air, and I'm not stressed or anything, breathing rate is ok ... um ... if I'm even having this conversation with myself, I'm too narced to continue."

So I gave my buddy the "I'm narced" signal (point at my head and swirl my finger), and we ascended to a different spot. No big deal, my head cleared, and it was a nice dive anyway.

Never had to do that before, but in hindsight it was absolutely the proper thing to do. How narced do you get before calling a dive? I don't mind getting buzzed, but this time was punch-drunk-nutty.

Sounds like you and your buddy did exactly what you're supposed to do.

Deepest I've been, so far, is about 100fsw on EAN32 and I didn't feel narced at all but i can say I'm not really looking forward to that day......

crispix:

How narced do you get before calling a dive?

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To the point where I can't safely look after myself (I'll dive air to 250', never with someone I don't know past 150' and never with anyone (Buddy) past 200'). It takes quite a bit of time to realize how you perform under narcosis. Early recognition takes awareness. Deep water experience is the only mitigating factor.

When you realized you were narced, you did the right thing. If you have a chance to go to a chamber and take a dry dive, do so. Some chambers do research and need volunteers. Experience will improve your awareness. There is a real hazard in that when many people go too deep, the narcosis slows the reaction time, too often it becomes an OOA situation.

If you're narced you might not have the judgement to call the dive because your judgement is impaired

Hard one to second guess although I'd like to think I would call the dive I wouldn't bet on it.

Never been narced, got drunk once when my buddy poured Old Hawk whiskey into the compressor inlet, did not thumb the dive, we were having a swimmingly good time. N

I've gone up to a shallower part of a wreck after feeling a little funny at 117fsw. Didn't seem to have any issues thinking, just didn't like the way I felt. After ascending a little I felt fine and continued the dive.

crispix:

Dive plan was to go to 115fsw to a specific spot at LJ Shores. Started getting narced at ~90fsw, which is unusual for me, but it wasn't too bad.

By 100fsw, I was out of my gourd. I've been this deep many times before, but this time was different...

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An important thing to consider is how accurate your perception is of diminished cognitive and physical function (due to narcosis). As DCBC states, you will only know this through experience. For me, as long as my gas consumption is on schedule, my buoyancy control is intact, and the dive is proceeding as planned, I will continue on with the dive. I try my best to monitor for feelings of euphoria and anxiety. If I'm feeling too loopy, then I won't hesitate to communicate to my buddy to ascend a little to allow my head to clear. The last time I felt significantly loopy on a dive was when we visited the P-38. I felt like I was moving in slow motion (probably was). It's possible that the narcosis was amplified by inadequate sleep the night before...but I can't be sure about that.

I think an important part of the learning process in deep diving is demonstrating a willingness to thumb a dive due to narcosis. You now know that if you have to ascend a little...or revise your dive plan...it's no big deal.

You were probably planning to hit up the Secret Garden. Beautiful site. Really fun to do as a night dive.

I've never been loopy narced. The only times I have been aware of my narcosis has been in situations in which I realized I was having a hard time making relatively easy decisions, or I forgot something that I should have remembered easily. Thus, I have never felt the need to act other than to be aware of my diminished capacity.

But narcosis comes in different forms, and they may not repeat. It is possible you will never feel loopy again. I have a friend who is a technical diving instructor who told me he was doing a routine recreational dive at only about 90' when he felt a sense of panic come over him. He had never felt that before. He figured it might be narcosis, so he went up 10', where it soon went away. He went back down and felt fine. It has never happened again.

So I would say you did the right thing. Go up a little until that loopy feeling goes away, and then go down and try again. Thumbing a dive usually means going to the surface and ending the dive altogether. That should not be necessary.

BTW, some research indicates that there is a self-fulfilling prophecy to narcosis. People were given different training on what to expect with narcosis, and those who were told it would incapacitate them were pretty much incapacitated on a task at 200 feet, while people who were taught that the effects are easily overcome through will power were able to do that same task under the same conditions without a lot of trouble.

We all get narced on our deeper dives, sometimes we deal with it but sometimes it becomes too much. You definately did the right thing.

crispix:

Dive plan was to go to 115fsw to a specific spot at LJ Shores. Started getting narced at ~90fsw, which is unusual for me, but it wasn't too bad.

By 100fsw, I was out of my gourd. I've been this deep many times before, but this time was different. My internal monologue:

"Wow, I'm pretty narced. Maybe I should signal to buddy that I need to ascend a bit. Well, let's look at the gagues. Um, wow, it's a bit hard to read 'cause my head is loopy! Um . . . plenty of air, and I'm not stressed or anything, breathing rate is ok ... um ... if I'm even having this conversation with myself, I'm too narced to continue."

So I gave my buddy the "I'm narced" signal (point at my head and swirl my finger), and we ascended to a different spot. No big deal, my head cleared, and it was a nice dive anyway.

Never had to do that before, but in hindsight it was absolutely the proper thing to do. How narced do you get before calling a dive? I don't mind getting buzzed, but this time was punch-drunk-nutty.

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If you are not having the mental acuity to continue diving at such depth then it's only prudent to either terminate the dive, or go shallower. At least you still had the faculty to recognize that you were narced out of your mind and made some sensible choices for yourself.