Diving Deeper
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Lost Yooper
Guest
On those dives, I never felt any different than I did at 30' -- no delayed reactions, no short/long term memory loss, no anxiety, no feeling of "over-enjoyment". Bare in mind that nothing ever went wrong, and there was never any unusual exertion going on those utterly foolish air dives . Bottom times were in the 20-30min range in 40F water (Lake Superior). I have no doubt that narcosis was just lingering there (like Murphy) waiting for something to go wrong, so it could unveil its ugly face.
One thing is for certain, deep air diving ranks up there with drunk driving. We get a lot of close calls up here and few deaths once in while due to deep air. On top of the narcosis (both CO2 and N2 narcosis) that is going on, you simply cannot properly deco off of air. Using deep stops, slow ascents, 50/50, and O2 helps, but the bottom line is that helium is better in every regard from a safety stand point.
Mike
One thing is for certain, deep air diving ranks up there with drunk driving. We get a lot of close calls up here and few deaths once in while due to deep air. On top of the narcosis (both CO2 and N2 narcosis) that is going on, you simply cannot properly deco off of air. Using deep stops, slow ascents, 50/50, and O2 helps, but the bottom line is that helium is better in every regard from a safety stand point.
Mike
The Chairman
Chairman of the Board
I know that I have posted on this topic ad nauseum, but I must harp yet once more.
UNLESS you have a reference point... like a knee that hurts or some other way to determine that your senses are being altered you just might be fooled! You are narced whether you realize it or not. The first thing that narcosis does is to diminish pain, and then judgement and all the while those critical reaction times are just getting longer and longer.
Its like the slow leak on your right rear tire... you compensate for the loss of pressure and never realize that you have a problem until that guy waves you down pointing and hollering -OR- if you have to do some fancy manuevering to avoid an accident. It is NOT dramatic like a tire blowout. You see, the low tire is flat, and until you actually have to put pressure on it you might not realize it. It's not flat because you put pressure on it, that only showed you how flat it really was.
This is so obvious to me because of my left knee. It's painful to bend! At 80-90ft though the miraculous happens, and it starts to feel OK. With each foot I feel it less and less. My mind feels way focused, and there aren't any "fuzzy feelings" until I hit @ 130ft. Was I narc'ed before then? Assuredly... my mind's perception of pain had been altered. Do I feel "narc'ed"? Not until I get past 130, but I know it's there, and I am a safer diver for making allowances for it.
So remember that without that point of reference, you are still narc'ed, but you don't know how badly. Heck, you might never know just how badly!
UNLESS you have a reference point... like a knee that hurts or some other way to determine that your senses are being altered you just might be fooled! You are narced whether you realize it or not. The first thing that narcosis does is to diminish pain, and then judgement and all the while those critical reaction times are just getting longer and longer.
Its like the slow leak on your right rear tire... you compensate for the loss of pressure and never realize that you have a problem until that guy waves you down pointing and hollering -OR- if you have to do some fancy manuevering to avoid an accident. It is NOT dramatic like a tire blowout. You see, the low tire is flat, and until you actually have to put pressure on it you might not realize it. It's not flat because you put pressure on it, that only showed you how flat it really was.
This is so obvious to me because of my left knee. It's painful to bend! At 80-90ft though the miraculous happens, and it starts to feel OK. With each foot I feel it less and less. My mind feels way focused, and there aren't any "fuzzy feelings" until I hit @ 130ft. Was I narc'ed before then? Assuredly... my mind's perception of pain had been altered. Do I feel "narc'ed"? Not until I get past 130, but I know it's there, and I am a safer diver for making allowances for it.
So remember that without that point of reference, you are still narc'ed, but you don't know how badly. Heck, you might never know just how badly!
jobowker
Guest
So do we all more or less agree on some points here?
1)Everybody gets narced at some depth, but to varying degrees
2)Some people are more conscious of this than others, for whatever reason
3)Some people either don't admit it or jsut don't notice it, like the jerk who swears he's fine to drive home despite teh fact that he can't get the key to go in the ignition.
I recall finning around at about 80 feet (far less than narcotic depths metnioned by anyone else) and having a really good dive. I was really happy. Then I noticed that I was really really happy. I started to swim a little deeper to check out a small hole. Something in the back of my head suggested 'inappropriate euphoria' and I decided to go up to a shallower depth. I'm pretty sure I was a bit narced. Was I less hydrated that day? Was it forgetting that I had taken 2 benadryl 20 minutes before the dive? Was it something with the temperature? Who knows. I just know that I was realy happy, and that convinced me that 1)I don't know exactly when (ie what depth) it will happen and 2)no more diving while taking benadryl and 3)it's a gradual thing, and 4) my buddy didn't notice anything strange about me, so it's not always obvious.
1)Everybody gets narced at some depth, but to varying degrees
2)Some people are more conscious of this than others, for whatever reason
3)Some people either don't admit it or jsut don't notice it, like the jerk who swears he's fine to drive home despite teh fact that he can't get the key to go in the ignition.
I recall finning around at about 80 feet (far less than narcotic depths metnioned by anyone else) and having a really good dive. I was really happy. Then I noticed that I was really really happy. I started to swim a little deeper to check out a small hole. Something in the back of my head suggested 'inappropriate euphoria' and I decided to go up to a shallower depth. I'm pretty sure I was a bit narced. Was I less hydrated that day? Was it forgetting that I had taken 2 benadryl 20 minutes before the dive? Was it something with the temperature? Who knows. I just know that I was realy happy, and that convinced me that 1)I don't know exactly when (ie what depth) it will happen and 2)no more diving while taking benadryl and 3)it's a gradual thing, and 4) my buddy didn't notice anything strange about me, so it's not always obvious.
Lost Yooper
Guest
1) Yup
2) Yup
3) Yup
Mike
PS. Add to this that nitrogen is the enemy, helium your friend.
2) Yup
3) Yup
Mike
PS. Add to this that nitrogen is the enemy, helium your friend.
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