Drinking & Diving

[Tortuga68]

Everyone seems to be missing the point here. It is the effect of water pressure on your body that prevents you from being able to drink alcohol 24 hours before diving. That's why if it takes one six pack to get drunk on the surface; it's two bottles at 30 ft. (maybe less). It can have worse effects than drunk driving. Your using a life support system (scuba). Hope that is simple enough to understand .... Hope everyone understands how pressure effects the human body ... if not, better take a refresher scuba class.

Do go on

 

[Saucy Sailoress]

It does seem to me that a little judgement goes a long way. Yes, increased pressure does increase the dose of any gases in your body, but I've never really understood how it will increase the dose of a shot!! Do tell...

What I do understand is how bad vis, sting current etc can make your head spin anyways - and if you've had a beer then your head's gonna be spinning that little bit more... so can you absolutely guarantee that you next dive will be absolute novice conditions before you have that beer?

 

[KWBuddy]

can you absolutely guarantee that you next dive will be absolute novice conditions before you have that beer?

Of course not.

Right now I'm at a neighborhood Internet Cafe and I have a short walk home. It's a good part of town and usually there isn't anything going on here.

Can you absolutely guarantee that I won't be hit by a drunk driver on my way home? Of course not.

We all take risks every day. Some are more risk adverse than others. I have no problem with your choice to abstain from drinking. But I believe that I should be able to make my own choices of what risks to take.

--

Bud

 

[Tortuga68]

What I do understand is how bad vis, sting current etc can make your head spin anyways - and if you've had a beer then your head's gonna be spinning that little bit more... so can you absolutely guarantee that you next dive will be absolute novice conditions before you have that beer?

I don't see anyone suggesting diving drunk, so I don't see how that's relevant. The question is how long after having a beer can you safely dive...3 hours? 24 hours? or something in between

 

[drbill]

I never drink "prior" to diving even if I'm doing night dives. If I know I'm diving the following day, the most I will drink is a single glass of wine or beer. I'm a "senior citizen" so I'm more cautious about unnecessary safety risks than I was back in my 20s (when I pretty much still followed that rule).

I've walked flat into a 100 ft eucalyptus tree after a single beer and I've been "fine" after an entire bottle of sake. My response to an alcoholic drink is not 100% predictable.

I love diving a lot more than I love alcohol... and I love my life as well.

 

[The Chairman]

I love diving a lot more than I love alcohol...

Tru dat!

Every diver has to make a plethora of decisions about their health, their habits and diving. To me, having a beer three hours before a dive is a non event. Would I plan this? Probably not.

There are a lot of other habits that divers should consider or reconsider. Exercise after a dive, lack of exercise, antihistamines and smoking are but a few that can affect your life and your dive. It's quite easy for us to make conclusions about how others are or are not suited for a particular dive, when in actuality its up to the individual to make that decision. You and only you are responsible for your safety and that can be affected by your actions as well as inaction.

 

[Thalassamania]

... You and only you are responsible for your safety and that can be affected by your actions as well as inaction.

Therein lies a fallacy. You are responsible for your own safety and that of your team mates, be they other certified divers or (even more so) students.

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

Therein lies a fallacy. You are responsible for your own safety and that of your team mates, be they other certified divers or (even more so) students.

My team mates are not responsible for my safety ... they're responsible for abiding by the agreements we made when we became team mates. That includes providing me with a certain level of redundancy if it should become necessary ... but the decisions leading to that necessity are mine to own.

My team mate is not responsible if I ignore turn pressure and run out of gas ... I am.

My team mate is not responsible if I exceed my training or comfort level and put myself in a situation I don't know how to get out of ... I am.

My team mate is not responsible for me deciding to have a beer with lunch, knowing that I have a dive in three hours ... I am.

Likewise, I am not responsible for the decisions and actions of my team mate ... he or she is. If I can't trust them to make responsible decisions regarding their own safety and welfare, I shouldn't be diving with them.

I am not my buddy's nanny ... nor is he mine.

Students are a whole different situation ... but they were not part of the scenario asked by the OP ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[Thalassamania]

My team mates are not responsible for my safety ... they're responsible for abiding by the agreements we made when we became team mates. That includes providing me with a certain level of redundancy if it should become necessary ... but the decisions leading to that necessity are mine to own.

There we part company, I guess we live in very different worlds. I've spent my life assuring diving safety and living in a community of divers who willingly agree to be mutually dependent, and who can count on each other. At the core that's what it is all about for us.

I doubt if a fraction of one percent of the dives I've made were conducted from a commercial dive boat and, even then, perhaps only a handful were with insta-buddies, or for that matter made with individuals in whom I did not have complete confidence in their ability to both decide and act on my behalf in my best interests.

My team mate is not responsible if I ignore turn pressure and run out of gas ... I am.

I am responsible to indicate to my team mate that I am at bingo air, as well as to monitor my team mates' air consumption (as they do mine). If you chose to dive differently, that's fine, that's your business, but I'd not dive with you and you'd never be permitted to dive under the auspices of any institution or operation that I was responsible for.

My team mate is not responsible if I exceed my training or comfort level and put myself in a situation I don't know how to get out of ... I am.

Since my team mate could suffer significant consequences as a result of my making a bad decision in those areas, he has responsibilities for me and I for him.

My team mate is not responsible for me deciding to have a beer with lunch, knowing that I have a dive in three hours ... I am.

Once again, if you want to dive solo, or with someone who does not care, or someone who feels that beer is more important (and there appear to be quite a few, in each category for you to chose from) ... knock yourself out, but you've not diving with me, or auspices of any institution or operation that I was responsible for if you had a beer with lunch, sorry.

Likewise, I am not responsible for the decisions and actions of my team mate ... he or she is. If I can't trust them to make responsible decisions regarding their own safety and welfare, I shouldn't be diving with them.

If we are not willing to be responsible for the decisions and actions of our team mates, then we are not a team and we should not be diving together. If I can't trust them to make responsible decisions regarding their and my safety and welfare, I shouldn't be diving with them.

I am not my buddy's nanny ... nor is he mine.

Then you are naught but two divers who are accidentally in the same body of water at that same time. If that's how you like to dive, that's your business, but I'd not have any part of it.

Students are a whole different situation ... but they were not part of the scenario asked by the OP ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

I see students as junior team members whose ability to be of assistance to others is somewhat reduced, thus the extra care that is taken for conditions and staffing.

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

There we part company, I guess we live in very different worlds.

You could've stopped right there ... we certainly do.

I am responsible to indicate to my team mate that I am at bingo air, as well as to monitor my team mates' air consumption (as they do mine).

I agree with the first part ... it's what I said. As for my team mate, I trust the folks I dive with to let me know when they reach turn pressure or rock bottom, depending on the dive profile. If I didn't have that much trust, I wouldn't be in the water with them.

If you chose to dive differently, that's fine, that's your business, but I'd not dive with you and you'd never be permitted to dive under the auspices of any institution or operation that I was responsible for.

I'm sure you'll understand if I say I don't find that to be a terrible disappointment.

Since my team mate could suffer significant consequences as a result of my making a bad decision in those areas, he has responsibilities for me and I for him.

Since I dive with adults, I prefer to treat them as such. Our responsibilities are implicit in the team agreement we make when we decide to dive together. As long as we both abide by that agreement, I don't see the need to monitor my buddy's air supply or encourage any dependency whatsoever. Perhaps it's just that I'm more used to diving with competent people than you are ...

Once again, if you want to dive solo, or with someone who does not care, or someone who feels that beer is more important (and there appear to be quite a few, in each category for you to chose from) ... knock yourself out, but you've not diving with me, or auspices of any institution or operation that I was responsible for if you had a beer with lunch, sorry.

Who said anything about any of that? I think you're the one who's been drinking ... or perhaps just suffering the delusions of a perpetual god complex.

If we are not willing to be responsible for the decisions and actions of our team mates, then we are not a team and we should not be diving together. If I can't trust them to make responsible decisions regarding their and my safety and welfare, I shouldn't be diving with them.

Well ... duh ... thank you Captain Obvious. I suspect our differences on that point are a matter of degree ... and the amount of control we each feel we need to exert on our buddy's ability to make decisions and act responsibly.

Then you are naught but two divers who are accidentally in the same body of water at that same time. If that's how you like to dive, that's your business, but I'd not have any part of it.

You seem to have the need to read what you wish to read into someone else's words ... I suspect old age is affecting your comprehension skills..

I see students as junior team members whose ability to be of assistance to others is somewhat reduced, thus the extra care that is taken for conditions and staffing

I see students as people who are paying me to learn skills ... and part of my job is to give them as much freedom to make decisions as they have demonstrated to me they can handle.

I don't train dependent divers.

Thal, you don't need to concern yourself about me. I would never consider you a compatible dive buddy.

I dive for fun ... I don't think I'd have fun diving with you. That's all the reason I'll ever need ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)