My first deep dive

[ginti]

I have tried twice now to buy a bp/w locally. The first shop said "what a great idea i will find one for you" and then never managed to get one priced let alone landed. The second shop i went to didn't acknowledge they existed and tried to sell me a rear inflation bcd. I ended up buying a bottom of the line standard bcd out of frustration, and instantly regretted it.

I also really want to do fundies but haven't had the coin for it yet.

Since you want to do fundies, try to contact right now a GUE instructor, just to ask for some info; there are two of them in New Zeland, they are going to tell you where to buy a bp/w

Regarding your question about narcosis, it changes a lot depending on several conditions; even external conditions, like water temperature and visibility, can affect narcosis. My guess? Worse conditions -> higher stress -> worse breathing pattern -> higher CO2 -> higher narcosis. If my guess is right, basically anything that affects your breathing pattern (including stress, which changes day by day) have an influence on narcosis.

In my case, I tend to feel narced below 30/35m, depending on conditions, which is why I don't like diving air/nitrox in this depth range - trimix is my thing

 

[Still Kicking]

I have experienced two different kinds of narc. First is the happy "it's all good man" well-being narc. It's dfficult to process information and i have poor recollection of the dive afterward.

Second is what i have heard of as "dark narc." Paranoid, intense unease, very unpleasant.

I don't know for sure but i suspect the narcosis takes your initial state of mind, eg. excitement or trepidation, and intensifies the feeling one way or the other as you go deeper. Like others have said, environmental and physiological factors increase the effects and hasten the onset. Elevated CO2 makes things exponentially worse.

Helium is a game changer. 140' feels just like 40'.

 

[Bubblesong]

I did not recognise i was narced until i could taste this weird oysters taste, associated with nitrous oxide fron dentist treatment and knew i had to ascend. I still remember the bubbles were singing to me, but that did not seem weird at all, only the taste made me aware.

 

[nolatom]

My deepest wasn't planned. On a drift dive off Jupiter we got set a bit too far seaward of the reef (odd current maybe?) while descending, which put the bottom at around 120' rather than the "usual" 90. I had been watching the bottom for reference as to when to level off, and not my depth gauge as I should have. So instead of 80, we were more like 100'-110'.

And at about this point, buddy (with much more experience than me) noticed a lone diver off toward the northeast, in deeper water, just standing on the bottom sand, staring ahead, doing nothing, all alone. She didn't hesitate, and went over and down to him. I followed, in order to stay close in case needed. Any mild narc on my part, if that's what it was, seemed to mostly retreat and stay at bay once I realized we had a "mission".

So she went to 150' to get to him, and I went to 147' to stay close in case needed. She got no reaction at all from him, and took his arm as we all ascended, and and at about 100', he "woke up" and became functional, so she let him go at that point, he was looking and acting "normal" he adjusted his BC on his own and was okay thereafter.

So I hadn't meant to go to 147', and maybe I didn't have to, but it seemed the right thing to do at the time just in case she needed any help in lifting or helping the guy. And I do wonder if I had gone that deep without a definite "thing that had to be done", I'd have gotten as narced as bad as this guy did.

My next deepest would be around 135' while passing through "Hole in the Wall", also off Jupiter.

 

[hedonist222]

My deepest wasn't planned. On a drift dive off Jupiter we got set a bit too far seaward of the reef (odd current maybe?) while descending, which put the bottom at around 120' rather than the "usual" 90. I had been watching the bottom for reference as to when to level off, and not my pressure gauge as I should have. So instead of 80, we were more like 100'-110'.

And at about this point, buddy (with much more experience than me) noticed a lone diver off toward the northeast, in deeper water, just standing on the bottom sand, staring ahead, doing nothing, all alone. She didn't hesitate, and went over and down to him. I followed, in order to stay close in case needed. Any mild narc on my part, if that's what it was, seemed to mostly retreat and stay at bay once I realized we had a "mission".

So she went to 150' to get to him, and I went to 147' to stay close in case needed. She got no reaction at all from him, and took his arm as we all ascended, and and at about 100', he "woke up" and became functional, so she let him go at that point, he was looking and acting "normal" he adjusted his BC on his own and was okay thereafter.

So I hadn't meant to go to 147', and maybe I didn't have to, but it seemed the right thing to do at the time just in case she needed any help in lifting or helping the guy. And I do wonder if I had gone that deep without a definite "thing that had to be done", I'd have gotten as narced as this guy did.

My next deepest would be around 135' while passing through "Hole in the Wall", also off Jupiter.

Don't leave us hanging.
What was the guy's story?

 

[nolatom]

You know, I don't believe we got the story. Might he have been from another boat? I don't recall if there was another boat. And, I wondered then, where was his buddy?

I'd be a bad news reporter--didn't get the juciest details. ;-)

 

[mcohen1021]

. I think @tbone1004 is on the money, i was finning a fair bit to keep up with my buddy.

Is it possible you were just dizzy from hyperventilating and not narced?

I've never felt narced once. Max depth 137 ft twice, many more dives 100 - 127 ft

 

[nolatom]

I have experienced two different kinds of narc. First is the happy "it's all good man" well-being narc. It's dfficult to process information and i have poor recollection of the dive afterward.

Second is what i have heard of as "dark narc." Paranoid, intense unease, very unpleasant.

I don't know for sure but i suspect the narcosis takes your initial state of mind, eg. excitement or trepidation, and intensifies the feeling one way or the other as you go deeper. Like others have said, environmental and physiological factors increase the effects and hasten the onset. Elevated CO2 makes things exponentially worse.

Helium is a game changer. 140' feels just like 40'.

You may be right about narc intensifying your existing mood. I think I was "happy" narced a bit when I got deeper than planned on initial descent and didn't bother to check my depth gauge. But once I knew buddy was going to go help this "statue" (that's what he looked like), it became "help the guy"--focused, and I was ready to be helpful even though probably narced some, but it was "go help out narc", if indeed that's a thing.
Fortunately I didn't have to do anything complicated, and buddy was tuned in.

 

[wedivebc]

but since CO2 is 25x as narcotic as nitrogen and oxygen,

Where did you get that statistic from?

 

[BlueTrin]

I did not recognise i was narced until i could taste this weird oysters taste, associated with nitrous oxide fron dentist treatment and knew i had to ascend. I still remember the bubbles were singing to me, but that did not seem weird at all, only the taste made me aware.

Is that related to your nickname @Bubblesong ?