136ft in no time

[SNorman]

The deeper you go, the less often you have to equalize (and adjust BCD) because the percentage change in pressure gets lower and lower for each extra foot of depth. So, it's possible to think you're descending slower than you are if you're used to how often you need to equalize in the first 30 feet or so.

I've never been to 130+ feet (not that I've avoided it, I just haven't had a dive where I needed to go there) but if I did accidentally end up there and I had enough gas, I would definitely spend a couple minutes there to see what it was like before heading back up, so I can see where the OP is coming from.

 

[joh]

Thanks for checking your gauges often. That's really saved your butt. Checking depth and then checking air frequently will help you to negotiate these mistakes. It is my opinion that complacency is the biggest enemy we have underwater and I have heard too many divers pontificate how they don't need to check their gauges often.

True. Getting in the habit of obsessively checking your gauges is going to save your butt at some point, IMO. There are always going to be dives where you go through air faster than your usual pattern i.e. if you're dealing with a current, otherwise exerting yourself or just seeing a lot of cool stuff down there that distracts you (for me, it happens when I lobster, because I am exerting myself more and excited ). Just this past weekend I was lobster hunting at 85 ft (really exceeding my usual consumption!) I was at 800 psi before I expected....

I was reminded of the importance of obsessively checking the gauges on such a dive!

 

[Ana]

Checking depth and then checking air frequently will help you to negotiate these mistakes. It is my opinion that complacency is the biggest enemy we have underwater and I have heard too many divers pontificate how they don't need to check their gauges often.

When I was a punk someone suggested to me to not only check often, but to estimate before looking.

As you go down you make a point to feel the depth, time and amount of gas; take your best guess and compare after looking at the gauges. Logically the more you do this the less error between your estimation and the actual values.

What happens after this becomes a habit is beneficial in many levels. Obviously you end up keeping very good track of your dive, but something else happens in the process. After many dives doing this, it kinda develops an internal gauge that allows you to immediately spot things out of place. It isn't something you can use "instead" of your gauges but in "addition to" them.

Not the case here but, you should always have a pretty good idea of how much air you have. Looking at your air pressure should NEVER produce a "WTF!!"

It was mentioned the OP should've noticed the depth in his ears. Well not if he's not tuned to know what it feels to be at that depth, or at any depth for that matter.

If there is no consideration on stopping solo dives, then find a way to tune your body to detect "oh crap" situations like this one. It isn't going to happen overnight so better be cautious, enjoy the journey but use your head and your gear, often better than seldom.

 

[Garth]

Okay. Not yet addressed. Why do you have to solo dive. Some solo dive because they can't find buddies. Some like the peacefulness. Others feel buddies become liabilities for more experienced divers performing difficult dives. The list goes on. I'm sure people would like to know your reason. To get started I have done a few solo dives. Once for mo avail buddy, other was because the available buddies scared me (and they were paired up at the time).

Your turn.

 

[TimKy]

It's funny to see how many people responded that he was crazy to stay at 136 fsw. As other poster's have said, that was almost certainly an impaired decision.

I'm a pilot and an analogous situation is flying in the upper teens - low 20,000 feet range in an unpressurized plane. We wear oxygen, of course, but even on oxygen there are times when you have talked too much or been lazy breathing and suddenly it is VERY hard to do simple tasks as your oxygen sat drops. Simple math becomes impossible and you will rethink the same problem over and over with different answers each time. Time suddenly becomes very fluid and minutes seem like hours or alternately like seconds. It really is very scary....but only later when you have your wits about you. At the time, something seems off, but it is often not really scary, just frustrating.

Pilots can train for hypoxia in an altitude chamber to see what their personal reaction to it is so they can learn to see it coming. It varies wildly by person. I wonder if there is any safe way to train for narcosis or test how you personally react to it. I also wonder if there is any correlation between your reaction to hypoxia and your reaction to narcosis. Anyone have any ideas on that?

 

[pjones]

Pilots can train for hypoxia in an altitude chamber to see what their personal reaction to it is so they can learn to see it coming. It varies wildly by person. I wonder if there is any safe way to train for narcosis or test how you personally react to it. I also wonder if there is any correlation between your reaction to hypoxia and your reaction to narcosis. Anyone have any ideas on that?

Divers have the ability to go for a ride in a pressure chamber from what I understand. It probably costs the same as going for a ride in an altitude chamber. My only question to you is, how good are you at righting research papers?