DevonDiver
N/A
I did a series of deep air dives in the 70-85m range a few years ago. Considerable amnesia on surfacing from those dives, although nothing dramatic happened.
Collecting Narcosis Stories
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At least, not that you recall.
not really an "oh s-ht" story but I did see the results of narcosis get a diver into serious trouble once.
The setting is this: The year is 1985, I'm diving with a buddy along a deep wall. At the time we were told that the wall was effectively bottomless, but I understand that the drop off levels out at about 150m. My buddy and I had just descended and were leveling out at about 40m. In those days we often made very deep dives and IIRC my depth gauge showed depths up to 200ft (60m).
Just as we were getting to depth we encountered a group of divers doing a "deep" dive, presumably for a course. They were spread out in a line and due to visibility we could only see the last few divers in the chain. (as an aside, a lot of romanticizing of how good training was in the past is a load of crap, as witnessed by the execution of this deep dive. People seem to overlook how much more risk averse we have become).
The incident begins when the last diver in the chain suddenly starts waving his hands around him like he's trying to wave off swarming bees. We can't see what's wrong but we discovered a bit later that he had swum into a large ball of discarded fishing line and we getting tangled up in it. As I said, it was a wall and to make a long story short, he started to sink. We went after him (an impulsive action and given our depth, perhaps unwise). I caught up with him first and pinned him against the wall to stop his descent. That's when the narcosis plays a role. After that initial action, I had no idea what to do. I picked up my console and saw that my depth meter was pinned (at least that's how I remember it.....), thought "oh FK", dropped it and promptly forgot what it said. I picked it up again, had the same reaction, dropped it and forgot what it said again. I still wasn't formulating a plan to solve the problem. I seemed to be getting in a loop of trying to understand where I was and the status of the dive.
That's when my buddy arrived and started giving frantic "thumbs up" signs, which seemed like a pretty good plan so that's what we did. It all ended well because we had enough air (just, I believe) to do the necessary emergency decompression, and a knife to get our new found friend untied from his fishing line.
Looking back, it was a very dangerous situation for everyone. The diver in question responded inadequately to his entanglement, possibly in part due to the narcosis, our decision to pursue was instinctive -- and perhaps ill advised -- and once at depth we (myself in particular) had a very difficult time trying to work out what to do next. This was entirely due to narcosis. At those depths we had very limited air time, and unknown deco obligation and to be honest it was very lucky that it didn't end in a serious accident with 2 or 3 victims, all of which had to due with the depth, the narcosis and using what divers would now consider to be inadequate gear for deep diving.
R..
---------- Post added August 21st, 2013 at 10:45 AM ----------
That's a powerful vision. It's common for people to have visions of recently deceased loved ones. It's possibly one of the roots of the belief in life after death and reincarnation.
Some would say that it's entirely possible that this vision was NOT caused by narcosis and that what your friend saw was real.
Food for thought.
R..
reneebon
New
The first time I noticed I was narcing I was leading a dive as a divemaster in Mozambique. The dive was at about 24 meters. I checked my computer and saw I was close to deco. And then I didn't care and wanted to go deeper and check out an octopus I had just seen. And then I realised it was odd that I didn't care and thought that I should care. At which point I thought it would be good to start the slow ascent.
Since then I am better at noticing when I'm narcing. And I have realised it doesn't take being very deep at all. Another odd experience was diving off Inhambane in Mozambique - I wasn't the DM this time - we were 25kms offshore and 28 meters down and there were these huge mountains of coral and I was swimming through the crevices. And I kept thinking I could hear a boat's engine thrumming above. And it was never going away. And then I thought about how we were in the middle of nowhere and there weren't any other boats around but ours. And I realised I was narcing. But what was amazing was that when I was in between two huge coral structures the pulsating noise got louder and deeper, like it was the coral making the noise.
And quite frankly, whose to say it wasn't? Strange things happen under the sea.
Since then I am better at noticing when I'm narcing. And I have realised it doesn't take being very deep at all. Another odd experience was diving off Inhambane in Mozambique - I wasn't the DM this time - we were 25kms offshore and 28 meters down and there were these huge mountains of coral and I was swimming through the crevices. And I kept thinking I could hear a boat's engine thrumming above. And it was never going away. And then I thought about how we were in the middle of nowhere and there weren't any other boats around but ours. And I realised I was narcing. But what was amazing was that when I was in between two huge coral structures the pulsating noise got louder and deeper, like it was the coral making the noise.
And quite frankly, whose to say it wasn't? Strange things happen under the sea.
:admingreet: The blonde puts in her appearance....
My experience with Narcosis have been dry dives. I was lucky enough to do a 30 and 50M Chamber dive for the experience.
The Chamber Tech said those who tend to be effected by alcohol easily tend to get narced easily too. I was the exception to that rule.
In the 30M dive there were a couple young buck DM's so off their faces I had to set up and put their bib systems on for their O2 delivery. I don't think I was hit at all. The 50M was a different story. The "dive" was on tape. I thought I was doing pretty well working on my assigned paperwork. I was so focused I never heard the Chamber tech tell us to put the paperwork aside.. twice! It is handy to know that when I get Narced.. I get tunnel vision so much.. that is really a concern for someone who has a camera!
Something else the chamber tech mentioned that was interesting. A lot of people who find their regs "breathe wet" at depth are often suffering the earlier stages of being narced. Their muscle tone has relaxed and they may not be holding the reg in their mouth well enough to avoid pulling some water in when they breathe. Interesting thought!
My experience with Narcosis have been dry dives. I was lucky enough to do a 30 and 50M Chamber dive for the experience.
The Chamber Tech said those who tend to be effected by alcohol easily tend to get narced easily too. I was the exception to that rule.
In the 30M dive there were a couple young buck DM's so off their faces I had to set up and put their bib systems on for their O2 delivery. I don't think I was hit at all. The 50M was a different story. The "dive" was on tape. I thought I was doing pretty well working on my assigned paperwork. I was so focused I never heard the Chamber tech tell us to put the paperwork aside.. twice! It is handy to know that when I get Narced.. I get tunnel vision so much.. that is really a concern for someone who has a camera!
Something else the chamber tech mentioned that was interesting. A lot of people who find their regs "breathe wet" at depth are often suffering the earlier stages of being narced. Their muscle tone has relaxed and they may not be holding the reg in their mouth well enough to avoid pulling some water in when they breathe. Interesting thought!
I've had a couple or more of dark narcs. No exciting story to tell, just suvh a foreboding that I become very anxious to exit the water immediately. Have learned over the years that these can mean I'm tired.
Have had many more martini narcs, or were they? Maybe I wasn't narced at all, maybe those really were the best FRICKEN dives I've EVER been on.
Have had many more martini narcs, or were they? Maybe I wasn't narced at all, maybe those really were the best FRICKEN dives I've EVER been on.
Diving Cocos Island at 132 feet, first noticed a sweet air taste, hearing seemed different too. I glanced at my computer and noticed I was about to into Deco. So I came up to about 85 feet and all effects were gone almost immediately. Same feeling when I had gas at the dentist. Except I was a lot more uptight at the dentist.
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This is the narced experience I get also....its exactly the same feeling as the dentist gas...last month I was doing some cenotes at 170 feet and I swore I was sitting in the dentist chair....when I finally realized I wasn't, I knew it was time to start going up....the last think I needed was to start opening my mouth real wide..
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