Dark Narc or Why I don’t dive air to 100ft

[TSandM]

Seriously?? You would rather stay at depth experiencing symptoms of delusion/hallucination than ascend?? Full well knowing its just narcosis and the best way to relieve symptoms is to ascend?? What if this had happened on a drift dive or you were blown off of a wreck? And then, suggest the need for helium to do these dives??

"Safer being impaired and oriented ?" Wow. I thought I had heard everything.

Before I was even interested in diving I listened to a old time diver tell me that in diving there are rules and you cannot break them. The rule for narcosis is to ascend.

I agree; the cure for narcosis is to ascend. But ascending along the bottom contour is preferable to ascending into green water, especially if poor viz is playing a significant role in the narcosis, as it often does here. If I'm delusional and freaked, the LAST thing I want to is to deprive myself of the only orientation I have. Swimming upslope is the answer, but even better is not getting that narced. Once I found out what my issues were, I don't go to 100 fsw in very poor viz, and I never go below that without helium in the breathing mixture.

You can argue that recreational helium is ridiculous. I argue that depths of 100 fsw or below in Puget Sound, for me, are unsafe unless my head is clear.

 

[DIR-Atlanta]

You can argue that recreational helium is ridiculous. I argue that depths of 100 fsw or below in Puget Sound, for me, are unsafe unless my head is clear.

I'm with TSandM on this one. To quote a friend - "Helium good, Narcosis bad".

Piikki, I have another question about this incident. I know it's pretty easy to play "armchair quarterback" here, but I am curious about why you didn't tow a surface float with you. Given your concern about the potential for boat traffic (and the possibility of an emergency ascent due to equipment failure, OOA, etc), wouldn't a dive float have been a good option for this particular dive?

 

[String]

Again every diver is responsible for deciding exactly what level of risk they're prepared to accept. No outsider should have a say - its down to the individual.

For lots of places with that incredible price of Helium a lot of deep diving is a case of diving it on air or not doing it at all. If someone wants to dive it they decide if they're prepared to accept the narcosis risk or not. If they are, they dive it. If they aren't they dont.

Most people can't justify or afford spending way over $100 per dive when they can do it "with a bit of narcosis" on air.

The trick is knowing your limits and also being prepared to abort at any moment if it becomes a bigger problem that thought.

Some days im narced at 30m, some days im comfortable at 50m. Warm clear water i feel happier than dark cold murky and so on. Varies from day to day, my choice as to if i want to attempt the dive and my choice to abort at any time if i dont like it.

 

[Garrobo]

Glad I don't have these problems.

 

[piikki]

Piikki, I have another question about this incident. I know it's pretty easy to play "armchair quarterback" here, but I am curious about why you didn't tow a surface float with you. Given your concern about the potential for boat traffic (and the possibility of an emergency ascent due to equipment failure, OOA, etc), wouldn't a dive float have been a good option for this particular dive?

We always have a surface float when we dive locally, it's the state law. We had it but when we did skills we tied it in. As our (sane) plan was just to swim around a bit to warm up we did not grab it. It's been way too many times we have seen how the boats have no idea how to respect the distance that I really don't even know what to think of this law.

It's an absolute pain to drag the flag especially in waves. Anchoring is our usual practice. No extra towing whenever possible. We certainly do not drag a float around because of emergency ascents/failures etc because we carry SMBs for marking.

 

[snepdiver]

Thanks for the story and all the responses. Very informative points of view. Its great to see a good discussion about something that all of us have or could expirence.

 

[Blackwood]

For lots of places with that incredible price of Helium a lot of deep diving is a case of diving it on air or not doing it at all. If someone wants to dive it they decide if they're prepared to accept the narcosis risk or not. If they are, they dive it. If they aren't they dont.

Most people can't justify or afford spending way over $100 per dive when they can do it "with a bit of narcosis" on air.

Generally speaking, if I'm planning a dive in the depth range where I'm concerned about narcosis (on average, >110), it's a dive I'll be paying to do (charter, travel, etc.). Since I like to remember those dives, going without helium is out of the question. My memory is severely hindered by narcosis, and paying to do a dive I won't remember is something I'm not too interested in. For me, the extra 80-140 bucks for a tech1 level nitrox fill (dubs or dubs + stage) is fine by me.

That being said, I do feel your pain. The cost of gas for two dives here exceeded the cost of the five of us chartering the boat...

 

[String]

Ive never had a dive where ive forgotten chunks of it. Ive been very narced on a few and can remember being narced. I may not have taken in all the details but i certainly remember doing the dives. In fact some of them my memories of fantastic vis, huge wrecks and life are almost certainly artificially enhanced by narcosis!

Cost though is the main issue. Twin 12s with air will cost me about £7. Twin 12s with helium for similar depth is going to cost me £60 or so. (club boat £15 or charter £40 so gas more expensive than boat)

 

[TSandM]

A 25/25 fill in my double 85s is about $36. I don't particularly LIKE paying $36 for one dive (plus gas for the boat, or charter fees) but that dive is so much more pleasant, and I remember it so much more clearly, that it's worth it to do from time to time. I don't dive that deep, or use helium, that often.

 

[Blackwood]

Ive never had a dive where ive forgotten chunks of it. Ive been very narced on a few and can remember being narced. I may not have taken in all the details but i certainly remember doing the dives. In fact some of them my memories of fantastic vis, huge wrecks and life are almost certainly artificially enhanced by narcosis!

Nice. I've never had that experience.

I get it from two sides. My memory goes to hell, but that's primarily a short term issue. However (possibly as an effect of the memory hit), I also become extremely fixated on my gauges. Depth/Time, Direction, Gas. Lather, rinse, repeat.

I can't tell you how many times I've come up to hear "wow, that was spectacular. Did you see that ____?" To which I must return a blank stare. "No, but I saw how much gas I had, not that I can tell you any more."

Not that I could make any use of the data. I see how much gas I have, but I can't process it. Do I remember my turn pressure and rock bottom? Yah, probably. But can I process how fast I'm going through the gas? Not really. I see a discrete series of numbers. My brain can't connect the dots when I'm narced. I can't really do depth averaging when I'm narced. That's scares me.

Also, I become somewhat useless. I get really... follow-y. Oh I guess we're going this way now. Oh, I guess we're flying a bag now. I'm there, but not REALLY there. The muscle memory instinctive responses (like rapid light flashing = donate long hose) probably still work rather quickly. But give me a task and I'm going to be overly focused on that task.

For me it's not just about my personal enjoyment of the dive. It's about my team mates. I'm trusting them with my life, and they're doing the same of me with theirs. So I must be at 100%, anything else is unacceptable.

Whenever necessary, I'll pony up the cash for helium.