Drinking & Diving

[kanonfodr]

The knowledge that a potential dive buddy habitually uses mind-altering substances undermines my confidence in them as a dive buddy. I may dive with them, but not as a dive buddy, per se.

I am not trying to offend anyone here, it's just that I have seen what alcohol and drugs do to people and I want no part of it.

And you would define 'habitually' as??

Peace,
Greg

 

[Paladin]

And you would define 'habitually' as??

Peace,
Greg

I removed the word "habitually" from my post. My meaning should be clearer now.

 

[BgDadddy]

I personally wouldn't dive with someone who doesn't drink. If you haven't been drunk, how are you going to react to being narc'ed?

Besides, I don't like uptight, goody-goody people. :mooner:

 

[Paladin]

I am quite aware that I get narked easily and dive with that in mind. And who's being "goody-goody?" I don't try to make others live as I choose to live. I just don't want their choices to have an adverse impact on me.

 

[Ianstephenzs]

I thought that a chat forum like this was the modern form of a soap box

 

[Paladin]

I thought that a chat forum like this was the modern form of a soap box

Not necessarily. It can be used as a soap box, but I see it as a venue for discussing various topics.

 

[Tortuga68]

I may dive in the company of a diver who drinks, but I will not buddy with them

It's up to you to determine what your criteria for buddy selection are, so I'm not going to bash you for it. If I applied the same rule, it would probably eliminate 95% of the people I buddy with (both friends & instabuddies), and I would have missed out on diving with some great divers (including most if not all of my instructors) and people. Like you I also enjoy the peace & serenity of a solo dive, but there are plenty of times when it's nice to have a good buddy along too

Personally I don't believe that someone who doesn't drink is automatically a good buddy, any more than I believe that someone who does is a bad buddy. I can't understand the logic behind your statement "If find myself diving with people who are drinkers, I go into the water with the knowledge that I am on my own if anything goes wrong" as it implies that they couldn't or wouldn't help you

Frankly I think you're letting your own morals colour your judgement, but that's your call

 

[Paladin]

It's up to you to determine what your criteria for buddy selection are, so I'm not going to bash you for it. If I applied the same rule, it would probably eliminate 95% of the people I buddy with (both friends & instabuddies), and I would have missed out on diving with some great divers (including most if not all of my instructors) and people. Like you I also enjoy the peace & serenity of a solo dive, but there are plenty of times when it's nice to have a good buddy along too

Personally I don't believe that someone who doesn't drink is automatically a good buddy, any more than I believe that someone who does is a bad buddy. I can't understand the logic behind your statement "If find myself diving with people who are drinkers, I go into the water with the knowledge that I am on my own if anything goes wrong" as it implies that they couldn't or wouldn't help you

Frankly I think you're letting your own morals colour your judgement, but that's your call

My choice to not drink alcohol is not based on morals. Quite frankly, I'm somewhat of a control freak when it comes to my own mind. I cannot stand the idea of not being in complete control of my thoughts and actions. I do enough stupid stuff without adding alcohol to the mix. Once, twenty years ago, I had a kidney stone and it was extremely painful. At the hospital, they gave me morphine for the pain and I hated what it did to me. The impairment to my faculties was unacceptable. I was happy when the stone was removed and I could get back to normal.

How can I be sure that the person I'm diving with is completely free of the effects of the alcohol they imbibed the night before? How can I be sure that they aren't still impaired enough to not notice if I'm having trouble? I can't, so I feel the safest thing to do is to dive as if I am alone and within limits that I know I can handle on my own.

 

[theduckguru]

My choice to not drink alcohol is not based on morals. Quite frankly, I'm somewhat of a control freak when it comes to my own mind. I cannot stand the idea of not being in complete control of my thoughts and actions. Once, twenty years ago, I had a kidney stone and it was extremely painful. At the hospital, they gave me morphine for the pain and I hated what it did to me. The impairment to my faculties was unacceptable.
I was happy when the stone was removed and I could get back to normal.

Interesting that you would chose a recreational activity were you could experience impairment without warning or reason.

 

[Paladin]

Interesting that you would chose a recreational activity were you could experience impairment without warning or reason.

Odd, isn't it? However, I generally dive shallower than 70 feet for that very reason. Back in the 1970s, I went to 130 feet once and felt the effects of IGN. I didn't like it and haven't been that deep since. I don't dive to go deep, anyway, so staying in relatively shallow water doesn't bother me.

With the OP's permission, I would like to hijack this thread for a moment. My aversion to narcosis has led me to consider getting a nitrox cert. The one deep dive I would like to do is the U-85 and maybe the U-352. Both of these are deeper than 100 feet and I know I would get narked. Would nitrox be of benefit to me for this dive? I haven't really done much reading about nitrox and the thought of using it is a recent development. No one I dive with uses it.