Energy drinks before diving ???

[DeepSeaExplorer]

The debate about cafine aside... what's the need to get all keyed up by drinking a bunch of sugar before the dive? What kind of dive are you doing that you need an energy drink?

 

[AXL72]

The debate about cafine aside... what's the need to get all keyed up by drinking a bunch of sugar before the dive? What kind of dive are you doing that you need an energy drink?

Maybe it is instructors responding to the enegery drinks? Maybe they need thh pep-up to be all bubbly and bright eyed with the guests on the boat first thing in the morning, and the energy drinks help?

Drinking water works fine for me, but then again, I ain't up in front of the crowd giving instructions and making sure everybody is suited up.

Maybe?

 

[Thalassamania]

"Energy" drinks - No!;
Sport drinks - Maybe!;
French Cocktail (1 liter of O.J and two baby aspirins) - always!

 

[MBH]

I prefer to stay away from any CNS stimulants defore diving as I've read that there is a suspected link to CNS stimulants and an increased sensitivity to O2 toxing. I'd hate to do the funky chicken at depth.

 

[shark_tamer]

The debate about cafine aside... what's the need to get all keyed up by drinking a bunch of sugar before the dive? What kind of dive are you doing that you need an energy drink?

Personally, I never have energy drinks .... Red Bull, Gatoraid ... name them ... NEVER !!!

On an average dive day, I drink about 1 liter of water .... and my everyday 2 cups of Java with breakfast !!!!

I asked that question because the other day I was at a practice pool and I heard the instructor telling the students about those drinks ... and maybe it would be helpfull to others.

 

[AXL72]

I asked that question because the other day I was at a practice pool and I heard the instructor telling the students about those drinks ... and maybe it would be helpfull to others.

oh that?

yes...that talk means the shop has a fridge stocked with a bunch of that stuff they are selling. That is called sales and marketing

 

[Oriskany Divemaster]

Let's be realistic, the most vigorous part about diving is putting on the gear and trudging to the gunwhale, and if you can get through that, and land somewhere close to the water's surface, you're doing all right. The other difficult part I've seen for most people is the surface swim to the anchor line. If you can get through those two hurdles, you're more than halfway there. So energy drinks take a backseat to water.

Being in the sun for 4-8 hours can take its toll on a person. So nothing works better than gallons (or liters) or water. Dehydration headaches can crush one's spirits after enjoying a great day of diving, and they may end up blaming the diving rather than the dehydration, thus ending a dive career early.

As a professional diver, I kick more than the average diver--kicking up to pull someone down, or diving down to pull someone up--so I always drink plenty of water (liter between dives) and keep Potassium pills aboard to keep from cramping up.

I know it sounds like a commercial, but it works. So take it from me, the Oriskany Divemaster. When you're cramping up, or suffering from post dive headaches, nothing works better than water and potassium. Just tell 'em ODM sent you. Available at municpal sources everywhere.

*Potassium (K) is a registered trademark of the Periodic Tables. No animals were injured during this production. This is a Mark Todd/Screen Gems presentation. Speigel, Chicago 60609.

 

[AXL72]

ohhhh hahahahahahahahaha

that was a good one

 

[MauiScubaSteve]

Let's be realistic

With regard to instructors, generally any sub group of the population has the same percentage of tendecies as the general population. Upon waking up, some drink coffee, some soda, some tea, etc. Unfortunately that also means a few probably spice up their coffee or soda with alcohol

The reading I've done indicates that until recently our morning fluids give net hydration, although some water is not a bad idea. I seem to be different than most people I know, in that I have to have a good breakfast before starting every day. For me that always includes minimum 16oz Hawaiian Isles vanilla macadamia nut coffee, usually more

The newer high octane energy drinks seem very popular with the overeager A+ personality types who just have to accomplish stuff as soon as they get out of bed. I prefer to see them as having bad planning and suspect priorities; you would not go diving with a half full tank so why would you start your day with a half full stomach :no

As far as between and post dive, Dick Rutkowski (noted dive scientist) told me a saline solution best flushes excesive nitrogen from tissue. He scoffed at dive op's that provided carbonated beverages on dive boats and said gatorade would be much better (it was Florida). I spent some time looking at labels, finding that at 5%, High-C had the highest sodium content of the non-carbonates at that time (spring '00)

As can be seen with the proliferation of integrated BCD's and harness weights, proper nutrition and fitness is mostly just given lip service by Western civilization, and many wish energy/sports drink hydration will cover for their otherwise bad habits

 

[Scubakevdm]

Let's be realistic, the most vigorous part about diving is putting on the gear and trudging to the gunwhale, and if you can get through that, and land somewhere close to the water's surface, you're doing all right. The other difficult part I've seen for most people is the surface swim to the anchor line. If you can get through those two hurdles, you're more than halfway there. So energy drinks take a backseat to water.

Being in the sun for 4-8 hours can take its toll on a person. So nothing works better than gallons (or liters) or water. Dehydration headaches can crush one's spirits after enjoying a great day of diving, and they may end up blaming the diving rather than the dehydration, thus ending a dive career early.

As a professional diver, I kick more than the average diver--kicking up to pull someone down, or diving down to pull someone up--so I always drink plenty of water (liter between dives) and keep Potassium pills aboard to keep from cramping up.

I know it sounds like a commercial, but it works. So take it from me, the Oriskany Divemaster. When you're cramping up, or suffering from post dive headaches, nothing works better than water and potassium. Just tell 'em ODM sent you. Available at municpal sources everywhere.

*Potassium (K) is a registered trademark of the Periodic Tables. No animals were injured during this production. This is a Mark Todd/Screen Gems presentation. Speigel, Chicago 60609.

Actually, I think that this post should be taken with a grain of salt. First of all, though the most vigorous part of the dive for divers may be the walk from their seats to the stern, I think that the issue isn't one of stamina, or available energy, it's one of hydration.
Dehydration is definitely strongly correlated with occurrences of decompression sickness. I think that the major concern with energy drinks is the very high levels of caffeine found in them (though I understand that there may also be issues with some of the other ingredients contributing to the likelihood of an O2 hit). Caffeine is a diuretic, or in other words, it acts to dehydrate you. This makes the transfer of dissolved nitrogen more difficult and much much less efficient.
One of the biggest sources (to me) of discord on SB is that when someone makes a remark, or thinks about diving, they usually do so in terns of the kind of diving that they do. One of the great things about diving though, is that there is a different kind of diving for everyone. For example, if when you dive, you are having a 45 minute kick around Molasses Reef at 25 feet, having a cup of coffee or a Red Bull before the dive may not be a big deal (though one could argue that with as many unknowns as remain regarding decompression sickness, why would you want to do anything intentionally that would increase your chances of being hurt?) however, if you are doing a 300 foot trimix dive with a couple hours of deco, it may become a problem.
The same is true about the specifics of the sites that are being visited. Someone recommended earlier in the thread that divers should just drink what they normally would when they wake up and then start to hydrate once they get on the boat. While there may (or may not ) be enough time to do hydrate on the way out to the Oriskany, It may not be so clever to start thinking about hydrating when you show up at a boat with a 15 minute run out to a deep wreck like the Sky Cliffe, or for that matter even a shallow reef.
I am also a professional diver, I guess... at any rate a full time DM, but I kick significantly less than most divers. I'm underwater significantly more than most divers though, with lots and lots of day after day after day runs of repetitive dives. Because of this I am super conscious about staying hydrated.
Lastly, I just wanted to let you know that you should be extremely careful about grabbing divers and dragging them down, for a variety of reasons. Some may be obvious, like the fact that there may be some kind of emergency that caused them to ascend in the first place, but some that are not, like the fact that you have no way of knowing whether or not the diver is able to equalize their ears as fast as you are dragging them down.