Question Ever experienced Nitrogen Narcosis?

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Did everybody go down and do math problems at 110’ for their AOW like I did?
That's not done anymore in AOW; AOW now looks at color changes, and the cognitive/dexterity skills are saved for 130 feet during the deep specialty.
The reason to take them out of AOW was two-fold: (a) not all AOW deep dives make it to 100 ft....61 feet meets the standards, and (b) people practiced the skills at the surface (to learn what they were) and so many were better at them the second time around, even at depth.
 
The Master Scuba Diver program my LDS runs includes a chamber dive to let you experience narcosis in a much more, controlled environment.
 
The Master Scuba Diver program my LDS runs includes a chamber dive to let you experience barcodes in a much more,controlled environment.
Love your AutoCorrect!

On a related note: I did a high-altitude chamber ride at one point and we got to experience cognitive problems with hypoxia. There were four of us, each with a handler. Each of us was given a task to do; we got to altitude we took off our O2 masks and started out tasks. One pair was playing patty cake. One guy was dealing playing cards, saying the value, and tossing it into a wastebasket. I had a sheet with little math problems on one side and a maze on the other. We were told when we felt weird or uncomfortable just to put our O2 masks back on, or at 4 mins they'd do it for us. I did all my math problems, worked easily through the maze, looked around to see how the others were doing. Suddenly a mask got slapped on me. We "descended," and then watched a video of us. The pattycake pair, one guy was still doing it, the other has just stopped with his hands on his legs, not moving. The playing card guy was saying, "...2 of clubs, 3 of hearts, jack of spades, jack of spades, jack of spades..." He was still tossing the cards in the waste basket, but his mind had stopped. My math problems fell apart about halfway through the page....I was still writing numbers, but they were randomly placed on the page with no relation to the problems; my pencil track on the maze just started at some random point and moved randomly. None of us were aware of anything unusual during the hypoxia.
 
+1. Additionally, if you are able to switch / gas share with someone with helium at that depth as a test, you might find it interesting.
Yep.

While breathing a mixture of 21% Oxygen, 35% Helium and 44% Nitrogen at 40m, that gas mixture equates to a depth of only 18m.

Trimix (what I laid out above and expressed simply as 21/35) is remarkable. Again, this is outside the scope of Basic SCUBA but curious divers and those hungry for more training may benefit from the exposure to training and capabilities within their grasp.
 
Love your AutoCorrect!

On a related note: I did a high-altitude chamber ride at one point and we got to experience cognitive problems with hypoxia. There were four of us, each with a handler. Each of us was given a task to do; we got to altitude we took off our O2 masks and started out tasks. One pair was playing patty cake. One guy was dealing playing cards, saying the value, and tossing it into a wastebasket. I had a sheet with little math problems on one side and a maze on the other. We were told when we felt weird or uncomfortable just to put our O2 masks back on, or at 4 mins they'd do it for us. I did all my math problems, worked easily through the maze, looked around to see how the others were doing. Suddenly a mask got slapped on me. We "descended," and then watched a video of us. The pattycake pair, one guy was still doing it, the other has just stopped with his hands on his legs, not moving. The playing card guy was saying, "...2 of clubs, 3 of hearts, jack of spades, jack of spades, jack of spades..." He was still tossing the cards in the waste basket, but his mind had stopped. My math problems fell apart about halfway through the page....I was still writing numbers, but they were randomly placed on the page with no relation to the problems; my pencil track on the maze just started at some random point and moved randomly. None of us were aware of anything unusual during the hypoxia.

Great testimony!
 
Terrifying

 
Did everybody go down and do math problems at 110’ for their AOW like I did?
No, because that would have been a standards violation (assuming PADI). :wink: 100 ft was as deep as my instructor would do. No issues with math there, but not everyone is noticeably impaired at that depth. My impression is the primary "lesson" in that AOW dive is how quickly gas disappears.
 
My impression is the primary "lesson" in that AOW dive is how quickly gas disappears.
Three lessons...maybe four depending on the environment.
  1. Gas goes away a lot faster
  2. Colors lose the red
  3. possible narcosis for some
  4. it doesn't seem like you're that deep in nice, clear, tropical water
 
Being narced is weird. When i was diving 5 days a week I did a dive to 167' on air, and felt mildly amused. 130' was no big deal.

Got out of diving for a couple years and then went to 100' and felt really weird. Buzzy is the best way to describe it. Narced with no recent experience was eye opening.

I don't know if you learn to adapt or if something else physiologically but it seems to be random...but.... Influenced by factors like heavy breathing, dehydration, decent rate, ect....
 
I know when I check my gauge, forget what it read, then check it again.

I had a "dark nark" once. Feeling of doom, GTFO sense. So I did.

I never felt out of control, but I have to focus harder to get where I want to be.

All this is on air, and usually between 65-75'. Water temps around 56f, and usually at night.
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/perdix-ai/

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