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Deefstes
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How to ensure N2 narcosis?
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A real easy way to see the effect of N on you is make a dive on air on a 100fsw wreck or something. Do the math problems as suggested or something. Then make the exact same dive on 32EAN.
I forgot where I did this, but I was complaining about not finding any sharks teeth on a dive, despite the fact that the wreck had TONS of resident sand tigers. Someone told me to switch to 32EAN for that dive and low and behold tons of shark teeth.
N effects different people differently. Personally it makes me anxious as I get deeper. What I have noticed for me is that the deeper I go, the less of the dive I recall afterward. It is sort of fuzzy. Obviously I'm narced.
I forgot where I did this, but I was complaining about not finding any sharks teeth on a dive, despite the fact that the wreck had TONS of resident sand tigers. Someone told me to switch to 32EAN for that dive and low and behold tons of shark teeth.
N effects different people differently. Personally it makes me anxious as I get deeper. What I have noticed for me is that the deeper I go, the less of the dive I recall afterward. It is sort of fuzzy. Obviously I'm narced.
Some divers don't feel the affects of narcosis, so they feel that they aren't narced. Other divers don't feel the affects, but realize that their performance is affected. Some are ****faced and chalk it up to feeling happy, while their compatriots know they are three sheets to the wind. Unfortunately, this information doesn't benefit you a whole lot unless you can quantify how the narcosis is affecting you in real terms.
I recommend that you not only go for a chamber ride, but volunteer to be a test subject at your local recompression facility. What this usually entails is individual testing on problem solving and reaction time. Comparisons are made with your scores before you go into the chamber and volunteers are usually given an individual debrief to shown them what the results were. At this point you should have a good idea what your "narcosis envelope" is without getting wet.
I recommend that you not only go for a chamber ride, but volunteer to be a test subject at your local recompression facility. What this usually entails is individual testing on problem solving and reaction time. Comparisons are made with your scores before you go into the chamber and volunteers are usually given an individual debrief to shown them what the results were. At this point you should have a good idea what your "narcosis envelope" is without getting wet.
richerso
Contributor
I know I get narced on every deep dive, generally below about 60 - 70 ft. I don't usually notice the symptoms though. . . . . however-
I was at lake Oauchita last year, cruising through the forest at 110 ft when suddenly, my compass made absolutely no sense to me. It had numbers. It would spin around as I moved but I had no idea how to use this "foreign" instrument. Then I got lost. I had no idea how to get to shore. I finally realized I could use this foreign instrument compass that I was holding in my hand; but I had no idea what the meaning of the numbers was.
I finally decided to hug a tree for about two minutes and study my compass. Having thought about this problem for a while, I picked a number on the compass and proceeded to head out of the forest. In a few kick cycles I found the familiar shore line incline upward. When I got to about 80 ft, my head cleared instantly. Do you remember those Wylie Coyote cartoons where he gets hit in the head with an anvil and then he just sort of shakes his head violently to shake it off? That's kind of what I did at 80 ft. I had to laugh at myself.
I was at lake Oauchita last year, cruising through the forest at 110 ft when suddenly, my compass made absolutely no sense to me. It had numbers. It would spin around as I moved but I had no idea how to use this "foreign" instrument. Then I got lost. I had no idea how to get to shore. I finally realized I could use this foreign instrument compass that I was holding in my hand; but I had no idea what the meaning of the numbers was.
I finally decided to hug a tree for about two minutes and study my compass. Having thought about this problem for a while, I picked a number on the compass and proceeded to head out of the forest. In a few kick cycles I found the familiar shore line incline upward. When I got to about 80 ft, my head cleared instantly. Do you remember those Wylie Coyote cartoons where he gets hit in the head with an anvil and then he just sort of shakes his head violently to shake it off? That's kind of what I did at 80 ft. I had to laugh at myself.
Herk_Man
Contributor
Tree hugger. 
I think it's a common perception that you should feel "high" or woozy or somehow quite different because you are suffering from narcosis.
In my experience, that isn't true at all. You're just stupid. You may not notice it at all, until you are confronted with some kind of problem to solve that you haven't seen before. For example, I was at 100 fsw one night with a good friend and VERY experienced diver and instructor. One of my cambands popped loose, and my tank was unstable on my back (lying almost crosswise). I signaled my buddy and pointed to my back -- he looked at it and signaled to me that everything was OK. I frowned and swam on a few more feet, and then more emphatically signaled to him to look again. The second time, he recognized that the band was loose and the tank wasn't the way it should be. The first time, he had looked, but he hadn't understood what he saw. That's narcosis.
My Fundies instructor told a story about having a valve failure at 100 fsw on a wreck. He closed the valve, but the bubbles didn't stop, so he isolated. He thumbed the dive (five minutes into it!) and started an ascent. At 70 feet, he reached up to check his manifold, and discovered he had never closed the original valve. This is a guy who TEACHES valve shutdowns, for Heaven's sake. He doesn't go that deep on air any more.
When I took my Cave 2 class, we did a bunch of diving in the 95 foot range that required swimming hard as well. I did some things in that class that were so stupid that I cringe to remember them, and what's worse, my entire team was functioning at the same level.
Although doing math problems may give you an idea of how badly impaired you are, it may also create a false sense of security. It is not familiar problems that you won't have the brainpower to solve when narced. It's unfamiliar ones.
In my experience, that isn't true at all. You're just stupid. You may not notice it at all, until you are confronted with some kind of problem to solve that you haven't seen before. For example, I was at 100 fsw one night with a good friend and VERY experienced diver and instructor. One of my cambands popped loose, and my tank was unstable on my back (lying almost crosswise). I signaled my buddy and pointed to my back -- he looked at it and signaled to me that everything was OK. I frowned and swam on a few more feet, and then more emphatically signaled to him to look again. The second time, he recognized that the band was loose and the tank wasn't the way it should be. The first time, he had looked, but he hadn't understood what he saw. That's narcosis.
My Fundies instructor told a story about having a valve failure at 100 fsw on a wreck. He closed the valve, but the bubbles didn't stop, so he isolated. He thumbed the dive (five minutes into it!) and started an ascent. At 70 feet, he reached up to check his manifold, and discovered he had never closed the original valve. This is a guy who TEACHES valve shutdowns, for Heaven's sake. He doesn't go that deep on air any more.
When I took my Cave 2 class, we did a bunch of diving in the 95 foot range that required swimming hard as well. I did some things in that class that were so stupid that I cringe to remember them, and what's worse, my entire team was functioning at the same level.
Although doing math problems may give you an idea of how badly impaired you are, it may also create a false sense of security. It is not familiar problems that you won't have the brainpower to solve when narced. It's unfamiliar ones.
mikemill
Contributor
ScubaSteve
Wow.....what a DB
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