How To Experience Narcosis With Minimal Risk?

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kr2y5

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I've never had the chance to really experience narcosis, and it has always bothered me that I lack what seemed like an important experience. The closest I got was an unclear feeling that my time and distance perception may have been somewhat altered, but the intensity of that experience has always been at the level of confirmation bias. The deepest I've been is 140 feet, so not much at all, although by some standards I would have already been pretty damned narced by then. I realize I most likely was, but since I've never quite felt or observed any clear symptoms of it, it doesn't exactly qualify as an "experience". I thought of taking a recreational chamber ride, but from what I've been told, the kind that would fit the bill is not really much of an option. Puzzles like writing your name backwards, etc., seem useless, and don't do anything for me. I do not feel sad or happy, I have no apparent memory issues that I can recognize. Taking the 73m PSAI course is not much of an option at this point, either. So, what's the simplest and safest one can do to explore the limits of one's impairment, without going very deep on air? What kind of creative problem solving can a pair of buddies surprise each other with to clearly demonstrate impairment on a 100-foot dive? Apologies if this has been covered a million times before, as I imagine it must have been, nothing clearly jumped at me among the search results. Feel free to kill this thread with a reference to an earlier discussion. I'd imagine that this question would be relevant to many inexperienced divers. Thanks!
 
The only "safe" way IMO is in a chamber. Being narc'd is not always recognizable. The 1st time I was narc'd I didn't know it until I attempted some simple addition. Then it took some time for me to realize why I couldn't do the math.
The only important thing about narcosis is avoiding it. Chances are you've been narc'd and just didn't know it. Back in the early days of diving being narc'd was just part of deep diving and we learned to live with it or just didn't dive deep. These days if one can afford the class on mixed gas there is no reason to learn how to dive narc'd.

It is similar to drinking alcohol in that repeated exposure will cause you to become accustom to the altered state and at least for me the functions that alcohol diminishes are the same for narcosis. I've never suffered memory loss after drinking too much. Likewise I don't suffer memory issues when narc'd. Narcosis affects everyone differently. It really is an interesting subject that deserves much more study.
 
I have been thinking the same lately. I will be taking a class soon where I have to dive to 130 ft in cold dark water with an instructor and have been contemplating using air to increase the chance of a narc to see what it feels like. My thought is to try it once to understand the effect and then avoid it in the future.

I didn't know that there is a chamber ride available. I will have to look into it. Certainly seems alot safer...I would rather do it in a controlled environment than at 130 fsw.
 
Yes and other vote for the Chamber dive.When we did ours the chamber operator had dive buddies separated so we could observe our buddy and their reactions on the camera from outside. Incredibly valuable to see your buddy narked... gives you an idea of what to watch for in your buddy. They can also help you by telling you what you missed because you were narked!
 
if you dive to 100-130 fsw then you were narced. different people "feel" it differently. it's like a martini. at two martinis i'm perfectly ok and feel fine but a little happy. My friend is drunk at 2 and talks too much. At 5 or 6....it becomes dangerous.
the issue is really how you handle being narced. training can overcome some of the feeling (also trimix :) )
 
I would love to try a sample chamber ride so I could witness the effects both on me and others. Not had the chance to do a deep dive (deepest was 25m/75ft).

Would I recognise it underwater at depth in either myself or another diver? Not sure as I might well be too narced but if I could witness it under safe conditions, it would be good.
 
The other option is to do it under supervision - have someone on helium watching you.
 
Do the chamber dive. It is easy, cheap and safe. Do a 50m one if available. The silly tests are only half of it. You will be able to tell.

Where might one do this, and cheap means what kinda $$ exactly?

Very curious.

I don't buy into a plan to dive deep with the goal being to get narked. If it happens, fine, handle as you see fit, but why go looking for an altered state in an environment that can kill you?
 
You're probably overthinking this. It's fairly simple — do a dive with a buddy to 100 ft and see how you feel. Then try 110 ft or 115. Most people will experience some amount of narcosis at those depths, without being seriously impaired. And the cure for narcosis is easy, just go up 10 ft and your head will clear right away.
Another thing you may notice is that the air you're breathing feels thicker. That's because it's about 4 times as dense at depths where you'll feel narced. It's important to relax and breath completely, as the increased effort could otherwise cause a buildup of CO2 in your body. With some practice and repetition, you will become accustomed to relaxing and breathing easily and completely at depth. And though you may notice that your thinking slows down, a little care in how your diving will keep you reasonably safe.
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/perdix-ai/

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