Now I KNOW what narcosis is!

[Steve50]

I got certain senior citizen benefits at the first tier, age 55 (like senior admission to the movies, McDonalds' coffee), and at the second tier, age 62, I get others (senior discount on Long each buses). I've heard there is a third tier at age 65 and possibly another at 70... IF I make it that far!

Pretty sure at 70 - you are assigned a sherpa to carry your gear - so hang in there!

 

[Drewski]

Hey Dr. Bill: Long time, no talk!

Just a question - no "busting" here, because unlike a number of folks on this board who are narcosis "experts," you actually dive - before the first deep dive when you were narced, were you worried about or did you think you might actually get narced?

Just curious...

Thanks...

Andy

 

[drbill]

Andy, I wasn't worried about getting narced on the 150 ft deep dives on the Infidel since I can easily adjust to reduce it. I was aware that I could get narced. I was however, surprised to get narced on the 107' dive. Hadn't given it much thought before that dive.

 

[mislav]

Just a question - no "busting" here, because unlike a number of folks on this board who are narcosis "experts," you actually dive - before the first deep dive when you were narced, were you worried about or did you think you might actually get narced?

Andy, I think I know what you're referring to here.

I had experienced once (and only this one time) the effects of narcosis while being at 30 meters of depth (cca 100ft). Normally I don't experience it that shallow, for me it starts at 45-50 meters (cca 150ft). This time though - it was low viz, I was deep into my thoughts, diving relaxed, breathing slowly... and slowly becoming narc'd without noticing it!

I suddenly realized I had no idea what was happening around me, no idea how deep I was or how much air I had left and everything seemed to be happening really slow. Recognizing the symptoms I decided to try to snap out of it.

I've checked the air, the depth, my buddy and looked around. Indeed, I was snapping out of the narcosis. It felt as if I was waking up from a bad dream.

The dive site was no deeper than 30 meters and when I "woke up" I was still at that depth, so it couldn't have been ascending that cleared my mind. Very strange experience.

 

[BDSC]

You skipped the tiers at 50 (some hotels) and 60 (lots of places).

About 6 months before I turned 50 (June of 2008) I started getting requests to join AARP. It was like $40 for 5 years so I signed up. Already saved more than that just using it at motel/hotel stays. I guess there are some advantages in getting older. Can't wait for the free coffee!