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I got the following message from Tim Olson sent directly to me, but I think it was intended to go to the forum. In any case, I'd like to take this chance to say that I concur with pretty much everything he says about narcosis. (Please forgive me if this did originally go to techdive & everyone got 2 copies - I just wanted to make sure it made it to the forum because he brought up some good points, and more importantly, 'cause he agrees with me! :-) Aloha, Rich ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Tue, 28 Jun 1994 23:34:35 -0600 (CST) From: Tim Olson <WOLFMK@CN*.UW*.ED*> To: deepreef@bi*.bi*.ha*.or* Subject: Re: Oxygen narcosis (?) On Tue, 28 Jun 1994, Carl G Heinzl wrote: >> >> Is this really possible??? Can people really tell the >> difference in the narcotic effect between 125 and 150' (on >> air) ??? Richard Pyle Responds: >Yeah, sure, some people can tell the difference between narcosis levels at >these two depths. I used to be able to, but now I really don't detect any >symptoms until I'm below about 165'. >> Since narcosis can be different from dive to dive I would think >> it would be hard to establish a baseline to compare to. >> This amazes me. I'm not discounting it, just very very curious. >Yes it is true that narcosis CAN vary from day to day, but in my >experience, it usually doesn't - especially not in similar diving >conditions. I can almost use my level of narcosis as a depth gauge. >> I have noticed very little narcosis (virtually none) on air dives >> as deep as 254' (with many of them in the 200-220' range). >You are a very rare individual, and I do not doubt you on this. I have >had discussions with other people who remain clear headed at such depths. >I virtually always feel a steady "buzz" at 200', and usually get >"hammered" if I go much below 250'. However, after a series of VERY >(350'+) deep air dives, I was almost stone-sober at 270'. (Actually, I >think it was more the case that I was narked all day long, so didn't >notice much change at 270'). >> Granted, I spent very little time at this depth (less than 3 minutes >> for the 254' dive), but I was under 130 feet for approximately 15 >> minutes and didn't notice any narcosis the whole time. This was >> in warm water (80-84 degrees F). >You are still a rare individual, because I'm feeling serious narcosis >during the descent before I even GET to 250', let alone spend three >minutes there. The warm water helps (i.e., cold water seems to exacerbate >narcosis symptoms). I would have to fully agree with everything in Rich's reply. Before my time using mix began, we had done many air dives between 190 and 310'. On all of these dives, I begin to feel the effect probably at 155' or so (cold water) and by the time I am at 175' I am usually always at least buzzed. The first few dives I ever did to 200' I was pretty hammered, but these days I find I function well to about 200', and if I go deeper I still get by fine, even at 250 to 300' in warm water, but I have never been down past 175' and NOT felt some effect at all. I usually notice that people who haven't been to any extreme (175' or so is where I consider extreme to begin) depth have a hard time recognising narcosis, but once you have been hammered at 200+ you build kind of an "awareness" that not only helps you to deal with it better, but also to recognise when it hits you, even when it is slight. In fact, now on many dives when I am hard working, I notice effects at 120' or shallower (although minute) while everyone less experienced at deeper diving claim they don't feel a thing at even 160-190'. Part of the reason you may not have felt it so much is the short bottom time, but I agree with Rich...If I am on a wall dropping quickly to 275', I KNOW I'm narked by the time I hit 175', and I get tunnel vision once I get to 200-225'. Narcosis may be a dangerous thing to some, a "funny" (i.e. goofy) thing to many, but I think that however you like to play the game, you have to get used to it and get the respect for its impairment to really be safe and cope. The best thing abouut a good nark "buzz" is it's cheap and it lacks a hangover...although the CO2 kind of hits and gives a headache....but that's a whole 'nother story. Tim Olson "When I dive deep, I have many buddies" <-- visual impairment :)
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