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Art Paltz wrote:
> 

> Is the problem with deep air the nitrogen or the oxygen?  Is it the
--
    High PPO2's are risky, and certainly any time on a high ppo2 in
water is working against the clock, and spiking a ppo2 after an extended
exposure is a good way to seize, but most deep air problems come from
the nitrogen before the oxygen has a chance to do its work.

    There are various "blackout" phases that occur, where the diver is
alive and breathing, eyes open, but nobody home, there are total
blackouts, there are screwups in a narced state, and then there are
probably seizures as well. A panic mode would be well enhanced by
narcosis and confusion, and may contribute to the accidents.

    However, before you get to any of that, the horrifying damage caused
by nitrogen tension across the surfaces of the red blood cells is enough
to keep you well out of that zone. The red cells stiffen, and as you
know they are biconcave disks that must fold and bend to get through the
smaller vessels. When they are jammed though rigid, the damage and
immune reaction that follow contribute to lessions , bubble formation,
and other insults that result in bends, feelings of being tired, and all
kinds  of other reactions and consequences. I could write fifty pages on
the consequences, but you can figure them out yourself.

    To use my favorite form of expression, only a dumb fuck dives deep
on air, and the dive community somehow seems to be a magnet for these.
It is really funny that the idiots out there think that there is a
"comfort zone", a "personal narcosis level", a "tolerance", or any
abilty what-so-ever associated with deep air diving. This is always a
dead giveaway of a stroke. - G
--
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