Ever narked? Never!

[Eoin]

I've dived the U260 off West Cork about 8 or 9 times, maybe more. Dived it in viz from about 1 foot to 20m and always knew I was narked to some extent. Always did the dive on air, sometimes with a deco gas. Last August I dived it on the Inspo and was amazed at how much detail I could see and actually remember, down to rivets and such.
Was diving in Malta years ago with a buddy and we got to 40m and decided to go to a rock we could see further down, just to get the depth. When we got to 42m he grabbed my arm and had a look on his face like he was about to pass out. We ascended to 15m and he was grand. He told me after that as he was fixating on the rock it started changing colours and then turned into a headstone!
I was diving with a German group in Tenerife and as we were getting kitted up on the boat he said, we're going to 38m, that ok? I said it was and we dropped in. We had about 30m viz and all was fine, but as soon as I got to 34m all the colours started changing and I went up to about 30-32m and it stopped.

[Paul Oliver]

I get a hit but the depth varies subject to conditions and how dived up i am, dived up is not about building up a resistance, but being on top of your equipment and diving skills through recent use.

In quite poor viz on the Salsette i had a hit like a single whiskey at about 38m, diving the Cuvier at the same depth in good viz i get nothing noticeable.

At about 44m i get a bit more of a hit like a 2nd drink, on the Warilda at 46-48m with 20m of viz i could feel this, it was expected and i knew what the threat was so it was not too much of an issue.

On the Sabac last year in a darkish 50m the double whiskey was there as i watched a Trimix diver struggle making a simple mistake while backing out of a corridor, on the Anderman a few weeks later i had a stronger hit at 44m and did not go to the planned 50m

I get narked and i know it, i know what to look for and feel i control it reasonably well. I make mistakes but i do that anyway i always remember the dive though

As for CO2 hits, i have had raging headaches several times usually at shallow depths (25-32m) when a current has been running, and i have cut several dives short due to this. For me its much more of a problem than the Narcosis, i've never binned a dive due to Narcosis but i have binned several due to CO2 hits.

[Steve S]

Originally Posted by Paul Oliver

On the Sabac last year in a darkish 50m the double whiskey was there as i watched a Trimix diver struggle making a simple mistake while backing out of a corridor

To be fair though that particular Trimix diver is several sandwiches short of a picnic on the surface

Safe diving,
Steve

[uwila]

Originally Posted by Ahmed Adly

I don't know if I have told this here before but here is an interesting story.

While doing teaching the PADI Adv. for my wife and a client the darndest thing happened at 40 meters.

Isn't the depth limit for PADI AOW 30m?????? You might want to keep this story quiet

[Jay_Benson]

Originally Posted by MattS

No, not specifically early morning. Any sort of stimulant (like caffiene) is likely to aggrevate narcs so I avoid it before deeper dives. If you need to wake up, try something that will raise the blood pressure, but not too quickly - like gentle exercise. It takes a while for blood pressure to get up in the morning (allegedly slower in blokes). On livaboards I find a walk around the deck a couple times before breakfast can make a big difference.
I don't rush any descents these days. A brief stop at 3m to get my crap together and relax, a gentle fin down and a pause on the shot whenever I feel I am working too hard.
Yep, done the tunnel vision thing. It is not so bad, I just stop, breathe and hang on tight until it subsides. The total blackout is what scared the crap out of me. There is 2 minutes, a 10m descent (from 30m ish) and a 20m ascent, completely missing from my life. My computer assures me I was there. I was not very experienced in those days - not enough to know when to stop following a buddy.

Thanks for that - some practical advice.

I first realised I was getting narked in the pit at Stoney - I suspect it was a CO2 reading other replies as it was a definate bum clencher! Itcleared mostly as I went up but I was a lot more settled when I got to do my stop at 6m. I hadn't noticed being narked before - but looking back I was a little on the UC70 last year - I didn't feel fully in control at the bottom but again got better as I went up - that was probably a nitrogen hit I guess.

[dublinbay]

I suppose its like being aware when driving with 3 pints in your belly. Anyone who subscribes to this needs seeing to
p.s. the only place compressed air should be is in tyres I know, you know

[Paul Oliver]

Originally Posted by Steve S

To be fair though that particular Trimix diver is several sandwiches short of a picnic on the surface

Safe diving,
Steve

Very true