KZMAN
Guest
.......... Did I hear that some of you actually, dip/chew WHILE diving? That's scary:whoa:
The "Smoking" Diver
- Thread starter MikeMc
- Start date
Please register or login
Welcome to ScubaBoard, the world's largest scuba diving community. Registration is not required to read the forums, but we encourage you to join. Joining has its benefits and enables you to participate in the discussions.
Benefits of registering include
- Ability to post and comment on topics and discussions.
- A Free photo gallery to share your dive photos with the world.
- You can make this box go away
Burke
Guest
Discussing the pros and cons of different methods of poison ingestion, I love it, you guys crack me up.
:boom:
:boom:
Paul168341
Guest
Just to add something...
I had a friend who worked for a mobile medical testing company. They do the tests to see if someone can safely wear a respirator (if their job requires it) He said that smokers regularly rated higher on the sphignomonometer (is that what that thing is called? something like that) than non-smokers. The reason was (and this was theorized by the docs and nurses involved) that smokers have a tendency to inhale and exhale slower and deeper than non-smokers. However, they lose big in the long run, its only true for a relatively short time. If this is true, then theoretically, FORMER smokers (like me
) should have the lowest SAC.
Theoretically, of course
BTW, Good Luck Tom, been clean for 5 years myself. You can do it!
I had a friend who worked for a mobile medical testing company. They do the tests to see if someone can safely wear a respirator (if their job requires it) He said that smokers regularly rated higher on the sphignomonometer (is that what that thing is called? something like that) than non-smokers. The reason was (and this was theorized by the docs and nurses involved) that smokers have a tendency to inhale and exhale slower and deeper than non-smokers. However, they lose big in the long run, its only true for a relatively short time. If this is true, then theoretically, FORMER smokers (like me
) should have the lowest SAC. Theoretically, of course
BTW, Good Luck Tom, been clean for 5 years myself. You can do it!
- Messages
- 3,464
- Reaction score
- 12
I hear this often but in my experience it simply isn't accurate.
Tom
- Messages
- 3,464
- Reaction score
- 12
Thanks Paul. Gonna try it starting tomorrow morning.
Tom
Since I'm a new diver I can't speak with a lot of authority on this subject. What I can say is, I'm a smoker and during our open water qualification dives I buddied with a guy who is a part time Ironman competitor. While I do smoke, about a pack a day, I also keep myself in great shape, cough, cough. Lots of cardio on the treadmill and push weights around 3-5 days a week. I'm 5'9 155lbs. The Ironman guy was about 5'10 - 5'11 and about 175lbs and in good shape, he was an especially strong swimmer.
After each dive we compared remaining air. In every case, total of 5 dives, I had 200-500psi more air remaining. I realize that he is physically larger than me, but not that much bigger, which may account for some of the deviation. We were both puzzled and amused by our observations.
So what does it mean? I don't know, just thought I'd share this for those that can make sense of it all.
SeaHunt
After each dive we compared remaining air. In every case, total of 5 dives, I had 200-500psi more air remaining. I realize that he is physically larger than me, but not that much bigger, which may account for some of the deviation. We were both puzzled and amused by our observations.
So what does it mean? I don't know, just thought I'd share this for those that can make sense of it all.
SeaHunt
Rockhound
Guest
Just don't do what a DM did at the Flower Gardens a couple of years back.
Floating on the surface near the boat, he apparently decided to try the "chaw" he (for whatever reasons) had brought on the dive with him.
A wave surprised him and he aspirated the tobacco. He was found on the bottom several hours later, but it took some time to figure out what happened.
(As for the CO tolerance of physically fit "smokers" being higher, that might be true and might be a reason that some smokers can' more easily fight the urge to breathe on C02 buid-up, but I would certainly like to see more than anecdotal assessents. Certainly, the damage caused by smoking mitigates much of this inferred advantage. Sounds like a DAN paper to me.)
I did not smoke until my late 20's, when I took up the habit while working on offshore oil rigs. I was a 2-packer at my peak, but managed to get off the habit by my early 30's, so I only smoked a few years. That was over ten years ago and I haven't smoked since.
My air consumption was always very good, even exceptional, whether I was smoking or not. Over the last few years, despite the fact that I am stronger and more aerobically fit than I used to be, my air consumption crept up to the point it was embarrassing for me. I was a "reggler" diver again.
On my last trip, though. I was very relaxed, very happy to be underwater. I ended up first in, last out, on almost every dive, usually with 1000psi or more in my tank. I didn't calculate consumption, but it was very very good.
For that reason, I think experience, experience, experience are 3 primary factors in air consumption, with fitness and body mass coming next in line.....
Floating on the surface near the boat, he apparently decided to try the "chaw" he (for whatever reasons) had brought on the dive with him.
A wave surprised him and he aspirated the tobacco. He was found on the bottom several hours later, but it took some time to figure out what happened.
(As for the CO tolerance of physically fit "smokers" being higher, that might be true and might be a reason that some smokers can' more easily fight the urge to breathe on C02 buid-up, but I would certainly like to see more than anecdotal assessents. Certainly, the damage caused by smoking mitigates much of this inferred advantage. Sounds like a DAN paper to me.)
I did not smoke until my late 20's, when I took up the habit while working on offshore oil rigs. I was a 2-packer at my peak, but managed to get off the habit by my early 30's, so I only smoked a few years. That was over ten years ago and I haven't smoked since.
My air consumption was always very good, even exceptional, whether I was smoking or not. Over the last few years, despite the fact that I am stronger and more aerobically fit than I used to be, my air consumption crept up to the point it was embarrassing for me. I was a "reggler" diver again.
On my last trip, though. I was very relaxed, very happy to be underwater. I ended up first in, last out, on almost every dive, usually with 1000psi or more in my tank. I didn't calculate consumption, but it was very very good.
For that reason, I think experience, experience, experience are 3 primary factors in air consumption, with fitness and body mass coming next in line.....
Bear
Guest
After reading this thread I took a smoke break and I guess I can see similarities between smoking a cigarette and breathing through a regulator. When you smoke, you inhale deeply and slowly and hold the smoke in your lungs just long enough for tissue to absorb the nicotine. Then you exhale completely to get rid of the used smoke.
Nasty habit though.
Nasty habit though.
bluesbro1982
Contributor
Interesting, this thread.
When doing my OW, I had a non-smoking instructor with a noticeable beer gut (We call it "experience...") 1 smoker, mid 30s in reasonable condition, 1 smoker in his 20s, good physical condition, and one very large guy.
I outlasted them all by 500-1000 psi per dive. Why? I've been playing woodwinds professionaly for the last 6 years and have learned to control my breathing and have built up a tolerance to the feeling of "needing air".
In order, the first to go out of air were the large guy, mid 30's smoker, mid 20s smoker, instructor, and finally me. I think it has more to do with breathing technique, which I can see smoking helping with. Nicotine is also a vasodilator, which will expand the blood vessels in the short term causing some positive effects, and as mentioned above, learning to breathe deeply slowly probably is a good habit to have. However, the long term of lung cancer + bad teeth + disgusting breath + $$$ definitely makes it a nasty habit.
The one time I was beaten on air consumption was with a woman in great physical shape, ran a lot, etc. She was a professional physical therapist and was used to doing breathing exercises and low-level S&M with her patients. Anyone who has ever done physical therapy knows what I mean, but I digress... I think it just has a lot to do with breathing technique and comfort.
On the same note, I just bought a used regulator from a smoker. Anyone know a way to clean the smoky smell out of it?
When doing my OW, I had a non-smoking instructor with a noticeable beer gut (We call it "experience...") 1 smoker, mid 30s in reasonable condition, 1 smoker in his 20s, good physical condition, and one very large guy.
I outlasted them all by 500-1000 psi per dive. Why? I've been playing woodwinds professionaly for the last 6 years and have learned to control my breathing and have built up a tolerance to the feeling of "needing air".
In order, the first to go out of air were the large guy, mid 30's smoker, mid 20s smoker, instructor, and finally me. I think it has more to do with breathing technique, which I can see smoking helping with. Nicotine is also a vasodilator, which will expand the blood vessels in the short term causing some positive effects, and as mentioned above, learning to breathe deeply slowly probably is a good habit to have. However, the long term of lung cancer + bad teeth + disgusting breath + $$$ definitely makes it a nasty habit.
The one time I was beaten on air consumption was with a woman in great physical shape, ran a lot, etc. She was a professional physical therapist and was used to doing breathing exercises and low-level S&M with her patients. Anyone who has ever done physical therapy knows what I mean, but I digress... I think it just has a lot to do with breathing technique and comfort.
On the same note, I just bought a used regulator from a smoker. Anyone know a way to clean the smoky smell out of it?
- Messages
- 63,269
- Reaction score
- 16,548
Could be they are chronically vasoconstricted (smokers) That is why their skin is grey.
If you are physiologically "trained" to not need as much 02, then maybe you don't require as much. I am guessing...I love to guess.
If you are physiologically "trained" to not need as much 02, then maybe you don't require as much. I am guessing...I love to guess.
Similar threads
