Did divers used to take smoke breaks??

[SM Diver]

I was talking to some old chums who I went to Paramedic school with back in the early 80s, and we were laughing about the way the classroom had ash trays. The instructors would smoke during lectures, as would the students. Now, it is rare to find paramedic students or instructors who smoke, and it would not be allowed in any classroom (since around 1985).

But this got me thinking about how much more health conscious we are now as a society, and I was wondering if people used to smoke during their surface intervals in the 1970s and early 80s. So, for you guys that have been diving since then, were SI's ever the time to "smoke em if you got em'?

 

[randyjoy]

That's a YES (oddly enough, I was also a Paramedic Instructor in the 70's and 80's and we always laughed that the ashtrays in the Health Science wing of the college were always the fullest).

I knew a guy that would actually carry smokes in a plastic bag and smoke one while surface swimming back to the dock.

I still know an Instructor for a local shop where on surface intervals, he and two or three of his divemasters will sneak off and have a smoke!

Haven't really paid attention to the pack cost, but it seems way too expensive to smoke nowadays! Think of all that cash going up in smoke you could buy gear with! :fire:

 

[SM Diver]

Come to think of it, I think only the Health Sciences Building even allowed smoking at my college. EMS used to be filled with some wild party animals, which I have always thought was a coping mechanism. Back in the early 80s, the worst thing you could do was get loaded and pass out at an EMS party. The pictures that would make their way to the fire stations were not pretty.

I was wondering how long it would take someone to post about a diver that waterproofed his smokes.

 

[gonediving]

Paramedic having wild parties. No way man.

The number of medics smoking is growning smaller every day. But what amazes me is the number of respiratory therapists that smoke.

 

[randyjoy]

Back in those smoke-filled and hazy days when I was the paramedic coordinator at the college, my number one smoking buddy was the Respiratory Therapy coordinator!!!

But we were all so invincible...so young...and dumb.

None of my friends (EMS, law enforcement, diving) smoke anymore. Last one quit about 10 years ago.

 

[Zept]

My buddy is a smoker and can get off the dive deck and up into the boat's smoking area in seconds. We stay very close together during the dive, but once we're back on the boat, she vanishes in a puff of smoke... literally! Might as well call it a cigarette interval.

Zept

 

[SM Diver]

Randy, same here. I smoked, as did most of my classmates. I was only 19 and thought I would never die at the time. Quit smoking years ago, although every once in a while, after a few cold ones, if I'm around another smoker I'll fire one up. It probably amounts to about a pack a year.

Back to diving, is smoking during SI taboo even? If you look at the laundry list that increases the risk of DCS, I have never seen smoking during SI. Yes, the manuals talk about being in shape and not smoking in general, but I would think smoking during an SI would be a real bad idea.

 

[Drew Sailbum]

He placed a couple cig and his lighter in a small waterproof case to take with him during his dives. During one dive, the plan included surfacing mid-dive in a cavern to look around.

In mere seconds he flipped open his dry box, and lit one up right in the middle of the dive! Unreal.

 

[Ranz]

Drew Sailbum once bubbled...

In mere seconds he flipped open his dry box, and lit one up right in the middle of the dive! Unreal.

How did he light the cig and smoke it without getting it wet and having the cig going out?
He must have practiced a bit to do that trick!
hehe

 

[sheck33]

smoking


smoking & diving


what can is i say :shaking:


:drown:


yes i'm a smoke nazi