Smoking, equipment and AOW

[htn123]

OK,
Just did my first part of PADI AOW certification dives today. 3 of us, the instructor and a rescue diver were doing the diving.
First off, one of the guy doing the certification, he was smoking about 3 cigarettes before hitting the water. Went through psi like there was no tomorrow. And then after the first dive, he pull out 2 more and sucking it down fast :11:. So on the third dive, he bolted to the surface, complainted about out of breath . The instructor was very worry, had him sit for about 30 minutes and monitor his breathing. He was OK after 30 minutes.

I know smoking is hard to break, but, man, I don't think smoking and diving mix well at all.

Second gent, all he had were rental equipment. Suit, BCD, reg, tank, down to his mask and fin. They were all rental. When he got down to 20', his fins failed off. He did not have a computer to time his deco. And he was not familiar with the guages. The kind that has PSI on one side and compass on the other side. We were doing UW navigation. We were down for a while and I did not see him checked his air so I asked him what his psi was... he flipped the guage over and ....500 psi!!!!at 40'. I called the dive, got up to 15', did the deco. Had to share air with him until we got up to the surface.

I think if you want to take advance course, you surely do want to have your own equipment so you can be familiar with them and surely you want to have a computer.

Sure, if your diving habit is just going to go down to Cozumel 1 wk/yr or so, don't spend money on equipment. But if you are committed to doing advance courses, you need to have your own stuff. Don't you think?

 

[NauticalbutNice]

OK,
First off, one of the guy doing the certification, he was smoking about 3 cigarettes before hitting the water. Went through psi like there was no tomorrow. And then after the first dive, he pull out 2 more and sucking it down fast :11:. So on the third dive, he bolted to the surface, complainted about out of breath . The instructor was very worry, had him sit for about 30 minutes and monitor his breathing. He was OK after 30 minutes.

I know smoking is hard to break, but, man, I don't think smoking and diving mix well at all.

I agree, however this gentleman's problem may not have been caused by smoking. A lot of divers do smoke and I think that you'll find that there are many excellent divers who do. This may have contributed to his problem however!

I think if you want to take advance course, you surely do want to have your own equipment so you can be familiar with them and surely you want to have a computer.

Sure, if your diving habit is just going to go down to Cozumel 1 wk/yr or so, don't spend money on equipment. But if you are committed to doing advance courses, you need to have your own stuff. Don't you think?

All I had when I did my advanced was my own fins, mask and gloves. The rest was rented. I didn't have my own computer till a couple of months ago when I started my Rescue. I still don't have my own drysuit and BC.

I don't think having your own stuff shows any more commitment - how many rich folk buy all the stuff and then give up? I do think having your own mask and fins are very important but that's more about fit and comfort. Anything rented should fit, be comfortable and be in good order. Sometimes this isn't the case but it's the divers responsibility that the equipment they rent fits!

Just my 2 bar!

Happy diving

Nauticalbutnice :fruit:

 

[Rick Inman]

OK,
Just did my first part of PADI AOW certification dives today. 3 of us, the instructor and a rescue diver were doing the diving.
First off, one of the guy doing the certification, he was smoking about 3 cigarettes before hitting the water. Went through psi like there was no tomorrow. And then after the first dive, he pull out 2 more and sucking it down fast :11:. So on the third dive, he bolted to the surface, complainted about out of breath . The instructor was very worry, had him sit for about 30 minutes and monitor his breathing. He was OK after 30 minutes.

I know smoking is hard to break, but, man, I don't think smoking and diving mix well at all.

Second gent, all he had were rental equipment. Suit, BCD, reg, tank, down to his mask and fin. They were all rental. When he got down to 20', his fins failed off. He did not have a computer to time his deco. And he was not familiar with the guages. The kind that has PSI on one side and compass on the other side. We were doing UW navigation. We were down for a while and I did not see him checked his air so I asked him what his psi was... he flipped the guage over and ....500 psi!!!!at 40'. I called the dive, got up to 15', did the deco. Had to share air with him until we got up to the surface.

I think if you want to take advance course, you surely do want to have your own equipment so you can be familiar with them and surely you want to have a computer.

Sure, if your diving habit is just going to go down to Cozumel 1 wk/yr or so, don't spend money on equipment. But if you are committed to doing advance courses, you need to have your own stuff. Don't you think?

I don't think it's about the rental gear at all. You give a good diver that same gear, and before they get in the water, the fins are adjusted, the straps on the BC are set up and the diver is familiar with the entire kit.

Also you said you shared air for the safety stop, even though he had 500psi left. Even a heavy smoker with one lung should be able to do three minutes at 15' with a couple hundred psi.

Some smokers (I don't smoke myself) dive just fine. I wouldn't blame it on the cigs or the rental gear.

 

[crpntr133]

I would blame it on nerves on top of the smoking. If he was sucking down the cigs he was probably nervous. I wonder when the last time he dove was.
As for the gear buying issue. It would be great if all of us were able to buy our gear before we hit AOW. The sad part is that I have seen students for OW one weekend and two weeks later do AOW. The only reason I have most of my gear bought before I take my AOW is the fact that I did some work for the LDS owner and traded gear. I still don't have my own regs.

 

[tkrock]

Something smells fishy!!! You state that you were diving with an Instructor and a RESCUE diver....... Now shouldn't the rescue diver be checking you rather then you checking him. Sounds like he needs to go back ot OW status!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[ParamedicDiver1]

Something smells fishy!!! You state that you were diving with an Instructor and a RESCUE diver....... Now shouldn't the rescue diver be checking you rather then you checking him. Sounds like he needs to go back ot OW status!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ummmmm, I think he meant there were 3 students plus an Instructor as well as a Rescue Diver...5 total divers. :14:

 

[Chris Hipp]

I've been told that most smokers have fairly poor air consumption. I don't smoke of course but I do know that when I am doing a certification dive, I burn up a lot more air then I do when I am just farting around. It also depends on the water temperature, I go through air pretty fast in 60 degree water as opposed to 85 degree water. Lots of variables.

 

[ScubaSarus]

You were a good buddy thankfully.

Smoking does have effect on the lungs which effects breathing. Some can still manage despite. You have to rule out smoking first IMO. Ive dove with divers that hack away down there I mean coughing thru their regs and dive properly still.

As a new diver he probably wasnt used to combining diving and smoking as some adapt to do. If he was out of shape all the worse.

Thankfully all made it back safely.

 

[jtivat]

First smoking and diving is just plain stupid, while smoking does affect your lungs, that is not the main problem. When you smoke you are sucking in lots of carbon monoxide, now this carbon monoxide attaches it’s self to the hemoglobin in your blood about 200x more readily than O2 or carbon dioxide does. The next problem is once it’s there it stays attached to it for 8 to 12 hours. Now if you know how your body works you would realize the hemoglobin is the carrier in your body to get O2 to it, and take carbon dioxide from it this means there is a lot less hemoglobin free to do its job! The next thing you need to remember is that a build up of carbon dioxide while diving is not a good thing and the deeper you go the worse it gets. So I don’t care what smokers try and say they are at a much greater risk and use more air than they would if they did not smoke.

 

[mech]

There are smokers out there and if you dive with public groups you will come across them.
That's just the way it is.
I'm not a smoker nor do I dive with smokers but every now and then I come across one (or more) and I don't let it bother me.
When I go diving the last thing I want to do is to loose my smile.