skydiving and smoking

[SpeedRacer 1]

The thing I never quite grasped about smoking is how it ever caught on. First of all, who was it that was so bored that he first decided, "Hey I think I'll role these leaves up into a tube, set fire to one end, and suck in the fumes from the other! What a great idea!"
The other thing is, I know it's addictive, but you don't get addicted to anything the instant you try it. You have to do it repeatedly for a few months before you get hooked. That's the step in the process that I can't grasp. I tried smoking when I was seventeen, but I didn't like the taste or smell. And although you do get a buzz from nicotine, it's a sort of jittery, run-down-feeling kind of buzz (probably a combination of nicotine plus carbon monoxide). The whole smoking experience sucked so bad that I flat out don't understand how or why people continue to smoke long enough to get addicted to it.

[MC208B 0]

hey there, I do smoke in the smoking area at my DZ! So, yes, I'm a considerate guy to. As for farting, read my post on farts on the ride up! This is dropzone.com isn't it? We don't put up with any politically correct bullshit where I jump. To busy enjoying the sky to bother with other peoples percieved bad habits.

[skreamer 1]

If my *diatribes* and 'politically correct bullshit' bother you so much, then why not just ignore this thread and stop posting to it? I limit my anti-smoking rhetoric to this thread, this happens to be something I feel very strongly about (and with good reason too).
/s

[froggie 0]

Quote

Face it Froggie - the tobacco compaines have you right where they want you. This isn't about YOUR needs - it's about billions of dollars of profit for a few big companies. They are the one who add addictive substances to the cigarettes they sell you. They don't want you to quit! Neither does your health care provider. They make bags of money off you smokers. If you were all to quit suddenly, then there would be 80% fewer people in the hospitals. At the cost of your health, you are lining the pockets of those who happily profit from this plague on society. I hope you can quit, Froggie, before the cancer, or one of the many other smoking related illnesses catches up with you and steals your life away.

Frank (who has had too many relatives die from cancer)

Frank.
i dont know how to thank you. What you said (see above) has really affected me. I havent brought a pack of cigarettes since i read your post. I havent quit smoking but the same pack that i had that night lasted me until this morning. Im kinda bumming cigs or at least drags off of friends. But Im praying that I dont fall weak and buy another pack. Ive actually copied and printed out what you had said. I have two copies and i keep at least one wiht me at all times. Its given me a lot of inspiration. Thankyou. I really cant express how much you have effected me thru you words. Ill be thinking of you, and what you said, every time i desire a pack of my own cigarettes. Im no where near quitting yet, but im definitally on my way. I love ya for what you have done for me. Thanks for being my inspiration to do something better for me!
kel

[Iflyme 0]

Gee, Froggie - I didn't mean to inspire you -- but if can help you quit smoking - help you in any tiny way - then I am honoured! Now it IS about you!!! Please hang in there, and stay strong!!! Your life is worth it - even to me, way over here on the other side of this big continent. I have 2 little girls, and I am trying my hardest to make sure they never even THINK of trying it once. I'd be real happy for both of us, Froggie, if you can get off that horrible weed!!! ), food would taste better... it's all there for you!
And SpeedRacer - you are wrong. Smoking just once is enough to start the addiction cycle.
Ok, I'm climbing down off the soapbox now... Frank

[MC208B 0]

deal Skreamer. Actually, I'm going to give quitting smoking my next best shot on the 10th of this month. My late Dad's birthday, dead from lung cancer of course at 69. Hmmm....that only leaves me 22 more years!!! Also, I waste about 10 jumps from 13,500 a month on smokes. Wish me luck.

[skyhawk 2]

to MC208B and froggie i wish u both luck in quiting and im sure if either of u or any1 else for that matter is having trouble ppl on this bored would more than be happy to listen/ read :-) and offer advice or just be there for you
on the "but if this thread makes youngsters like skyhawk and Omri think twice about how *cool* smoking is, then that is good. "
to late already started cause it is cool of course but i have quit most of my closest friends r big smokers yet i never even want 1 anymore when they r smoking so there is light at the end of the tunnel for smokers.
wether or not i was addicted is a differnt story i wasnt a pack a day or anything but i did feel like i needed to smoke so i think i was very mildly addicted

[OmriMon 0]

ummm i don't smoke cigs, never smoked and never will...
stoped with the dope for diffrent reasons, i guess i won't smoke dope again but not from my free will...
Free Skies,
Omri

[skyhawk 2]

what the camels keep stealing your weed :-)

[OmriMon 0]

if u call cops camels then yes Free Skies,
Omri

[skyhawk 2]

nah we call them pigs :-)

[OmriMon 0]

we dont' call them, they call us hahaha how fuuny!
Free Skies,
Omri

[skyhawk 2]

what u give them ur number for just lie nah we usally just get pulled over on the street and the ask for details we lie of course

[miked10270 0]

Two things strike me from this thread:
1. I smoke and I skydive but I don't really link the two (Zippos might CLAIM to be windproof but I've never managed to "spark up" in freefall).
2. Pity the poor cops... They can't score dope from a supplier so they have to rely on what they manage to confiscate. Remember the Drug Squad motto: "We can get the same conviction with half of this!"
Mike D10270.

[Deleted 0]

Fire and canopies don't mix. As long as they aren't near my chute while I am packing it...kill'em all!
B

[Craig 0]

Heh, try telling that to Troy. Canopy Fire
Craig

[Aviatrr 0]

Skreamer wrote:

Quote

OK, here's a post that pretty much nobody is neutral on - smoking. I have noticed that quite a few skydivers seem to smoke and don't quite understand why.

Hey man, the only time you're going to catch me smoking(ANYTHING) is if I just made a smoking hole.. If that's the case, I hope the witnesses will be smart and fill the hole with beer to stop the smoking.. The good stuff, that is.. Not that Rocky mountain p!sswater crap..
BTW, I used to smoke - bad habit.. Thank god I quit - that was over 3 years ago..
Mike

[pack40 0]

Although I am just a skydiving student (in Hungary) and been to DZs
a 20 or so times, I have seen many people smoking.
As I smoke sometimes it is not bothering me. But I do not
understand why you guys in US and elsewhere when talking of
smoking only think of cigarettes. A good guy at my DZ smokes
pipe -which I do sometimes- and pipe smoke has a wonderfull
aroma, not bothering anybody. So not everybody who smokes, smoke cigarettes!!!
off-topic
Smoking at high altitude, I was in Elbrus (a mountain in Georgia (Former Soviet Union)) my fater and his friend started to smoke at around 3500m and wondered why can't they breathe. It was funny.

[wingnut 0]

well i got to give my two cents on this.... yup i'm a smoker too! well i try and respect other peoples space and not smoke near tem if i know heydon't like it. other people don't care and that's cool, then you get the people that get pissed if your within 1,000 yards of them. i just don't like the extreamists. i do respect it though.
also most peole didn't start smoking because of skydiving they started skydiving long after smoking........i smoke for a good reason too! seeing as i haven't got to have that after sex ciggarette in a while i need to get my nicotine elswere.
<>

[Deleted 0]

Quote

But I do not
understand why you guys in US and elsewhere when talking of
smoking only think of cigarettes.

I think we refer to cig smoking mostly because not too many people smoke the pipe anymore (unless we're talking about a different type of pipe, then I think most people still smoke one of those on occasion!!). I can imagine in other parts of the world it would be more common....I knew a few Kiwi farmers that smoked only pipes, but even more who smoked rollies!
So, as I stated previously, keep 'em away from the packin' mats and you can suit yourself, but geesh, I wish the CA law would take on everywhere in the US!!!
P.S. Did the guy with the flaming canopy live???? I can imagine if you did a hop 'n pop for an exhibition at higher altitude and lit your canopy on fire, that would go off!!!!
Suppose you would need a second reserve, but it could work!
Arohanui,
B
NZPF A-2584

[froggie 0]

wmblaine,
yeah, troy lived. It was a stunt he did for MTVs show Senseless acts of video. A dangerous stunt, but still a purposely planned out event.
froggie

[BFK 0]

I think a lot of skydivers smoke for the same reason that a lot of skydivers like to drink a lot. Skydiving attracts people that live full tilt and for some that means smoking cigarettes or pot or consuming large amounts of alcohol. All those things can damage and kill, but freedom of choice is what skydiving is all about. People should be permitted to live however they want to live. In the end everyone dies eventually, what we do between now and then is our choice.
Smoking, drinking, drugs and all that is a philisophical choice about how you want to live and what risks you want to take. There may be addictive issues as well.
I don't smoke anymore and I am trying to drink less. I have seen people die from both. I am trying to widdle down the risks I take to include only skydiving, whitewater rafting and foreign travel. Those highs don't leave hangovers and enhance my life, whereas other things can tend to detract from life, in my personal experience.
To each their own though.
Brad

[FreeflyPlaymate 0]

I personally do not smoke, just never did anything for me. I don't mind if someone does smokea round me, it is their life...however I did once hear someone joking on the DZ they were taking long a** drags off their cig and another jumper was like well there went a thousand feet, woah there's another thousand. It was funny at the time, but thinking back on it it kinda got me sad...I just hoped that one day however they go...they don't wish that for just for one moment that they could just go back and stop... I didn't lose my dad to smoking...but I'd give my so much just to hear him breathe again, even if it was one more breath. I don't want to make it seem like it's bad to smoke...no I drink and I am sure that isn't great for my ass or my liver...just regardless of what you do to your body or the risks you take, INCLUDING skydiving...take time and make the time count around the ones you love.
**BLUE ONES**
BITE ME.... :P

[lazerq3 0]

Everything in moderation!!!

[skydognz 0]

Ok Team!, let's chill out on the smoking issue! Sure, I'm a smoker, but, I'm a skydiver too. Let's get back to the issues of skydiving (in general) not start a bitch match about skydivers that smoke. Gees. Come on! LOL.
Rock On!
Stitch!