Smoking

[East]

I know that it's a very bad habit and that tobacco smoke kills everyday, but still I am curious how many of you Aviators light a cigarette once in a while.
I quit the habit long time ago, but sometimes I see Aviators lighting a cigarette and in a way flying and smoking seems like conflicting.

In the 70s it was the otherway around, everybody 'with his hair on fire' was a smoker and it was also part of the macho-culture. It was not encouraged but every selfrespecting pilot lighted one from time to time. Also documantaries from Vietnam you saw ready-rooms filled with smoke. Don't know if you're allowed to smoke on a carrier at all.....(beside the deck).

In Europe, smoking is different than in the US. A lot of youngsters here smoke and however the Government tries to do something about that Beer and cigarettes are the #1's on weekend nights in the clubs. We used to smoke on board our P-3s for decades, but since the 90s it was ruled out.

Strange when you think about the old days where everybody seems to smoke at all odd places, some things are hardly to imagine and if I didn't witnessed it, I wouldn't have believed it (where people smoked that is).

:icon_rast

 

[KBayDog]

Sounds like it is time for another poll.

I've never smoked* cigarettes (or anything else, for that matter), nor do I ever plan to. I majored in Health and Wellness in college, so of course I know the health risks, but my reason is a little more down-to-earth:

SMOKING IS NASTY.

The smoke reeks. The smokers reek. They reek even when they are not smoking!

That's it. That's my reason for not smoking. It's just a foul, foul habit. (Not to mention the strain it must put on your wallet - I am absolutely amazed whenever I am at the NEX and see retirees buying cigarettes by the cart-ful...they spend hundreds of dollars at a time.



*That said, I am guilty of enjoying the occasional fine cigar. A double standard, I know...

...oh - another thing - I'm not an Aviator. Yet.

 

[TheBubba]

I'm an ex-smoker. I quit about the fall/winter of 2004.

SMOKING IS NASTY.

The smoke reeks. The smokers reek. They reek even when they are not smoking!

30% of the reason I quit. You stink. Your breath stinks. Your clothers stink. Your hair stinks. Your teeth are yellow. And no matter what you do, it won't go away.

Not to mention the strain it must put on your wallet

Another 30% or the reason I quit. Look at it this way... if you smoke a pack a day at $5-and change a pack, thats $35-40 a week, 140 a month, $1600 a year. That's alot of beer money wasted away.

The rest of the reason I quit: It kills your PRT/PFT score.

It also makes you moody. I know when I dod my Mid cruise on the Reagan, I was a pissy little beyotch before I had my morning cigarette and coffee. And one with lunch, dinner, rightbefore I went to bed and so forth and so on. A little over a pack a day. Then i quit. Best thing i ever did

I'm not an aviator yet (hell, I havent even started API) but I plan on not smoking ever again... save for a cigar on special occasions.

 

[Schnugg]

Used to be you could smoke anywhere anytime on the boat...then it was just the work spaces...then just maint. control...then only on a designated smoking sponson at set times. There used to be smoky poker games late nights before a port call. No more. Alas, the good old days...

I don't smoke and am glad I never started. A fine cigar on occasion, yes. But that's few and far between.

Our av phys doc told us a heavy smoker has enough CO in his system that it's as if he lives at 10k' to begin with. Makes you much easier to become hypoxic. The RBC has an affinity for CO before O2.

Cheers,
G

 

[Fezz CB]

Ex-smoker here. I can relate with Bubba as far as smoking killing your PRT score. I went to Sigonella for my dads retirement last March and the italians smoke religiously (no joke). So of course, i couldnt fight the urge to light up. Anyways, 2 wks later I ran my Spring PRT and added an entire minute.

Needless to say, its a hard habit to kick. And if youve never smoked a cigarette or bought a pack, then it would be hard for you to understand the addiction. But ive been smoke-free for 6 months now thanks to my gf (shes a nurse). Shes says she doesnt kiss smokers

*Side note: When i was on my 2nd class cruise, I swear ppl would go smoke just to avoid working. I was in deck division so smoking was the only way i could get out of chipping paint. hehe.

 

[TheBubba]

*Side note: When i was on my 2nd class cruise, I swear ppl would go smoke just to avoid working. I was in deck division so smoking was the only way i could get out of chipping paint. hehe.

Oh yeah... 'tis true. Training division officially, but spent most of my time with DC and Deck. Know what you mean there.

I too quit b/c of my girlfriend. She's allergic to cigarette smoke.

 

[zab1001]

From the other side:

I've always been a "social" smoker, meaning I'd have a few on Friday night while out at the bar. Here in South America, the majority of people smoke, A LOT. As a result, I've been smoking A LOT more. It doesn't help that we can smoke in our offices and pretty much anywhere (I've seen pilots smoking next to the runway...crazy). It's my vice, what can I say.

As far as squadrons go, we had a few burners. Most were priors, no one cared. Didn't affect anyone's PRT score.

 

[Gatordev]

From the other side:
It's my vice, what can I say.

Well, that and the Thai boys, but who's counting.

 

[AllAmerican75]

This is interesting. What about dip/chewing tobacco? From my experiences, it seems as if a lot of guys (seems more in the Army and Marines) dip. Any truth to that?

 

[East]

Dip

...is that that groce thing what the Professional Baseball players doing on the field?
:yuck_125:

 

[zab1001]

Well, that and the Thai boys, but who's counting.

...

eh, I got nothin. you zinged me.

guess I'll have a smoke.

AllAmerican: I know a lot of guys who dip, myself included.

 

[Gatordev]

Sorry, but with a setup like that, you were the Gabby Reese to my Kerri Walsh of comedic slams.

 

[ItsTurboTime]

I've always been a "social" smoker, meaning I'd have a few on Friday night while out at the bar.

I hear that. Smoker or not, you usually come out of a bar smelling like one.

 

[flashypants]

Isn't dip a required uniform item for Marines? I'm not sure I know a Marine that DOESN'T dip.

 

[KBayDog]

Isn't dip a required uniform item for Marines? I'm not sure I know a Marine that DOESN'T dip.

Nice to meet you. You do now. :yuck_125: