Hey guys!

Here's quite a topic that I've been wondering about for a while.

I've noticed quite a lot of Spearos who dive quite seriously also smoke. Does smoking have any noticeable effect on breathhold? I like to smoke a cigarette every once in a while if I feel like it (yes, I am aware of all the health hazards and what a bad habit it is etc etc.)

Any smokers/divers who feel like sharing their thoughts as to how it affects your diving?

Please guys, I know it's bad for you and that it obviously poses health risks and so on and so forth. I don't care if you think it's disgusting or whatever, I'm just curious as to the effect on breathhold and diving.

Aaaaand, shoot!

I stopped smoking on 1 January 2012.

I smoked quite a lot of years..not a pack a day though..
I dived well and participated in numerous sports at a high level including underwater hockey.

It does catch up to you however over a long period of time.
Keep in mind that I have been training and above average fit for most of my life, which I think works against the effects of smoking. Again; I did not smoke a pack a day but seemed to smoke a lot while consuming alcohol and partying..

But after years of doing this balancing act, I could definetaly feel the effects and start seeing a negative influence on my performance and ability to to train, dive etc.

I am feeling great lately and after about 21 days havnt really craved.. accept when consuming large amounts of delicious red wine or other enticing spirits. But up to now, I have not cheated.

i guess if you have the occassional smoke and keep quite fit it might have no influence. The amount you smoke and total years is what counts.

One day, far from now, I would like to enjoy a occassional cigar at new years or the birth of a child or something like that

We all know smoking isnt good for you. In the end its your choice and the way you handle the amounts of things that are bad for you.
We al die someday and you must enjoy your time here on earth, hopefully we keep on enjoying only healthy things like spearfishing and other sports..

Kap hom flou J.P.

Cheers
J

While I am not a smoker, this is what I can offer on the subject.

I've heard from smokers that smoking doesn't affect their diving, except if they have a cigarette directly before a dive - then the negative effect is pronounced. But after 30mins or so of diving they find their lung function normalising again.

I've read studies that smoking doesn't affect your static times at all, even some anecdotal evidence that it might increase your static times slightly.

When it comes to how it affects someone say on a shore dive, having to gun it through the backline, swim against currents, dive for hours, etc., we can look to general knowledge about how smoking affects anyone's ability to maintain levels with any form of higher intensity exercise (i.e. obviously not as good as a non-smoker). Also, recovery times are reduced.

When it comes to lung capacity, here's a quote I found on the web from a surgeon: "I can tell you that there is a tremendous difference in size, elasticity, color, circulation....it is the difference between holding a very squishy stretchy pink structure and a smaller, rubbery somewhat rigid grayish one." I think that says it all in terms of whether smoking limits your potential with regards to lung capacity.

I don't have much info about how it affects the dive reflex, blood gases, etc, so can't offer any comment on smoking vs. deep diving.

My personal opinion is that if you aren't out to break depth or bottom time records, just want to enjoy your spearfishing socially, and have a smoke every now and then, I don't think it's going to impact your diving much at all.

Still, every time I see a diver come back to the beach and light up while still in his suit, it still gives me a little shock - it just looks so wrong to me. But that's just me .

Thanks Manne!

I don't know what the hell is wrong with me. I haven't touched a cigarette for over 3 years and then this holiday, I go and semi-relapse!? What the hell. Probably because I knew I wasn't going to be diving anytime soon. Luckily it's mostly social, but it's absolutely stupid.

Luckily I don't find it very hard to stop when I decide to. Thanks, it's interesting to hear the facts.

A dive trip will be great incentive to stop!

I don't smoke. I fkn hate it. Am convinced it does affect your diving.

Then two years ago after Nationals we went out taking the Croatians out on the town. Only to see Daniel Gospic smoking.

Go figure!!!

heart disease is massive in my family so never touched the stuff! i did, however, smoke hubbly at once stage when i was canoeing. training high level stuff and did my best time trial (10km) after smoking the hub. what iv been told is that the smoke expanded my lungs for a short period and then when i went training the lungs were ready and big enough for oxygen. makes sense but as Corry said, im totally against and think it has no place in nature (sheeesh i sound judgemental )