Smoking

[simmo]

Hi All ,I just thought i would share this with you as an insentive,
Something i wish now , that i should have done a long time ago.
Three years ago i gave up SMOKING. This only happened because
i got a bout of chest pain ,yes enough to scare the hell out of me.
But today i mast say im a lot fitter and richer, as i can afford
camping gear and kayaking gear to enjoy the things i should have been doing
many years ago.
Don't get me wrong im not a anti smoker because i know the grip they can
have on someone im just saying that for someone that use to smoke 50 a day
for 20 0dd years thats a lot of money down the drain .
Mind you i have stacked on a tad of weight but not that much i can't handle
By the way the chest pain after an op and a few more tests didn't end up being Cardiac related
and all was good. Just lucky i guess you could say
Cheers Simmo

[Size 11]

Good on ya Simmo!
I hav'nt had one since Feb, but every now and then I still reach for my pockets to grab one.
They still tempt me, but I try to think of the positives.
Nasty things they are.

Good luck Jez

[ollster]

as i can afford
camping gear and kayaking gear to enjoy the things i should have been doing
many years ago.

Hmmn, gear acquisition syndrome... very bad for your wallet but often good for your health in a round about way.

[Size 11]

as i can afford
camping gear and kayaking gear to enjoy the things i should have been doing
many years ago.

Hmmn, gear acquisition syndrome... very bad for your wallet but often good for your health in a round about way.

It seems like a logical way of saying that, instead of smoking, I will climb this peak instead. Instead of smoking, I will put the money towards fuel, gear, whatever.
Non smokers will look at this as a, I told you so subject, it is hard as a non smoker to understand how addictive this crap is.
Support please people.

[taswegian]

simmo thanks for sharing - yes its good to be free of that stuff.

Support please people.

yes Size 11 I agree 100%.
I smoked for a while on and off as a kid and am so grateful I didn't pursue them.
Its frustrating seeing people trying to kick the habit but keep getting tugged back again.

[north-north-west]

Hmmm, maybe I should have been a smoker. Then I'd be able to give up and have lots of money to spend on things.

Of course, as I'm allergic to the stuff, I'd have been dead a few decades ago, but why quibble?

[Size 11]

Hmmm, maybe I should have been a smoker. Then I'd be able to give up and have lots of money to spend on things.

Of course, as I'm allergic to the stuff, I'd have been dead a few decades ago, but why quibble?

I'm trying to give you a reason to quibble, and in the process i am improving my keyboard skills.
Thanks north-northwest

[simmo]

Good on ya Simmo!
I hav'nt had one since Feb, but every now and then I still reach for my pockets to grab one.
They still tempt me, but I try to think of the positives.
Nasty things they are. Jez i found my self doing the same thing but it does pass i dont even think of them now
i find it hard to get my Daughter to give them up. but all in her own time .
Cheers Simmo

Good luck Jez

[Size 11]

I hope my daughter never takes the habit up, she already has breathing difficulties.
And there is no way I can get her to walk any where anyway, she cant leave FB or the rest of whatever it is they look at!
No hope for the modern child, even though i dont think smoking is on the to do list like it was in my day!

Cheers Jez
P.S If I knew i was going to die, i would smoke, no end, I love it, that's the prob.

[simmo]

well Jez i also hope she doesnt take it up and i hope she gets better with the breathing prob
Cheers Simmo

[weetbix456]

No hope for the modern child...

Don't ride us all off just yet

[MichaelP]

No hope for the modern child...

Don't ride us all off just yet

Yeah... Facebook is almost as good as this forum for organising trips! Especially when you live in a different state to those you plan to hike with!

[Size 11]

No hope for the modern child...

Don't ride us all off just yet

No hope for the modern child...

Don't ride us all off just yet

Yeah... Facebook is almost as good as this forum for organising trips! Especially when you live in a different state to those you plan to hike with!

No I won't, And yeah, it probably is if you actually get off it and do the walks.
Who cares! Whatever you do, Just don't smoke! (That was the topic)

[MichaelP]

Agreed!

[abowen]

Applaud the effort guys.
While on the subject, and this may be a bit off the topic, but does anyone what the rules are regarding smoking around public huts and in National Parks? I was amazed recently when staying at the New Pelion Hut to see four or five walkers puffing away on the verandah.
Don't get me wrong, I don't have a zero tolerance attitude, but would have thought that these huts are public places and that lighting up might be hazardous if butts are left on the ground.

[simmo]

Hi there abowen not an expert on the subject but being a health worker we have a smoke free enviroment ,
But i thought the rule of thumb was 3m away from any window or door entrance. so i would have thought
that might apply with huts in National Parks . not real sure it may be worth asking Parks . personally im
not fazed as long as they take there butts with them.
Cheers Simmo

[cdg]

I love smoking, i love the smell, the first inhalation, the whole ritual. However i do know they are deadly and will kill. its not even an 'if' its proven. so i stopped smoking 20 odd years ago. i didnt find it hard, just stopped buying them and that was it, no withdrawal etc. guess i was lucky.

if i make it to 65 i plan to take it up again though. if they are still legal and available!

im glad workplaces are smoke free, when i started working in an office there were ashtrays on peoples desks and it was common, i never thought much at the time about the impact on non-smokers. i think that people who nip out for a durrie 5 or 6 times a day are shirkers.

i also think that a lot of the anti-smoking rhetoric is pretty mean spirited and some of those people border on zealots. i reckon they will start on fat kids next, banning hamburgers and bags of mixed lollies.

i reckon smoking on a verandah is ok as long as smoke isnt wafting into the inside. if someone lit up in a hut, i reckon id object.

[flyfisher]

As a young(er) person I spent much time fishing and camping in the western lakes.
There were times when I was fearfull of running out of smokes or something to light them with (on day trips).
A really severe bout of the flu gave me a few smoke free days so I gave up and haven't had one since 1978
Now at the age of ?? I am still fit enough to walk to most places but if I had still smoked I may not have been here.
The smell doesn't worry me too much but folk shouldn't smoke near the hut doorways just out of respect for others.

FF

[South_Aussie_Hiker]

At the age of about 12, while home with just my mum, she received a call from her brother (my uncle) to say he had just been diagnosed with cardiomyopathy (heart disease) from smoking. He was not a viable transplant recipient.

I'd never seen my mum cry before, so I sat on her lap while she bawled for three hours until my Dad and brothers came home. I didn't know what else to do.

He was given 5 years to live, but survived 14 from the date of diagnosis. Over those 14 years, I watched him slowly and painfully deteriorate with eventual complete loss of lifestyle. He took over 50 tablets per day. He could walk only from his bedroom to the couch and back every day. He lost control of his bladder, and eventually contracted bowel cancer too. Doctors were reluctant to remove the cancer because they felt his body would not survive any surgery.

I also watched his family, and my mum, feel so much pain over those 14 years. There were good times, and we will always treasure them as fond memories, but they were few and far between. In the end, I think it may have been harder for his family to watch than it was for him.

He was a wonderful man who provided for his wife, daughters, their families and his grandchildren - and he was gone too soon.

Needless to say, while I wouldn't have ever smoked anyway, I certainly had even more motivation and reason to avoid it (and alcohol).

Well done Simmo. You haven't only done something wonderful for yourself, but also for you family and friends.

[ILUVSWTAS]

Caught up with a guy i hadnt seen in about 5 years at Melaleuca a few years ago who had just done a 28day walk from Lake St clair to Melaleuca over the KW, POW and Frankland ranges he was travelling solo.

First thing he said to me was "Mark do you have a cigarette, I ran out 5 days ago"

[johnat]

5 days would be hell!
I gave up in 1972, but at that point, the first 3 years were the worst. Now, I find it intolerable to be in a room with someone who stinks of tobacco smoke.

Don't get me wrong, if that's what it takes to get you through the sh^t the world throws at you, that's your problem, but it sure as hell ain't mine! So don't make it mine, please! Go somewhere where the air is already polluted to smoke, please don't do it in the tassie wilderness!The air is too pure to be polluted by the pong of cigarettes!

[tas-man]

This topic brought back memories of a walk with the Brisbane Bushwalkers Club in the early 1970's, where a new member who liked lighting up during walks was "encouraged" to not do it. Someone organised that members brought loaded water pistols with them on the next walk this chap came on, and when he lit up there was a shout "fire" and all the water pistols took out the lighted cigarette! (and soaked the poor smoker as well). He took it in good humour and did not take his cigarettes on walks again.

[Rupert_B]

I've been smoking for 25 years and recently had a bad chest infection we scared the heck outta me. I'm currently on patches and haven't had smoke in a week or so. I'm finding it hard but I'm trying to keep as busy as possible and am looking at improving my fitness as well. Which is why I've joined up - looking to get back into hiking and bushwalking after not really doing any for 20 odd years. A huge "Thanks" to Simmo for posting, a great incentive and postive example. Cheers

[flyfisher]

Good on you Rupert, you will be so much healthier if you can stay off them, not to mention better in the pocket.

Good luck with it, be strong, the hardest past is the first minute, hour, day, week.

FF

[Major Icehole]

I've been smoking for 25 years and recently had a bad chest infection we scared the heck outta me. I'm currently on patches and haven't had smoke in a week or so. I'm finding it hard but I'm trying to keep as busy as possible and am looking at improving my fitness as well. Which is why I've joined up - looking to get back into hiking and bushwalking after not really doing any for 20 odd years. A huge "Thanks" to Simmo for posting, a great incentive and postive example. Cheers

Hi Rupert. I smoked for more than 20 years myself. It took several tires but I have been off them now for more than a year. Being able to breathe is worth the added couple of kilos that I put on. At this point I'm tring to reclaim my belt size! It is tough but you can do it! It helps me to remind myself just how bad they are for me whenever I think I might just have "one".

For years when I was hiking up hill I would feel my pulse pounding in my temples. Without the smokes I almost never get this feeling. Also, being able to regain my breath in a few seconds after a hard climb is a fantastic feeling. Good luck to you mate, I'm pulling for ya.