Smoking and hiking…

[Gary Boyd]

I still love the smell of cigarettes, probably always will. I think it's pretty ridiculous personally that people are so worried about others smoking on the trail. Either pass or slow down. The negligible amount of second hand smoke you receive by passing a smoker is hardly worth the time or effort you spend complaining about it. The smell, much like someone passing gas, will go away very quickly as long as you don't stand right next to it.

[Jesse H.]

I switched to American spirits about a year ago, from newports, thought i was doing myself a favor (lol) then one day i came upon this:
http://whyfiles.org/183smoking/2.html
looked up the nicotine percentages and its right… so all natural yea… nicotine filled…yes, but what you say makes sense, cant hurt to try, worked for… so why not give it a swing, what can i loose, which was better patch or gum?

[Nate Meinzer]

Jesse,

I smoked Camel Lights for years and tried quitting numerous times and went through terrible withdrawals (even with patches, gum, etc.).

After switching to the American Spirits, the withdrawal has been minimal, almost comically nonexistent. I've been able to drink alcohol, coffee, etc., and in general, haven't altered my lifestyle in any other way to accomodate for withdrawal symptoms.

I personally do not like the patch. If you exercise and sweat, it can increase the nicotine and make you get jittery. The gum is nice but can cause canker sores. Lozenges don't have either of these symptoms. I've also used "SNUS" imported from Sweden. These are packets of tobacco that you place on your gums, and they work very well.

My boyfriend quit at the same time and has been smoking another substance (legal for him in California!) and that works well. It's not chemically addictive and helps replace the smoking habit. I don't like to do it, so I've just given up the smoke altogether.

Good luck and if you ever need a hiking buddy in the Bay Area, shoot me a PM.

[Nick Gatel]

Why not just go on a BPing trip for a week or two without any supply points. Don't take any smokes. That way you are forced not to smoke cold turkey for a week or two.

[Rog Tallbloke]

> That way you are forced not to smoke cold turkey for a week or two.

Reminds me of the pro footballer asked if he preferred grass to astroturf.

"Dunno" he replied, "I never tried to smoke astroturf."

I quit for 3 years between 2003-2006. Started again because I got bored while I was laid up with a broken spine. Stupid really. I'll probably quit again soon.

Nate, the patches, gums, lozenges and the rest of the doohickeys are just the continuation of the addiction by another method. They are made by big tobacco, and they reap big big profit from them. The main problem is, when you arrive somewhere you can't obtain them, you crave the nicotine and buy cigarettes.

When I stopped, I just stopped. It was easy once I realised that actually, the addiction is very weak physiologically anyway, and 'giving up' is a phrase which makes it sound like you'll have to do without something important. Cigarettes just aren't that big a deal.

Try reading Allan Carrs Easy Way to Give up Smoking.

[Nate Meinzer]

Tallbloke,

I was worried you'd say that Cigarettes aren't harmful, it's just a conspiracy. (har har) But in all serious, your efforts at quitting could save our planet! (har har)

I have heard very good things about that book. Rave reviews, even. Re: the nicotine replacement therapy. it's true. At some point, one must give up the nicotine altogether. But nicotine by itself isn't as harmful as cigarettes.

[Brian UL]

….So I went to the doctor
See what he could give me
He said son, son, youve gone too far.
cause smokin and hiking is all that you do….

[Gary Boyd]

Rog, While the physiological addiction may be weak, the mental and even emotional addiction to cigarretes is strong otherwise after 3 years you would have had no desire to even pick up a cigarette. I was in the same boat a couple of times. Nicotine must permanently rewire some of our brains so that we forget how much certain parts of smoking sucked.

I equate my relationship with cigarettes to a relationship with an abusive spouse. They treat me like crap they knock me around and take my money, but sometimes they're pure magic and they're always there.

[Rog Tallbloke]

Gary, I'm sure there's a lot in what you say. Life is to be enjoyed after all. There's just no enough puritanical backbone left in me to get along with self denial. :-)

After I walked out of hospital following the crash and lay-up, that first cigarette tasted like…. Freedom!

If they weren't banned inside, I may not have wanted one…

It really winds my non-smoking walking mates that I still get to the top of the hill before them despite my lung debilitating habit.

[Gary Boyd]

because I was smoking atop Mt Washington in January, my friends thought I was crazy. I completely agree. I was stuck at Ft Benning GA in a Physical Therapy Platoon for 6 months after Infantry training and was just fine, the minute I got out, I went and bought a pack of smokes. Crazy behavior.

[Tom Clark]

""IF I WANT TO SMELL THAT I WOULD GO TO A BAR OR BUS STOP"
Got to agree with Jesse, man up! I mean you can't even enjoy a camp fire?????? That maybe one of the silliest things I have ever read on the internet. I prefer to think of my cigar smoke as idiot repellant."

I thought about this post and the previous comment, and wondered why you guys got so ticked off. Yeah, I don't like the smell of cigarettes, and prefer the smell of the outdoors (moist dirt, evergreen scent, recet rain) while hiking. Is that surprising to anyone? A campfire has a purpose, but it still doesn't smell very good the next day.

I've shared a tent with someone that smokes, and the smell quickly saturated the tent. I don't understand why you would want to smell like that all of the time, or why you believe that it's a good smell. Maybe you don't like hearing that…your problem, not mine.

I do find it funny to hear a smoker call someone an idiot for not liking cigarette/cigar smoke. I thought you were doing the idiotic thing.

[Rog Tallbloke]

I rolled up on the top of Scafell Pike a couple of months ago, and the flint popped out of my lighter. There were at least 30 people up there, not one of them had a light. They laughed at me.

Mind you, I got the last laugh. it was a hot day, and I was the only one who had the presence of mind to carry a nice cool bottle of quality belgian beer up with me. :-)

[s k]

Yes, smoking is an unhealthy habit, and generally offensive to everyone other than the smoker.

Long, long ago, after about three smokeless years, I walked up to the local market for a purchase of spirits. At the counter, when I paid, I noticed an open pack of Marlboros, upright, with a small hand written sign taped across it.

10 Cents!

The lure of those single tasty morsels was strong so I bought one, and smoked it on the walk home, and it was just as good as I remembered. Maybe better. After a week of singles, I went back to packs.

That stint lasted another few years until I broke the habit again some fifteen years ago.

And at times I feel like the broken one; sidling up to a smoker for the flick, and that deep draw of the first drag. Or following a smoker down the walk for a whiff of pleasure. There's always some peripheral smoke. And "second hand" isn't all bad.

I often joke that if I could limit myself to four or five ciggys a day……… I'd start smoking right now!

[Ali e]

Skots, that's hysterical, I find myself on long beach runs intentionally running past smokers for a whiff. Nothing is more desirable than what you can't have. Ali

[Joshua Ellis]

I suggest a 2 week trip with gradual smoking cessation (let the non-smoker be in charge of the rationing) during the trip. Then when you get home cold-turkey (or anything less drastic) might have a better chance at working.

If you're not hiking with a smoker FWIW, I'd have a hard time believing you could hike enough trail miles to incur second hand cigarette smoke related ailments.

Thinking that second hand cigarette smoke poses more danger to your health then the pollution you're subjected too when you drive to the trailhead couldn't be more backwards.

[Jesse H.]

thanks for all the input! sorry if were hijacking the thread… Ive started smoking only half and putting it out, so what do you guys think? what should be my next step? i like the idea of using a hike to get me past the hump at first…anyone tried this?

nate,
always down to hike with new friends, find myself at pt. reyes A LOT, is your bf still not smoking? im also a MM patient, but dont think that will really work for me, as its a bit of a trigger for me…

[stefan hoffman]

Awesome thread, idk how i missed it before. So many great opinions.

I started smoking cigs about 4 years ago, i think mostly as a replacement for herb, which i kinda had to stop smoking after highschool. Ive tried to quit 3 times, the first two times lasted about 3 months, and the most recent was only a week. Always something crappy sparks a relapse, and something equally crappy sparks an attempt at quitting again.

SO anyways, hiking and smoking….. Once i smoked a cig after drinking a 6 pack on the way to a summit, and i passed out after a few drags. I was sitting down, and nobody really noticed, so when i came to it was just kinda funny to me. I smoked one cig at that same summit after aclimating for a few weeks with no problems. Nowadays i dont bring smokes, and i really dont even think about them when im up in the mountains, but as soon as i get home its like i never stopped.

I dont understand the whole issue of smell, i cant or dont notice cig smoke at all. But i am like a bloodhound for MJ :). Second hand smoke being harmful outdoors is a laughable attempt at making a point, period. The one smell that always bothers me while im hiking is sunscreen….my god the tourists can slather it on. I certainly dont feel the need to comment on it outloud though. Not using sunscreen would cause them serious discomfort, and maybe prevent them from enjoying the outdoors altogether. Same goes for bug spray and deet, but again, some people would suffer without it, just like some people suffer without thier smokes.

About the forest fire issue, i find its really hard to start a forest fire with a cigatette, even in the super dry climate i where i live. Its not an issue that i choose to ignore, and im good about putting smokes out, but i dont think its unlikely that smokes get blamed for a lot of forrest fires where the cause is simply unknown. This may sound a bit ignorant of me, but ive experimented (in controlled environments) with different things like leaves and dry grasses, pretty much the stuff i would use as tinder. The only thing that i have ever seen really light up is the blanket of cotton laid down by cottonwoods. Really cool to watch, its like gasoline, but it becomes NOT FUNNY really fast.

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