Does nicotine affect a cycle?

[La Sombra Negra]

I smoked for 11 years. Nicotine is my personal god, I pray to that beautiful bitch every hour of everyday, sometimes I think I sleepwalk and smoke thats how much I love her.

Ill never stop using nicotine, ive come to accept this, not because I cant quit nicotine, but because I just dont want to. Every human needs their vices, to me, nicotine is no different than my morning coffee, I just wish getting it the way I want (that quick hit from a cig) didint have to kill me.

Then I learned about electronic cigarettes and vaporizing nicotine. Of course, I ordered one, and have since not touched a single cigarette, the smell of tobacco makes me sick. Its been almost 3 months now without a cigarette, vaporizing my nicotine pretty much allday long. Public smoking bans dont apply to me, I vaporize in the mall, I vaporize in restuarants, I exhale big bautiful plumes of smoke (but is actually vapor) that make people go "HEY you cant smoke in here... wait, whys your cigarette black and whys its cherry glow bright blue?? what the fuck!", I vaporize while I workout inbetween sets, I vaporize while I fucking jog (did I mention I can now jog??? Just did a 5km jog earlier today, vaporizing as I jogged, my lungs haven't felt so good since I first ever started using nicotine).


To the poster, to P-Mo (how was ur Fiji reefcheck adventure bud? im STILL jealous to this day ), to anyone else who smokes who reads this; go get an electronic cigarette, I aint kidding, most incredible thing ive ever held between my fingers.

I HIGHLY recommend getting a Joye510, it was the first one I bought (ive since tried most of the mainstream models), and its still the only one I want to use. Ill quickly list the benefits;

- No tar
- No gum disease
- Devoid of virtually all 4000+ chemicals found in tobacco
- Doesnt make you feel "poisoned" after using like tobacco always did for me
- You'll have more energy
- Your lung capacity WILL recover
- Doesnt suppress appetite anywhere near how badly tobacco does (I suspect all the other chemicals play a role in the severity of the appetite suppression from cigarettes)
- Generally contains 4 or 5 ingredients; Nicotine freebase, propylene glycol (used in smoke machines), distilled water, vegetable glycerin (if you want to exhale ALOT of "smoke clouds"), and flavoring (whatever flavor you could ever dream of)
- FDA study found they have just 1/1400th the amount of carcinogens verse tobacco, the amounts were LOWER than the carcinogen levels in nicotine patches and chewing gums
- Fulfills the BEHAVIORAL aspect of smoking a cigarette, holding it in your fingers, bring it to your lips, getting that instant hit of nicotine, feeling it go through your throat and lungs, exhaling a cloud of "smoke" (again, actually just vapor)
- Public smoking bans do NOT apply to it, there is no smoke, only vapor
- A Joye510 kit including a Personal Charging Case and a USB passthrough (for when ur at the computer) pays for itself (in the money you SAVE) within 1 month of buying it
- Vaporizing nicotine averages about 1/5th the cost of smoking cigarettes for the average user
- No second hand smell or smoke
- Doesnt stink your clothing or breath
- Actually KILLS germs in your mouth (propylene glycol is a germicidal agent)
- May even reduce your risk for lung infections like pnuemonia


Yes, vaporizing nicotine with an electronic cigarette is like smoking addiction refined down to just its two primary components; the chemical, and the behavioral.

And dont even get me rambling too heavily on the endless rainbow of flavors you can enjoy. I personally like a coffee + vanilla custard flavor mix in the morning, then I go for a bubble gum or cotton candy around noon, then in the evening I reach for a candy apple flavor I made by mixing apple pie flavoring with caramel flavoring (man its heavenly). Sometimes when im in the mood ill even reach for the Italian Fried Bacon flavoring (yes, I inhale bacon flavor, wouldnt you??? ITS BACON!).

 

[p-mo]

Planning to properly knock the cigs on the head but might be tempted by the electronic ciggies, had a look at them before and was in 2 minds. I only smoke 4 a day or something so my lungs aint as chargrilled as they used to be.

Fiji was f*ing awesome dude. I highly recomend anyone with a spare $3k get yourself on one of these things. All inclusive trips, live on the beach with a local tribe, scuba 3 times a day for 10 weeks, drink all the kava you can stomach, etc Your bound to lose a bit of mass (not a lot of protein rich meals unless you buy shedloads of tuna yourself) but its worth it for seeing the 200+sharks, 30+ turtles, octopuses, squid, cuttlefish, lobsters, manta rays, etc that I saw over that period.

 

[La Sombra Negra]

You fucking jackass, way to rub it in hardcore with the total breakdown of all the creatures you saw

Didint you have to like participate in the ReefCheck program? Thats what it was part of right? So you had to actually take note of what you saw and the numbers of those things you saw and the conditions of the coral and whatnot? (not that id mind doing that since im always observant of shit like that naturally).


I actually bought a hookah diving setup last summer. Its like my dream come true. I always loved the freedom of snorkeling (no huge fawkin awkward tank on ur back and annoying BCD and massive weight belt gouging into your hips), but always loved the downtime you get with SCUBA, hookah diving is like the missing link between SCUBA and snorkeling, its what ive always searched for and only learned existed the other year. Bought me a 90 foot deep 1 person gas powered setup for just $500, my last SCUBA regulator ALONE costed that much

Granted, cause its gas powered its a noisy beast, ill eventually get an electric one (theyre alot pricier though).

 

[p-mo]

lol sorry dude but I get excited chatting about all the awesome shit I've seen diving. Fiji really kicks the ass out of everywhere else I've been. Tourist reefs are always wrecked...

Yeah I had to learn 300+ fish with a 90% sucessful recognition rate. Its sometimes a bitch (if your told to look for invertabrates and your pal is looking for big fish you spend the whole time staring at the seabed and once you surface he's like - "did you see the dozen tuna being chased by a grey reef shark?" and you just have to wail!)

I've never heard of hookah diving myself- presumably its a tube attached to a floating rig or something? You not worried you'll break the pipe and have to ascend 90 feet on a single breath? I dont mind the weight belt either- trying to get down the first 2/3 meters with air in your lungs is a right pain....

 

[nordic_aloha]

lol sorry dude but I get excited chatting about all the awesome shit I've seen diving. Fiji really kicks the ass out of everywhere else I've been. Tourist reefs are always wrecked...

Yeah I had to learn 300+ fish with a 90% sucessful recognition rate. Its sometimes a bitch (if your told to look for invertabrates and your pal is looking for big fish you spend the whole time staring at the seabed and once you surface he's like - "did you see the dozen tuna being chased by a grey reef shark?" and you just have to wail!)

I've never heard of hookah diving myself- presumably its a tube attached to a floating rig or something? You not worried you'll break the pipe and have to ascend 90 feet on a single breath? I dont mind the weight belt either- trying to get down the first 2/3 meters with air in your lungs is a right pain....

I love diving as well, I spearfish regularly. Living in Hawaii, it is a way of life. For some reason my body seems to want to float more than others, so I have to use about 3 of the heaviest weights ( i think thier a pound each?) to stay down and not have to paddle too much(scares the fish away). Safety should always be kept in mind, especially if you are in turbulent water. Shallow water blackout is a danger to always be aware of if you are freediving without using oxygen.
I tell you what though, of all the different ways I find to excersize, I have never found anything that will wear me out more than spearfishing!! After getting pounded by 8 foot waves on the way out and back in, swimming for three hours with all your gear, and keeping yourself in a constant state of caution for sharks,etc, you are pretty much wore out to the bone!!

 

[La Sombra Negra]

I've never heard of hookah diving myself- presumably its a tube attached to a floating rig or something? You not worried you'll break the pipe and have to ascend 90 feet on a single breath? I dont mind the weight belt either- trying to get down the first 2/3 meters with air in your lungs is a right pain....

Correct. Tube attached to an air pump ontop of an inner tube.

Nah the hoses are strong ass shit. Your limited in that you cant really go inside of wrecks or caves though for the obvious reasons of entanglement, but you use positively buoyant air hoses that snake along the surface of the water until directly above you then drop straight down to you, so unless theres a really heavy current, theres no risk of wrapping it around a coral head or anything. But if some douchebag doesnt adhere to your dive flag and comes ripping through in his boat, might get a nasty propeller entanglement/severing, which would be a great lawsuit if you survive


Generally youd be most worried about running out of gas and the pump stopping, but a good hookah setup will have a special air resevoir bladder on the surface that will hold several minutes worth of air for a controlled ascent and safety stop in the event you run out of gas.

I just always found SCUBA way to encumbersome to be as enjoyable as snorkeling (I still love SCUBA diving though, but by comparison), I need that feeling of freedom like a dolphin. You do use a weight belt with hookah diving usually too, however, the goal is neutral buoyancy (so theres less weight on the belt) rather than negative buoyancy with later compensation using a BCD as is the case with SCUBA. I hate BCD's, theyre annoying. I dunno though, I guess if you find the "perfect fit" BCD it wouldnt be too shabby, but the ones ive always tried never fit like a glove.

Maybe its just diving here in Canada with 8mm thick neoprene that requires one shwackload of weight to make negatively buoyant, but I find weight belts are always digging into my hip bones, like, badly, it fucking aches by the end of the dive. granted, ive never tried one of those BCD-incorporated weight belts, those look alot more comfortable. This hookah system has a tow-harness which has pockets for the weights like a BCD-incorporated weight system, and im using steel ballbearings instead of solid weights, which are uber more comfortable.


The real advantage for hookah and where it shines, is shallow water, i.e. within the 15-30 foot depths, which is where most the sea life is anyways (I actually prefer shallow water diving, probably why I dont mind snorkeling as I can freedive to 40+ feet). In shallow water with a hookah system you can stay down for hours upon hours, great if your into UW photography which is something im looking to master.

Hookah systems are also real big with spearfishing, again, due to the very long downtime you can get off them verse an air tank. But of course, you still need to worry about the decompression limits, so the extended down times arent necessarily useful if your going on deep dives, unless you've got a decomp chamber in your bedroom


My dream is to mount a small two man electric unit onto the back of a jetski, could you imagine how sick thatd be? Cause I sure as fuck can!!

 

[nordic_aloha]

That sound like an awesome system. I would be slightly paranoid with relying on the tube though. For underwater photography and recreation, I could see how the hookah system would provide more enjoyment.

For spearfishing, it would seem to me that using this system would be alot more work than snorkel though. I find it hard enough to tug along my float with the fish on it, and keep track of my gun or three prong. Having the extra equip would make me go crazy lol.

Im just a recreational spearfisher though, Im sure someone who does it everyday would have alot easier time managing all the extra stuff. How is the sound?? is it relatively quite underwater? Thats the reason I dont know hardly anyone who uses SCUBA to dive in tropical waters, the sound and equipment drives away most shy reef fish.

 

[La Sombra Negra]

That sound like an awesome system. I would be slightly paranoid with relying on the tube though. For underwater photography and recreation, I could see how the hookah system would provide more enjoyment.

For spearfishing, it would seem to me that using this system would be alot more work than snorkel though. I find it hard enough to tug along my float with the fish on it, and keep track of my gun or three prong. Having the extra equip would make me go crazy lol.

Im just a recreational spearfisher though, Im sure someone who does it everyday would have alot easier time managing all the extra stuff. How is the sound?? is it relatively quite underwater? Thats the reason I dont know hardly anyone who uses SCUBA to dive in tropical waters, the sound and equipment drives away most shy reef fish.

Its also big with underwater treasure hunters doing gold dredging and goeey duck harvesters and people who clean boat bottoms. Its definetly a great setup if your staying in one general area, in regards to the horizontal-axis (thus not needing to pull the floating surface unit around).

Despite that though, ive read ALOT of spear fishers and abalone foragers using them, and they all rave about it. Noise wise, the gas powered ones are noisy SOB's. I mean, with how well sound travels underwater, you can probably hear it from miles away LOL but its really no louder than say an idling boat motor on the surface. And of course, it still has a regulator, so your still exhaling bubbles so it wouldnt offer any silence advantage verse SCUBA gear (and less than a rebreather of course). Really though, some fish species arent very sketchy about sound, so I guess how applicable it is in spearfishing would depend what kind of fish your trying to catch.


Like SCUBA and snorkeling, it has its pro's and con's, the thing is, its pro's and con's are a different mixture than snorkeling and SCUBA, so it gives another option to the underwater explorer. I personally love mine, its right up my alley, the hybrid between SCUBA (too encumbersome) and snorkeling (too limited in downtime). Of course, ill still SCUBA and snorkel when they offer more suitable pro's/con's for whatever my specific need is for the day.

Its great for DRIFT diving too, thats the best way to use it if you wanna cover a large horizontal area. The current will bring the float with you without needing your effort.

Once I finish building my home in the Phils ill be hauling this badboy over there and drifting over coral reefs everyday till the day I die. Put that in your pipe and smoke it P-Mo, you got served son!! :D (well, you WILL get served, once my baby is built -- aww dont worry ill invite you over, maybe ill even hire you as my personal groundskeeper).

 

[nordic_aloha]

Your moving out to P I huh. Congrats on that brotha. Are you filipino or do you have a wife/family there or something? My fiance is half Hawaiin half filipina but shes never even been there lol. Anyhow were planning on going up sometime this year to visit her family. I am trying to decide whether to bring my gear or not. The waters there are supposedly even warmer than Hawaii The snorkel, boots, fins, weights, suit, and glove should be no problem to fly out with. But the gun is going to be a bitch. MY 3prong is just straight up out of question since it is designed for the deeper crevices, it is 14 feet long lol! I know its doable to bring the speargun, but I hate to have to hassle that kind of shit through the airports. I can just jerrry-rig up my own float once I get there and I am thinking about not even bringing the gun and just buying myself a cheap 3prong once I get there. I am really good with my 3 prong and I dont plan on going into the deeper reefs anyhow since I am not familiar with the underwater scene there.

 

[La Sombra Negra]

Your moving out to P I huh. Congrats on that brotha. Are you filipino or do you have a wife/family there or something? My fiance is half Hawaiin half filipina but shes never even been there lol. Anyhow were planning on going up sometime this year to visit her family. I am trying to decide whether to bring my gear or not. The waters there are supposedly even warmer than Hawaii The snorkel, boots, fins, weights, suit, and glove should be no problem to fly out with. But the gun is going to be a bitch. MY 3prong is just straight up out of question since it is designed for the deeper crevices, it is 14 feet long lol! I know its doable to bring the speargun, but I hate to have to hassle that kind of shit through the airports. I can just jerrry-rig up my own float once I get there and I am thinking about not even bringing the gun and just buying myself a cheap 3prong once I get there. I am really good with my 3 prong and I dont plan on going into the deeper reefs anyhow since I am not familiar with the underwater scene there.

Palawan province to be exact. Its like nothing I could ever have imagined could actually exist in reality, like something out of a fantasy movie, simply majestic, it doesn't look real, even when your standing there knee deep in glassy seas.

Actually I have an ex-gf who was born/raised in the Phils and is still a citizen, so my property is in her name right now (as foreigners cant own property there). Im not filipino nor am I married, my uncle is an expat living there also but hes not a filipino citizen either. But im in the process of setting up a corporation there that I will have the sole control over the corporations assets (my property), this is the safer way for a foreigner to own property there, as my ex can simply sell my property out from under me right now if she wants, but she knows im far too loco to try to do such a thing to, id get very stabby.


Brah if you goto the Phils, im telling you this straight up, you would be a complete idiot to not make a side trip to Palawan province while there. It is literally the most beautiful and romantic place on the face of this planet, I can testify to that, and so can someone with alot more credit.

Jacques Cousteau said that of all the places he had explored in the world over his lifetime, Palawan was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. He was right. Its entire coastline is littered with tens of thousands of coves each with their own tiny intimate beaches hidden from the world and fringed with rainforest and encased by 100 foot sheer verticle limestone cliffs. The province consists of over 1,000 tropical islands, each more beautiful than the last, and the vast majority of the entire province has been set aside as marine sanctuaries and nature reserves (its local government is incredibly devoted to maintaining its pristine habitat to degrees you never see in developing countries).

Just google images keywords such as; Palawan, Bacuit Bay, El Nido, Coron. Oh did I mention its rediculously cheap to visit? $10/night beach front cottages! Go there, show your wife the pride of her ancestors.

 

[La Sombra Negra]

The waters there are supposedly even warmer than Hawaii The snorkel, boots, fins, weights, suit, and glove should be no problem to fly out with. But the gun is going to be a bitch. MY 3prong is just straight up out of question since it is designed for the deeper crevices, it is 14 feet long lol! I know its doable to bring the speargun, but I hate to have to hassle that kind of shit through the airports. I can just jerrry-rig up my own float once I get there and I am thinking about not even bringing the gun and just buying myself a cheap 3prong once I get there. I am really good with my 3 prong and I dont plan on going into the deeper reefs anyhow since I am not familiar with the underwater scene there.

I actually didint find the waters in hawaii all that warm (by comparison to other places ive been). When I was in Maui it really wasnt as warm as I had expected, but I think thats because Hawaii is way out in the pacific getting deep water currents coming up against it bringing cooler waters.

The phils was definetly warmer, but it wasnt as warm as when I was in the Mayan Riviera, the water there was the warmest ive felt, it was seriously pee warm!


If I was you id save the hassle and just buy a spear when your there, I mean everything there is dirt cheap by comparison to north america, but if your speargun is like some uber-elite Series-7 Fish Deatomizer (how much do those cost again? Not including the ionized plasma-fission cartridges) then you might wanna bring it, as you probably wont find anything that extreme for sale there Although you can prolly pickup some dynamite sticks for pretty cheap and pop a few of those in the water, seems to work for the filipinos LOL (no I dont promote that activity, pretty reckless and horrible to see).