My husband smoked a pipe for a while before we met. I’m sort of sorry I missed that phase.
Okay, not really.
I remember Dave Barry mentioning that he once tried pipe smoking and he thought he and his friend looked so cool and sophsicated, but instead they looked like the Fred MacMurry Dork Patrol.
My dad smokes one, but he’s 70 now. I must ask him sometime why he started smoking a pipe, rather than cigarettes.
We’re in the UK, and he really struggles to get pipe tobacco, or at least the kind he likes, here.
I smoke a pipe, but only at home, or occasionally when I’m sailing or at the beach by myself.
It would be too weird to break out my pipe kit for a smoke when I’m around others, so much so that it might become the topic of conversation, which I would hate.
I smoke a pipe. I’m 32.
I started smoking one when I was 18 because I liked the look. I broke the bit (mouthpiece) on my pipe and thinking that it couldn’t be fixed, I tossed it. (Silly me. It was a Comoy, which is a fairly nice mainstream brand of pipe and could’ve been easily fixed.)
Anyway, when I started quitting smoking cigarettes about a year ago, I bought another pipe to help augment the cravings. Not the best way to quit cigarettes, mind you, and I don’t particularly recommend it. That said, after quitting cigarettes, I started really enjoying the pipe for what it was. It is very relaxing and is absolutely divine with a glass of straight rum on the rocks. I didn’t merely replace the cigarettes with a pipe, though… I now smoke the pipe because I want to, not because I have to (generally once or twice a month).
I’m happy to offer any advice to anyone who is interested in trying pipes.
Wow, blast from the past thread.
I quit my pipe smoking when I had a kid but I really enjoyed it for several years. There are more pipe smokers in the world than you might expect at first because it’s a hassel to smoke one in public.
Been pipe smoking off and on for over 40 years. These days it’s best done in solitude. Otherwise everyone feels compelled to remind you that tobacco causes cancer and you will probably drop dead tomorrow.
All things in moderation (including zombie thread postings) !
Ok so I hear a lot of younger people tell me that they like smoking a pipe or would like to learn. But they cannot see themselves smoking a pipe outside or in the presence of others. Here’s how you can get over that. Start by carrying your pipe with you when you take a walk. Take it out and carry between your lips or in your hand. Does this with your partner or friends a few times. Once you feel more comfortable being seen with a pipe in your hand then you will gain the confidence you need to light it. You will be surprised how many people will express how much they like the aroma. And unless you act completely like a geek, people will actually think you classy and self contained. If you partner doesnt like strong aromas try a fruity tobacco, they are easier to learn with and can smell wonderful like a scented candle.
Give it a try…
It’s true, its not impossible to smoke a pipe while out in the world. But, at least if you are like I was, it is sort of a pain. You have to have a way to transport the pipe, something to carry extra tobacco in, you probably want a pipe cleaner or two and a pipe tool and some matches (or a lighter if that’s how you roll). That’s a bunch of stuff to cart around and then you have to put up with people giving you the stink eye.
Which is not to say I didn’t carry all that stuff with me pretty much everywhere, and I used to love taking my dog on a walk and having a smoke. I even had a specific pipe and blend just for dog walking (a lightly aromatic burley that was called Grandfather which people loved the sent of) But I totally get why people don’t want to go to the trouble.
I choose my blends based on the taste I get from my end of the pipe – not the room note for everyone else. Captain Black and other drug store tobaccos smell great, but the taste is steamy, chemical, and utterly lackluster. Too many of these drug store tobaccos are low quality leaf that’s steeped in polypropylene glycol; that’s why the stuff can sit in a dusty pouch for years without dehydrating, and the best stuff is in tins. I enjoy smoking English and Balkan blends as well as Virginia/perique ones. G.L. Pease, Esoterica, and Samuel Gawith tin some of the finest pipe tobaccos in the world. English blends, owing to the latakia and other orientals, can smell like a nice woodsy campfire. Quality Virginia-based ones smell like quality tobacco. It’s not the room note people used to cherry blend smoking grandfathers expect, but it’s not bad. On your end of the pipe, it’s fantastic.
As for lack of a thick skin, if that’s really someone’s concern. Smoke your pipe privately for awhile until it’s second nature. Then start taking it with you. You can hardly smoke anyplace indoors these days anyhow, so it’s even more of a non-starter. Smoke a pipe because you enjoy it for yourself, not because you want to be seen enjoying it and serving as a glorified potpourri basket.
I use a pipe case. It holds two pipes and a couple of smokes’ worth of tobacco in a little pouch; and there is room left over for pipe cleaners, filters, and a pipe tool. And all in a leather case that’s not much bigger than a thick paperback book.
Oh sure, its not impossible by any means, I had a similar case and always kept a couple of spare pipe tools and cleaners in the glove box.
It just takes more prep work than sitting in your favorite chair at home and not going out. For me that was frequently bordering too much work just to be hassled. I never got hasseled when dog walking though. People seemed to find it fitting I guess.
I will say that while I don’t miss cigarettes one bit, I find that I miss the hobby of pipe smoking quite a bit. It’s hard to say if I miss the actual smoking, but I miss getting together with people and talking about blends, and shopping for pipes, and sitting down to give them all a scrub on Sunday. It’s like being into wine or scotch, but also into a particular craft like woodworking. It was a profoundly satisfying hobby in a lot of ways. I gave away almost all my tobacco a year or two ago, but I still have all my pipes in a display case in my living room.