You see pipe smokers on the streets of New York. Then again, we’re so big that you see almost anything on the streets of New York.
I have a couple of tobacco pipes that I bought and smoked in college – nice briars, Danish and German – but I haven’t used them in years.
I started smoking a pipe about six months ago because I was getting a little down about the cost of cigars. It is more work but I usually don’t try to do anything else during my daily smoke so it’s not a problem. Actually, paying attention to keeping the thing lit is just enough of an effort that it takes my mind off everything else. I also like the fact that it doesn’t take as long to smoke a bowl as it takes to smoke a cigar. Sometimes I just don’t have time for a whole cigar and I’m too cheap to be comfortable throwing one away before it’s smoked down.
I’ve been smoking a custom mix from my local cigar shop, but last week I picked up a tin of Dunhill London Mixture while I was travelling and I’ve discovered that I like it just as much.
I’ve got two pipes. One is a Peterson briar and one is a Meerschaum by a company with an unpronouncable name. The Meerschaum seems to be a slightly cooler smoke, but that might just be my imagination.
So, for all you pipe smokers out there, what’s your favorite – straight or bent?
Curate
I only smoke mine at home. Much of the pleasure of pipe smoking comes from the ritual for me – it’s a way for me to unwind, and so it’s an at-home kind of activity.
This kind of thing always makes me wonder if I actually know someone from the boards IRL. Probably not though.
I just recently gave up pipe smoking, and now stick to cigars. I’d get some odd looks. I’m 36, my head is shaved, and I wear earrings in each ear. I just don’t look like a pipe smoker.
Spavined Gelding brings up a good point. I always wondered why places would say “No Pipes or Cigars”, but allow cigarettes. I mean damn, cigarettes stink!
I still smoke a pipe, and in public.
I have a private office with a door to the street and windows on two sides for a cross breeze, so nobody has ever complained.
If they drop when I’m smoking in they usually just say it smells like baking because I smoke a cherry flavored tobacco.
I’m 33, and I smoke pipes. Have a decent sized collection. I prefer cigars, easier to deal with, and I’ve been smoking them forever.
Sometimes though, a pipe is very nice.