Just bought my first Tobacco Pipe!

[Novem5er]

As the title says, I used a holiday gift card to buy my first tobacco pipe. I am a non-smoker so this is a big deal for me. I still feel guilty! I remember my dad having a pipe when I was very young, but he also had a motorcycle and I think my mother made him quit both

So why did I buy a pipe? I'm not entirely sure, but something about the process always appealed to me. It seems very ritualistic and even a little meditative. I'm picturing having a Friday night smoke at the end of a long work week, enjoying an evening of warm Florida air in the middle of winter. Pure fantasy, I'm sure.

Are there any other pipe smokers out there? It seems every pipe smoker has a long list of advice and particulars, so I thought I'd ask here.

[Elvis]

When it comes to tobacco, good pipe tobacco and pipe smoking is best. I mostly smoke handrolled cigarettes but I've dallied with pipe smoking since I was 16 or so (my dad also smoked a pipe). Currently I have a nice carved meerschaum pipe a friend gave me and it's the coolest smoking pipe I've ever had.

For the best experience, get high quality pipe tobacco; cheap stuff is usually awful by comparison and is bad for your pipe (the finer smoke condenses more, clogs, oozes, etc). There are some very aromatic blends that are "delicious" and many people who object to cig smoke don't mind a good pipe tobacco, some rather like it.

Get some good stiff "bristle" pipe cleaners (there's a German brand I like best, can't recall the name right now) and clean your pipe with them often, say, after every two or three bowls.

There *is* something unique about settling in and relaxing with a good pipe, definitely has the meditative quality you spoke of.

[Elvis]

Oh, and, you've probably read or been told this, but when packing the pipe, try to stuff a single big wad of tobacco into the bowl; layers are problematic, the tobacco tends to stop burning at the bottom of a layer.

Try to make the tobacco less dense at the bottom of the bowl, while packing it tight at the top.

When you light it, it tends to fluff & plump; this is where the tamping tool comes in: after getting a burn going, tamp it down. At some point the coal becomes something of a solid mass, and a stir is in order; I mostly just jab at the partly-burned bowl contents with a matchstick (or even an actual tamping tool stirring end!) to allow airflow, tamp down a bit, and re-light. I don't have a proper tamping tool—I use a medium-sized carpenter's nail.

[Novem5er]

Thank you for the replies and advice, Elvis. Yes, this is exactly the sort of sagely advice I was looking for

I'm looking forward to messing with something that is A) a time-honored tradition, and B) something non-electronic. Now I just need to wait about a week for the shipment to come in and give it a try. I've read about packing and tamping many times, but I think it's something you have to physically do before it starts to make sense!

I'm a little wary of the negative health effects (like I said, I'm a non-smoker), but I'll minimize it as much as I can. I'm the sugar in my morning coffee is worse than occasional smoke in the mouth.

[82_28]

I used to ostentatiously smoke a pipe in college while on campus. Yeah, I was that guy. If you can find a middle eastern store they have (as I remember) the best fruit flavored tobacco. Also, just my advice, don't inhale. Just puff.

That said, I miss the old tobacco stores. Go in pick out your pipe and the tobacco. They were fancy joints when I was a kiddo.

[Novem5er]

I plan on just imbibing on my porch, and not in public around town, so I hope I will never be That Guy. Nobody wants to be him

And yes, just puffs, no inhaling.

I went to a tobacco store in the local mall today, in search for a pipe lighter. For those that don't know, a pipe lighter has the flame come out to the side so you can hold it over the bowl without burning your finger. It also has a lower temperature flame, supposedly, which works better for pipe tobacco. Unfortunately, amidst the bongs and flavored rolling papers, there was not a pipe lighter in sight.

[Elvis]

I hope I will never be That Guy. Nobody wants to be him

It's a problem. Someone invited me to a concert, and while we walked from the car to the venue, I, not having any cigarettes, pulled out my pipe and lit up. My friend (a guy from work) gave me a bad time, saying something about "looking sophisticated." That irked me and I told him curtly that a pipe was simply the best 'delivery system' for tobacco (I definitely inhale).

By the way, here's my pipe:

[Novem5er]

Elvis, that's a thing of beauty, for sure!

And I see a lot of Those Guys that are into the vaping now. I think, more so, because people often vape in places you wouldn't normally be allowed to smoke, so it stands out.

It's funny how things come and go out of fashion. I wonder if tobacco smoking has been replaced with smart phone addiction?

[Cordelia]

Thanks Nov for bringing back some good memories! to how 82 remembers tobacco stores--it's how they were for me, but I'm a lot older. My future/former b-i-l managed a shop in the 1970's and I loved the atmosphere: wood floors, cabinets w/ Meerschaum pipes & colorful tins; very much a masculine aesthetic. I was surrounded by pipe (cigarette & cigar) puffers



and started smoking one myself because I finally realized if you can't beat 'em, may as well join 'em. But I really enjoyed it and so I bought my own pipe & tamper. We got a store discount and the tobacco brands I remember were Dunhill and Balkan Sobranie (which was packed in a more interesting tin). Because I was surrounded by judgmental & professional 'connoisseurs', I was afraid to suggest the more colorful tin brands but my pipe was blue and I bought two skull pipes for future ex-hubby (another plus is the range of gift products for pipe smokers). Maybe pipe smoking will come back in style; you never know. I've started seeing guys wearing baseball hats w/man buns and driving trucks, so what's not to accept about pipes? .

[Elvis]

Thanks for the first good laugh of the year!


Yesterday I was looking for something else and stumbled on this:

[Novem5er]

Cordelia, that was a great trip down your own memory lane. Thank you for sharing. I think this is why I've had an interest in pipe smoking recently. It just seems like a practice that bonded people together in simpler times. Much like that advertisement that Elvis shared above, there is just something to the nostalgia of it.

Searching around the web, there is no shortage of pipe enthusiasts out there, but it IS a rare sight to encounter out in public. Like you said, with man-buns and ironic facial hair, I can see pipe smoking becoming semi-normal with this generation of hipsters. My own package is in transit, so it will be a few more days until I can start experimenting. I'm laying out a pipe-smoking area in my yard and already daydreaming about landscaping and outdoor comfort. Maybe buying a tobacco pipe will be the spark I needed to finish several home improvement missions

[82_28]

Yeah, Cordelia. Those stores were ornate as hell. While just having turned 42, I really miss the days of fancy tobacco stores and little to no tax. I smoke and think that I will never quit. Cigarettes that is. The stores were like going into an ancient library. I know the whole fucking world hates smoking but nothing can take back how awesome they were and also arcades.

Any of you guys go cheap and get a corn cob pipe? I had one and then upgraded.

[82_28]

Here's something I tossed up on my site a few years ago.



http://classifiedhumanity.com/post/1898 ... h-8th-1912

March 8th, 1912

[Novem5er]

I am not a big fan of cigarettes, but my teenage years were spent around so many smokers that I find the smell of second-hand smoke sort of comforting. Weird, I know My first big high school crush was a cigarette smoker, and I can still recall the stale, leftover smoke clinging to the flannel overshirt she always wore. *sigh*

Still, regarding pipe smoking, I figure this guy can't be wrong:

[82_28]

I had this girlfriend in high school where we would each take a drag (at the mall) inhale and then go back and forth exhaling to one another while kissing.

Isn't that cute?