Any tobacco pipe smokers in here?

neosporin

neosporin

Joined
Feb 17, 2003
Messages
654
I've been looking to get into pipe smoking for a while. finally decided i'm going to start, just wondering if there were any pipe smokers here :D I'm thinking about getting a corncob pipe and captain black, or a meershcaum lined pipe to start off.
 
I smoked pipes for some 28 years before I stopped and can only offer this advice: Don't bother.
 
I smoked a pipe for a few years, the only reason I'd ever recommend it is as an alternative to cigarettes. If you don't smoke, don't start, but if you're going to regardless, a few observations;

Real corn cob pipes are great, for awhile. They aquire a nasty taste after repeated use.

Never had a meerschaum, mostly because they aquire a stain that to me makes them far less appealing. And I am not the type to just put one in a display case.

I don't know if they're still around, but Dr. Grabow had a good line of inexpensive usable pipes.

Rather than using prepackaged tobacco, find a tobaccanist and get a good custom blend. It is more expensive, but you'll probably find you use much less tobacco than you'd think, so splurging here isn't that great an expense.

Just want to reiterate, as an alternative to cigarettes or cigars, a pipe is an interesting alternative, but if you don't smoke, there's absolutly no reason to start.

kkimo
 
Cigarettes stink, hard to breathe around them, thank God my friends who do smoke don't do it around me. Cigars stink too, when they are lit, but I enjoy stepping into a cigar store to buy cigars for another friend of mine. As for pipes, they're like money clips, a little pretentious, even though I use one. Instead of huffing on a pipe, chew some Nicorette and try to quit smoking. THAT CRAP STINKS!
 
He's right. If you haven't started, don't start. I smoked everything, and now it feels like a waste of time. Better off to rub one out instead of smoking.
 
I've been smoking a pipe for over 40 years and I'm still here.

First- get a good pipe and GOOD tobacco. Look up on the internet and see if there are any pipe shows in your area. They are like gun shows only selling new and used pipes. Yes, used pipes. They can be a bargin in good shape. The last pipe show I was at here in the Washington D.C. area I picked up a great condition Peterson for 15 dollars that is a 70 dollar pipe.

Corncobs are ok, but they burn out after about 6 months or so. Meershaums are nice and I have a carved Turkish one, but they are fragile. Drop one and you have pieces. Stay with a good briar from Peterson, Savenelli, Nording, or the old Yellow bowls.

Next, stay away from drug store tobacco!

Cheap tabocco has done more to stop people from smoking pipes than any other thing. Get on the net and find Fred Stoker and sons in Dresden Tenn.
Get one of his catalogues and look for a mild tobacco that is mostly a Virginia or burly. Stay away from sweetened vanilla or cherry aramatic tobaccos. Virginia is a mild slightly sweet smoke by itself. Burly is the next mildest tobacco. Sometimes a real good mix is somme Virginia mixed with some Kentucky dark burly.

By all means visit a taboacco shop that has a person who knows pipes, and get advice on the techniques. Again young pipe smokers have been turned off by toungue bite because they were packing to tight, puffing too hard, ect...

A pipe can be a wonderfull thing if done right.
 
thanks for all the feedback. Kkimo, I like the Dr. Grabow pipes now that I've looked for them, I'll try to get one of those. JackKnife, I believe that captain black is a drugstore tobacco, but I've been strongly recommended it to start with and even for later down the road by several people. I'm looking for sweet tasting/smelling aromatic blends. Well, I havent tried anything yet so I guess I'm not sure.
 
I do, usually in the winter. I will have to say that you shoudn't smoke. It will kill you, and me for that matter. Pipe smoking is a dirty way to smoke, and you will look totally affected unless you are of a certain age.
With all of that said, I generally smoke danish golden ready rubbed tobacco, in a benton pipe. I don't like many dry tobaccos, but that may change.
 
Neosporin, The thing about pipe smoking, chewing tobacco and snuff is Mouth Cancer. If you are diagnosed with it the doctors will operate and remove the parts of your face that are infected. When my grandfather died from it 20% of his face was missing. Personally I would prefer lung cancer.
 
kamkazmoto said:
Neosporin, The thing about pipe smoking, chewing tobacco and snuff is Mouth Cancer. If you are diagnosed with it the doctors will operate and remove the parts of your face that are infected. When my grandfather died from it 20% of his face was missing. Personally I would prefer lung cancer.
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imho everyone has to decide for himself what they are gonna do, and the risk associated/etc.

BUT a good friend from high school died last summer, he was 48, mouth/tongue cancer, they did surgery in the spring and cut him up so horrifically that he would not allow his friends to see him(removed tongue/teeth/lotsa gum/etc) and he couldnt talk either so no phone calls, he was hoping to get plastic surgery before he would see his friends i guess and passed before he could get healed up much less get the reconstructive, really sad/wife and 2 kids, he dipped skoal for +20 yrs, started in the marines in '75, if ya dont use tobbacco dont start, if ya do ya should quit.

i smoke myself FWIW, but wish i wouldnt have started and am trying to quit.
 
I never smoked cigarettes more than a few times (nasty tasting things that will surround you with a cloud of awful stentch). I do like a cigar occationally, but only when outdoors (just one will stink up your whole place and you'll have to launder everything).

I did used to smoke a pipe for a while when I lived alone in a shack in the Ozarks. I liked the taste and the smell. It won't stink the place up, and others are less likely to be offended by obnxoius fumes.

If you decide to take it up, skip the packaged tobaccos. Many shopping malls have tobacco shops where you can get decent stuff. My favorite was a mild mixture called "North woods" or something similar. For variety I occationally smoked a pipe of "Lost Sailor" or something like that - strong and bitter. Don't sweat the price, a small bag from a shop will last a long time.

And like everything good, don't overdo it. Smoking isn't healthy and it can become addictive.

Good Luck,
Bob
 
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