Anyone care to smoke a Gurkha?

Joined
Jun 9, 1999
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Ran across this site while searching for a pipe and couldn't help but notice the 'Gurkha" stogies. http://www.pipesforless.com/gurkhacigars.html So should we order a box for MWKK05? ;)
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Did I read that right? 12 bucks for one cigar?

The last cigar I smoked cost a quarter and I felt so extravagant spending that that I thought I should have been wearing a tuxedo and top hat and strolling down Park Place with the Monopoly Man.
 
I'm not a big cigar person but Gurkas are by far the best I've tried.

Roadrunner,

How long have you been smoking a pipe? If you have any questions I may be able to help.


- D
 
D, I've tried smoking cheap pipes before and was starting to get the hang of it when I lost my pipe on a bus. :( A friend gave me one of his spares a few weeks ago and I'm starting to enjoy it enough to look for a better pipe. Of course I'm broke as always, but I might be able to afford one within a month or two. :)
 
Roadrunner said:
...I've tried smoking cheap pipes...
My favorite pipes were the ones I made out of a valve stem cap and a piece of bamboo. I called them "one hitters" but I could really get two or three hits out of a bowl. Of course my enjoyment and appreciation depended with the quality of what I was filling the bowl with.

I had a special one decorated with beads, feathers, and colored thread that I only used when sharing a bowl with a female friend.

I called it my "piece pipe".
 
Roadrunner,

I'm not sure whats in your area, but spend the time to look for a nice quality smoke shop. You'll know its worth your time when they have a humidor the length of one wall and a display case just as long full of pipes, and various other smoking devices. Tinderbox is a nation wide chain thats getting smaller, but you may have one near by.

I went into a smoke shop in SLC and spent some time bullshitting with the staff and walked out with a really nice pipe for $50. I've found that the prices are rarely fixed on the pipes because they usually don'y sell that many at once. I think I bought my first pipe at Meijer's in South Bend, IN. What a piece of crap. Having a decent pipe is worth the price. Also spend time talking to a seasoned tobacconist, they'll help you pick out a good blend to smoke. It'll save you some money. One of my favorite canned tobaccos is called DaVinci. I don't know what you like, but it's really smooth and sweet. Have fun.

- D
 
Before I quit smoking, I was very heavily into pipes and really fine tobacco. Pipes look neat as accessories to whatever you do (except maybe swimming and SCUBA), and give you something to do with your hands. I always thought anyone that spent time in the outdoors (especially hunting) needed a pipe to complete the package. Pipes look good with guns and knives.

While English briar, Eastern European briar, Danish briar, and Turkish meerschaum are supposedly the best, I had some very nice ones made from Irish briar, Israeli meerschaum, and Italian briar. My favorite was a large bowl briar crook-stem from Ireland.

Spend time with your tobacconist. Give him an idea of what type of pipe smoker you are, i.e., beginner or old salt. Also, believe it or not, if you let him know what type of pipe smoking experience you'd like, he can recommend a tobacco. In fact, he can blend just about anything you want, and it isn't really expensive if he is using the house blends. My personal blend was comprised of a house blend coffee/chocolate burl cut and a small amount of virginia cut Latakia. I think it was around $2.25 an ounce.

Another thing that most people don't know is that pipes can be restemmed and refurbished. Often a tobacconist will have a selection of used pipes purchsed from an estate, which he will restem and refurbish. Some pipes of considerable value can be obtained for fraction of their worth because they are "used".

As a last thought, if you buy a new pipe, remember that it will take a few bowls of smoking to get it broken in. Which is another reason why restemmed pipes are so good - no need to break them in. Oh, and stay away from meerschaum until you've had some experience. They tend to burn cold and often required a lot of relighting. And if you really like pipe smoking, try to get more than one pipe, since it helps to rest them a few days.

Wish I could still smoke, but even day-old bar smoke makes my lungs do bad things..... :cool:
 
hollowdweller said:
No Ghurka cigs no but Nepalese Temple Balls YES!!!!!!!!!! :cool: ;)
Did you ever see one of those? All I ever saw was little pieces. I always wondered what they looked like in their original form. I pictured them as big as bowling balls but they were probably more the size of golf balls.

I asked Bill if he had ever seen any, but I don't remember what he told me because he started telling me about seeing a guy sit down beside the road, reach into the weeds, grab a handful of herb, and roll it into a huge green cigar sized reefer. The story tripped me out and I forgot about the Temple Ball.
 
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