I just started smoking cigars a few months back and was discussing it with my Dad who smoked alot of cigars and pipes when I was a kid. Anyway, he sent me home with half a dozen pipes (he seldom smokes anymore) - some plain, some expensive, fancy things. I haven't smoked one yet - picked up some tobacco yesterday - just a house blend that smelled good from my local cigar shop. He's given me a few tips - enough to get me started. I think I might try one tonight - warm enough outside to sit and smoke right now (no smoking in the house - I grew up with too much of it, and will not make my kids/wife suffer through it).

Anyway, thought I'd see if anyone still smoked pipes anymore. Cigar smoking seems to be fairly popular, but I can't remember the last time I saw someone smoke a pipe.

most pipe smokers these days aint smokin tobacco.

I knew that was coming . . .

I do on occasion, mainly because my old man did and the smell reminds me of him. I've got a few of his old pipes and I'll stuff'm with some vanilla cavendish. I love the smell of pipe tobacco, but till the pipe is broken in it can be a pain keeping it lit.

TX

I smoked pipes for 20+ years--20+ years ago. Still have the pipes (expensive ones, too) and the urge is always there.

First recommendation is don't start.

Second recommendation is, if you don't follow recommendation #1, at least buy good tobacco. Don't do the Half and Half, Sir Walter Rahleigh, Cherry Blend, etc. That crap is just newsprint mixed with just a little tobacco and burns really hot.

Find a store that sells real tobacco and pay the price. "Smokers Blend" might be an OK brand to start with but you get what you pay for, just like everything else.

I'll be interested in what you do. A good bowl is hard to beat after a long day.

WN

MacBaren, Rattray's and Trout Stream in a Peterson.
Nice and relaxing. Take your time. Some aromatics need to dry out a little to prevent the pipe from getting too wet.
Take your time.
Enjoy.
Did I mention take your time?

A link to a great shop....
http://www.pipesandcigars.com/bulktobacco.html

see the whale wars thread.....

I once saw an episode of Sesame Street where Ernie & Bert had the munchies and wouldn't stop laughing

Not sure what they were smoking but I overheard "Lebanese blond" a few times.

Thanks guys!

I've never been the "addict" type - used to dip Skoal, over a can a day - decided to quit one day (about 15 years ago) - have bought maybe 10 cans since, mainly when hunting, etc. Same thing with beer, etc. Anyway, don't see much harm in having a cigar or smoking a pipe once a month or so, but thanks for the advice!

The cigar shop where I bought the pipe tobacco carries a good selection of cigars, but not alot of pipe stuff. I will continue to search for other local places to get more to try. My dad used Borkum Riff Black Cavendish (?) I believe - it's been probably 25yrs but I still remember the package and the great smell. The vanilla cavendish sounds good though - will have to order a package of each to try!

This thread brings back memories of my Grandfather. Pretty sure he smoked Sir Walter Rahleigh in the red cans but had some others for special occasions. He lived to 85 and had a groove in his lip from the pipe. Still can smell his pipe in my thoughts..

A friend of mine loves his pipe smoking. Talked me into getting one and pick it up for a while, but I don't really enjoy it, and it gives me sore throats, so I quit.

If Sir Walter is still in those red cans, somebody should notify the authorities. The statute of limitations on the murder may not have expired........

I�d add McClelland�s as well and blending your own can be cool. I like a 40% Virginian � 30% Latakia � 30& Perique blend. Peterson system pipes are my favorite although I have a couple flat bottomed Eric Nordings for ball games.

I have smoked the vanilla cavendish for the last 10 years. I like it when I'm fishing helps with bugs thay don't like it. The one thing I'll say is I have never had anyone say it smells bad and wemon seem to comment more then men but I have been stopped on the street and had people say "you never see people smoke pipes anymore" enjoy yours!

I smokes a pipe for about 30 years and enjoyed it a great deal. I put it down 8 years ago in February and have not picked it up since. I hope I never do start again but would dearly love to. I finally settled on Carter Hall as my standard smoke. Sir Walter is not too bad but may be a little strong for a beginner. I switched from cigars to pipes in Fairbanks, Alaska, back in 1971 when I tried to smoke some really dry cigars. I bought two cheap pipes and several bags of Sir Walter, the brand my uncle smoked, and proceeded to make my mouth feel like a trash dump. I tried Borkum Riff for a long time and liked it very much. The exotics never seemed to taste as good as they smelled. Mixture 79 was my duck hunting brand. I first used Carter Hall when I was in the Army and still think green thoughts when I smell it. I dearly loved my pipes but knew all along that it was not a healthy habit. I am glad I quit and hope that you never start any kind of smoking. I wish I had never bought those pipes in Fairbanks.

Hmmm, so much for being a "hillbilly"...

Your blend is basically what I like as an all-around tobacco and my favorite pipe is probably a Petersen System pipe (Nordings aren't bad either ).

Mcclelland tobaccos are my absolute favorites... totally classic, subtle blends. They use a fair bit of Latakia in many of their blends.

I don't do aromatic (cased) tobacco's, but that's the place to start if you want to start smoking.

I only smoke in the summer, and any more only rarely. I've never been addicted to pipe tobacco... I can smoke every day for a week and then not think about it for six months. I know others that smoke pipes that have told me the same... definitely not the case with cigarette smokers for sure.

Ha!

I started on the cased, house blends but moved to the �tobacco flavored tobacco� pretty quickly.

Not to rain on anyone's parade but if you don't smoke a pipe don't start! My dad smoked a pipe for 35 years until they found cancer on the back side of his voice box and they had to remove it.. No more speaking above a whisper and many daily procedures just to breathe.. I loved the smell of his pipe but hate what it did to him so please if you do smoke a pipe get your throat examined by a specialist yearly. Peace..

Yes Sir for about the last forty years or so. I enjoy it, I don't intend to quit and I try not to abuse other folks with my usage.

BCR

My roommate and I bought corn-cob pipes in college and a bag of good tobacco. I think I could have easily made it a habit, but most other people (especially girls) didn't want to be around it.

What sealed it for me was when my mom (a surgical nurse) described a few operations to me where they had to cut lower lips off pipe smokers, along with cheeks, voice boxes, and down into the throat. So...I decided not to pursue the pipe thing any further.

I've smoked pipes off & on for 20 years. Like some others here, I can take it or leave it. I don't think I've had a bowl since my last fishing trip in September, but over the Holidays I'll probably have half a dozen bowls.

I really enjoy McClelland tobaccos, particularly Deep Hollow and Frogmorton. Deep Hollow goes really well with a glass of port on a winter evening, and Frogmorton is my go-to smoke at Cowboy Action matches. It goes well with the sulfurous fumes of my blackpowder loads.

Wife's grand dad smoked a pipe all his life. He died at 98. Always had a can of Velvet at the ready. As he got older all his shirts were littered with burn holes from some of the stragglers that didn't get packed down in the bowl. He was always at peace with a pipe in his mouth. I'm sure a pipe and a can of Velvet went in the box with him. Good memories of a great old guy!

Similar experiences here as well. I used Cope for 20 yrs. and when I quit I substituted pipe smoking. My memories of Dad smoking a pipe, along with other comforting scenes/memories, no doubt influenced the choice.
Then Finn Aagaard (a devotee of the pipe) passed from lung cancer. I don't know the particulars, but assumed there was a connection. He was an author who had a great deal of influence on me, so I learned one last lesson from him and quit the pipe.
Still miss it, along with the Copenhagen, but am not willing to risk my health to go back.

elkjaeger

I quit the pipe around this time of year in 1953. A few years later, I smoked part of one bowl to test a gizzie that I'd made. I'd figured-out how a hookah (water pipe) worked, and I'd built one to make sure that I'd theorized right. It was a cool, sweet smoke, with all the tar and bite trapped in the water, but I never went back to the pipe.

One thing that always intrigued me was that tobaccos that had the best aromas had the worst tastes and vice versa. A room mate smoked a San Francisco blend called "Trolley Car" that convinced me that it was sweepings collected from the San Francisco trolleys. I loved the aroma of "Rum and Maple" but couldn't stand to smoke it.

Ain�t that the truth. I�d always have someone ask �why don�t you smoke the stuff that smells good?� and I�d tell them it was because the better it smelled, the worse it tastes. That Virginian, Prique, Latakia blend I like will run a buzzard of a shytwagon but man does it taste good.

Frogmorton is Good Stuff for sure...

It's been quite a few years. When I was building a race car with a friend we'd end the days work with a bs session smoking our pipes.

My wife won't let me smoke it in the house, and it's just too cold outside. Occasionally I'll just chew on my pipe while working the shop.

I definately agree with the sentiment that the fancy smelling tobacco tends to taste like moldy toenail clippings.

I don't smoke much any more but I'll be having a bowl of Davidoff scottish blend this evening. Pretty much just special evenings now.

I used to treat myself to a can of Balkan Sobranie once in a while. It smells just like pot smoke. I got lots of strange stares when I would walk between classes at Gainesville smoking that stuff. The folks must have thought I was bold, crazy, or stupid smoking what they thought was pot in such a public manner. I got a kick out a fellow at a party one time who thought I had wacky weed in my calabash (Sherlock Holmes) pipe. He tapped me on the shoulder and held out his hand for a drag. I handed him my calabash. He took the biggest drag off that stem I have ever seen and gave it back to me. I didn't have the heart to tell him he was getting stoned on Carter Hall. My uncle smoked a pipe and cigars most of his life and died at 92. He did have a good bit of his lip removed because of cancer.

A new thought just invaded my vacuum!

Maybe a hookah provides a way to have both flavor and aroma � apparently, there's no end to what you can put in the hookah water � or in place of it.

Your favorite tobacco blend and your favorite beverage � man! what an abundance of possibilities!

It's also possible that a so-so beverage will prove to be "choice" in a hookah.

The water pipe is the finest invention for enjoying tobacco, period. Think you're right that it'll change the mediocre into the palatable... I'd rather just start out with the "best" and make it even better!

Second best pipe for real smoking is a quality Meerschaum.

Next, IMO, would be a quality corncob, followed last by briar.

But briar will outlast all of them.

My "hookah" in the 70's was purple and never saw any Virginia or Perique (grin).

Yes....I have a pretty good collection of Bjarne churchwardens
and a few Don Carlos, Jirsa, and Petersons.....my fav. tobacco is
McClelland Bombay, followed by Pipesandcigars.com Sunjammer. Also
buy a lot of Iwan Ries tobacco....especially Spilman Mixture.

A buddy of mine mixed a little FFFFg in his cousin's big canister of pipe tobacco � but John just smoked away and blithely ignored the little shooting stars that popped up out of his pipe.

A twist on the old exploding cigar routine, eh?

Wasn't their jingle, "The chicks are back. Pass the word- the chicks are back"? It's too bad I can't convey rhythm, emphasis, and voice quality in a post.

Saw someone with a pipe about 2 weeks ago. It brought back a lot of memories. I quit smoking in the mid 70's, but a pipe loaded with Brokum Riff was one of my personal favorites at that time.