BS: Pipe smoking

Subject: BS: Pipe smoking
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 19 Jul 24 - 10:47 AM

Just a muse. When I used to smoke, I tried pipe smoking a few times. Loved the ritual and idea but never really found a tobacco that suited me. Nearest was either the Dutch tobacco, Clan or an English one called Three Nuns (byline "Nun nicer" :-) My Grandad swore by Condor but that gave me hiccups! Settled on a halfway house of rolling my own cigarettes in liquorice paper with Golden Virginia tobacco.

Anyhow, I see people are still hand rolling but I never seem to see pipe smokers nowadays. Is it a past art? I set to thinking that if I did smoke and wanted to go down the route of vaping, I would like a vape pipe :-D Wonder if anyone has tried that as a marketing gimmick if nothing else.

Subject: RE: BS: Pipe smoking
From: gillymor
Date: 19 Jul 24 - 01:03 PM

Traditional-looking e-pipes are definitely a thing but don't do it, Gnome, it will stunt your growth.

Subject: RE: BS: Pipe smoking
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 19 Jul 24 - 01:15 PM

:-D

Subject: RE: BS: Pipe smoking
From: meself
Date: 19 Jul 24 - 05:09 PM

In my misspent youth, I would go through spells of pipe-smoking - until I finally admitted to myself that it was far more work and bother than it was worth.

Subject: RE: BS: Pipe smoking
From: robomatic
Date: 25 Jul 24 - 12:58 AM

I tried pipe smoking for a very brief while when a college freshman. I remember two kinds of tobaccos: one that smelled good if you were not smoking it: Borkum Riff. And another that tasted good if you were smoking it not smelling it: Troost.
I remember that it like all tobacco interface in my life, was ultimately messy and disgusting. Especially if you spilled ashes on your bed while reclining.

Subject: RE: BS: Pipe smoking
From: Rapparee
Date: 25 Jul 24 - 09:15 PM

I smoked (mostly) pipes for 21 years. I enjoyed it and still think I would. My pipes are in a rack downstairs, gathering dust. I’m not sure about today’s tobaccos, though.

Subject: RE: BS: Pipe smoking
From: Gibb Sahib
Date: 26 Jul 24 - 09:29 AM

There are so many tobaccos these days, but the prices are outrageous if you go to a brick and mortar store that actually specializes in the good stuff, and those are usually cigar-focused places that just happen to carry a limited stock. The only thing good about them is you can but by the oz/gram and try a smaller bit. So, online shopping is the way to go. I've probably tried about 150 different ones. The only thing I'll never do is any of the flavored/aromatic ones (I learned my lesson in the early days). They smell good, taste bad, and they're too moist and gunk up your pipes. Pure Virginia tobacco smokes hot and is too sweet and plain for me. Gotta be Balkan or English.

G.L. Pease is one of the best companies these days. Their "Charing Cross" is one of my go-tos.
https://www.smokingpipes.com/pipe-tobacco/g-l-pease/

Subject: RE: BS: Pipe smoking
From: Neil D
Date: 26 Jul 24 - 03:28 PM

I tried pipe smoking almost 50 years ago. I made the mistake of buying an aromatic tobacco because it smelled good. The problem, being that you are not supposed to inhale an aromatic tobacco, just puff. But as a cigarette smoker I was so used to inhaling smoke causing many dire coughing fits till I finally gave it up. I still liked the smell of that stuff. I've now been tobacco free for 18 years and much better off for it.

Subject: RE: BS: Pipe smoking
From: Tattie Bogle
Date: 27 Jul 24 - 04:37 AM

My Dad, uncle and Grandpa all smoked pipes, and Mum smoked cigarettes. Get all 4 of them puffing away at once, it’s a miracle my sister and I survived!
Dad gave up quite abruptly: came down after a night out, opened his car door, smelled all the stale smoke and that was it! Never touched his pipe or cigarettes again!

Subject: RE: BS: Pipe smoking
From: cnd
Date: 27 Jul 24 - 10:13 AM

I keep my smoking to a minimum because of my asthma, but I do smoke on occasion. Mostly I stick to cigarillos (I prefer Panter Blues), but I've bought a couple of pipes I found at thrift stores and tried it. I'm fortunate that there's a dedicated local pipe shop near me that offers very reasonable tobacco prices -- I bought a couple ounces (or so) for the first time about 2 years ago now for I think $6 and haven't gone through it yet.

I have two pipes; one is a Medico Guardsman (with the pinecone design at the top). It has a "carburetor" and a bleed hole, both of which are meant to help get a smoother, cleaner, burn, but I found when I used that pipe my tobacco burned too hot and too fast. So I bought another one, an unmarked Briar pipe, very simple in design. I've had better luck with that.

As for type of tobacco, I never did care for the very spicy stuff. I'll have to check out the Balkan blends Gibb recommended. The one blend I've bought (and am yet to finish) was BWLB, or Burley White Less Bite. It is an aromatic blend, but it's not too sticky or artificially pungent, in my (novice) opinion.

Subject: RE: BS: Pipe smoking
From: MaJoC the Filk
Date: 27 Jul 24 - 02:36 PM

I was once, as a wee child, taken to see the opera Hansel and Gretel. One of the few things that stuck in my mind was the smell of ice cream in the air. Many years later, I realised it was from the smoke from vanilla-flavoured pipe tobacco.

Subject: RE: BS: Pipe smoking
From: Bill D
Date: 01 Aug 24 - 10:31 AM

I NEVER smoked a cigarette, but 50+ years ago, I thought pipe might be interesting. I was fascinated by different types and tobaccos, but I finally realized after collecting a number of pipes, that I was often forgetting to bother. I still have, in a box, a carved Meerschaum. I suppose I should try to sell it somewhere.