Anyone smoke a pipe here?

[gamekeeper]

Just curious, I hardly ever see anyone smoking a pipe these days, I used too but quit in my thirties...

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[JimT]

It's possible I may have smoked a hookah in my youth .... maybe ......

[Bill in Oregon]

Ha! My first pipe was a short "Angler's Pipe" ordered by mail from Herter's of Wauseka, MN, along with a pouch of their cherry blend, without mom and dad knowing it. They prolly thought it was fishing lures. Pal did the same, and we took an evening stroll in the neighborhood with our pipes, feeling quite grown up and sophisticated. Then came the pale color, cold sweats, spins and the inevitable consequences.
Undeterred, I did resume pipe smoking in college, gave it up in my 20s. Borkum Riff, Dunhill mixtures, tobacco store custom mixes with a bit of Latakia. I don't miss the next-day mouth.

[AmBraCol]

Tobacco smoking of all kinds is greatly reduced from what it was a half century ago. Pipes are uncommon in public, most folks who use them seem to indulge in more private settings. My wife's uncle gave me a pipe, not sure why as I don't smoke. I'm half tempted to buy a small packet of tobacco for it as I find the aroma of some blends to be pleasant. Such a packet would last the rest of my life as I'd never burn it.

As a kid in the Amazon Basin we saw tobacco sold in very primitive forms, but never saw anyone use a pipe, that seemed to be a more Southern Brazil thing. Still, the buses all had signs saying "É Prohibido Fumar Charuto, Cachimbo O Cigarro de Palha" (it is forbidden to smoke cigars, pipes or corn husk cigarettes) That only left the alternative of factory produced cigarettes, and then all smoking on buses was forbidden. The "cigarro de palha" was very common in our area. Folks would either grow their own tobacco or buy a hunk off of the big spool available at most hardware stores. It resembled both tarred hemp rope and dog excrement in appearance. They sold it by the length, I believe, and the odor was quite unpleasant, unlike what we'd smell going past tobacco stores in the U.S.. In our area they'd buy a hunk of the tobacco, chop it up then wrap it in corn husk and light it. I think you could smell one of those at 50 yards even if it was downwind from you (assuming less than gale force winds). It was amazing how many folks smoked them, many having started at a very young age. I really can't recall anyone up north smoking a pipe, but corn cob pipes were apparently common enough down south that they were part of caricature depictions of hillbillies from certain regions.

[marlinman93]

Quit any form of smoking 43 years ago, but did smoke a pipe occasionally in my 20's. Mostly at home as I didn't care to pack the pipe and tobacco pouch around.
Took me many years after I quit smoking to quit chewing. Probably a decade later when I stopped the chew.

[Grizz]

i've always thought smoking anything is the quickest way to betray my presence, but what's a hookah? . .

[piller]

Only time I ever used tobacco was as an insect repellant.

[JimT]

I fed chewing tobacco to my burros ... they loved to eat it and it was a good wormer. That's why if you chew you should swallow, not spit. Kills those intestinal parasites.

[GunnyMack]

Years ago the local gun dealer/ reloading supply guy was a pipe smoker. Every Christmas he got all kinds of tobacco from customers. Ol Dink would mix all those different tobaccos in a trash bag and then fill the cans. Then he would try to remember who gave him what can and fill his pipe from that can to make the customer happy. Well those umpteen different types all mixed were the stinkiest blend you could ever imagine!

[gamekeeper]

Bill, I remember those inevitable consequences too......
American blends were the only pipe tobaccos I could really enjoy, the British pipe tobacco was awful. I checked the prices of new pipes the other day and couldn't believe how expensive they are now, the one's I threw away when I quit now cost more than some of my guns I used to buy corncob pipes occasionally for less than a dollar and if you got a good one they weren't a bad smoke.
Piller, when the mozzies start buzzing I often think about starting smoking again..

[Blaine]

I like the aroma of a good pipe, but, years ago, I decided the aroma of somebody else's smoke and my personal "enjoyment" when I smoked were entirely different.

[Pitchy]

Been known to now and then though hooked on the cigs pretty bad now.

[765x53]

As a young man, I played around with pipe smoking. Mainly influenced by Gene Hill's mentions in his books and "Sports Afield" columns.
It was never as satisfying as chewing.
Being naturally obstinate and contrary, I took up chewing tobacco in high school, while everyone else was smoking cigarettes.
Beginning wit Horseshoe plug then Granger Twist, then Beechnut and finally Copenhagen. After years of off and on struggle, I finally kicked the habit. I miss it everyday.
I have often thought, if a doctor gave me six months to live, I would breath a sigh of relief and buy a roll of Copenhagen and a carton of Beechnut.

[Sixgun]

Used only for decorative purposes.

[CowboyTutt]

I just bought my first hand cut Meerschaum pipe from Turkey and some cherry and cherry vanilla tobacco that I put into small spice jars so it will keep for years. I've used it one time, and while the smoking of it was pleasant at the time, it tainted everything I tasted for a day. I probably wasted a bunch of money, but will periodically pull it out for a smoke I suspect.

-Tutt

[Bill in Oregon]

Tutt, if you can hold it to a once in a blue moon bowl of tobacco, you should be safe. The tobacco shop guys used to tell us to put a slice of apple in the tobacco jar if we didn't have a proper humidor.

[CowboyTutt]

Bill, that is an interesting idea about the apple pieces. I will try that. Most of these tiny spice jars are full with little air in them at all (I would think that vacuum packing would be the ideal thing to do here and I do have a vacuum packer and some bags but it looked like mason jars were the commonly used item for long term storage.)

Yeah, once in a Blue Moon would be a good description of how often. Would seem appropo when camping outdoors. Doesn't mix with sipping a fine whiskey however.

Thanks for the heads up!

-Tutt

[gamekeeper]

I remember using the slice of apple trick, I tried a drop of bourbon once on some dry tobacco but can't recommend that..
Hey Six, I can just imagine you wearing a Fess and puffing away on that thing...

[Ray]

Deleted.

[Sixgun]

Real vanilla extract to keep your tobacco moist. I use a capful in a tin of Skoal. If you really want to make it last, use the vanilla and keep it in the fridge......

[jeepnik]

It's possible I may have smoked a hookah in my youth .... maybe ......

I have been known to be around such things. But I didn't inhale.

[Ray Newman]

I quit pipes and cigars 'bout 30 years ago.

Back then I had a strong liking for Alfred Dunhill's cigars, pipes, and tobaccos. The tobacco counter salesman in the San Francisco store knew me well. Still have the pipes, leather pipe and tobacco pouches and ceramic tobacco jars. If memory serves, my favorite tobaccos were "Early Morning Pipe", "My Mixture #965"(??), and Balkan Sobranie. Besides my Dunhills, still have my calabash, meerschaum, and Peterson pipes --"The Thinking Man's Pipes." Wonder if there is a market for them??

Looking back now, I recall that at the time a $1.00 cigar was a big deal!

[BenT]

I love the smell of a pipe. The farmer I used to work for in my teens smoked one. I have one in the garage and cherry tobacco. I will light it up a couple times a year with a beer when relaxing in the garage.

[Fisher-Price]

I smoke one a couple times a month, it’s an art and a hobby. I generally do it when I have 30 minutes to sit down and enjoy it, seems mostly on Sunday evenings when the family gathers at the barn. I have 2 Peterson’s, a Savinelli and a meerschaum. I just puff along and do not inhale. I notice that one bowl smoked easily not fast enough that you get a “bite” brushing your teeth before bed fixes it. On the rare occasions that I do 2 bowls, the taste can linger until the next mornings brushing.

Ray there certainly is a market for used pipes, I would be interested in seeing those Peterson’s.

Tutt try a longer easier smoke, I tamp and re-light a couple of times. Of course a professional everyday smoker can light once but you also get a hotter shorter smoke with more bite. And I readily admit I’m not good at it either.

FP

[gamekeeper]

FP, yes I would describe it as an art and a hobby, I used to work with a guy who like me started to seriously take up pipe smoking, we used to pounce on any pipe smokers and try to learn their secrets like how to keep the darn thing lit etc. . . it took awhile but so much more satisfying than just lighting a cigarette.
I suppose it's like the difference between muzzle loading and semi-automatics...

[Ray Newman]

Fisher-Price: need to some move boxes in the "storage section" of the garage to to get to them. The silver wind caps are not hinged, but have a chain. One is a small pipe, the other standard size. Something tells me Petersen also had a larger wind cap pipe about the size of the old Dunhill ODA's??

I found that the flavored/sweet smelling tobaccos left a bitter taste. My dad favored Amphora tobacco, but I just never acquired the "taste" for it.

I Also lit my pipes and cigars with wood stick matches. Strike the match, give it a bit to burn off the sulfur, then light up. On the pipe I always moved the match in a circular fashion around the the tobacco to start an "even" burn. On a cigar, held it just down below the cigar tip and drew the flame up into the cigar. Someplace I have my cigar piercer and guillotine type end cutter. Have no idea where my pocket match safe is.

[Marlin32]

I do on occasion, I have a Peterson, and I have my Great grandfather's pipe, it is very small, fits easily into pocket, he smoked that pipe while working in the fields, had a spark arrestor to when threshing wheat or putting up hay.

[gcs]

Dabbled with it for a short time,.. a very short time, lol, in my 20's. Discovered the smell of pipe smoke was much better when someone else was smoking it....

My old man always said, "never hire a pipe smoker, they spend half their time trying to light it, and the other half trying to keep it lit!".

[765x53]

Dabbled with it for a short time,.. a very short time, lol, in my 20's. Discovered the smell of pipe smoke was much better when someone else was smoking it....

My old man always said, "never hire a pipe smoker, they spend half their time trying to light it, and the other half trying to keep it lit!".

Same goes for anyone who rolls their own cigarettes.

[gamekeeper]

Dabbled with it for a short time,.. a very short time, lol, in my 20's. Discovered the smell of pipe smoke was much better when someone else was smoking it....

My old man always said, "never hire a pipe smoker, they spend half their time trying to light it, and the other half trying to keep it lit!".

Same goes for anyone who rolls their own cigarettes.

I must admit to wasting many man hours doing both...

[Scott Tschirhart]

I've never really smoked anything (a Cuban cigar at a bullfight in Guadalahara probably does not count). But I really like the smell of someone else smoking some pipe tobacco.

[Sh00tist]

Smoked a pipe for years, really enjoyed it. All my pipes were handmade at a little shop in Royal Oak MI called Malaga. Still have most of them but I don't smoke them anymore, can't find any good tobacco so I switched to cigars.