Recommendations Please....

[montanacowboy]

58 year old from Montana. I farm cattle by day and hunt and fly fish in any spare time I get.
Decided I'd like to start pipe smoking for relaxation and contemplation. Grandfather and Uncle both smoked pipes when fly fishing.
I'd welcome and appreciate your advice on a pipe ( I like Canadian or lumberman) shape and a straight shaft to start. Budget $125 ish, and Briar . Tobacco recommendations as well.

Thank you all , much appreciated.

 

[AlphaWarrior]

58 year old from Montana. I farm cattle by day and hunt and fly fish in any spare time I get.
Decided I'd like to start pipe smoking for relaxation and contemplation. Grandfather and Uncle both smoked pipes when fly fishing.
I'd welcome and appreciate your advice on a pipe ( I like Canadian or lumberman) shape and a straight shaft to start. Budget $125 ish, and Briar . Tobacco recommendations as well.

Thank you all , much appreciated.

Get a cob and some cowboy coffee from Country Squire.

 

[montanacowboy]

Get a cob and some cowboy coffee from Country Squire.

Country Squire ? Forgive me , I'm new.

 

[AlphaWarrior]

Country Squire ? Forgive me , I'm new.

https://www.thecountrysquireonline.com/

 

[Singed]

I agree with Alpha that a good place to start is a cob, clean smoking, inexpensive and disposable - all characteristics that favour an initiate. I would also recommend familiarizing yourself with non-aromatic blends. Become familiar with families of tobacco first, Virginias, Burleys, Latakias, and Orientals without additional flavouring. Alpha recommended some excellent youtube videos from AROMATIX that are well-tailored to beginning this hobby, I found them useful even having smoked a pipe for 35 years. Estate pipes from a reputable shop are also a good way to get a good pipe at less expense.

 

[MLBbreton]

I have a farm so I'm going to assume you're kinda handy. I just started smoking a pipe last year. I bought a couple Savinelli starter pipes as new pipes and bought other new ones after I had more experience. However, I found estate pipes to be a better way to try out different shapes and sizes. They're easy to refurbish with minimal tools. I have over 100 pipes already after a year. A couple of them are from 1900-1920 time frames and that history makes it more fun for me.
It sounds like you want to smoke and do things at the same time. Find a size and shape you can clench without snapping your neck. I agree with cobs as a good place to start. I have two as work pipes and they get wet, dirty, dropped etc.
They smoke great.

 

[Swede]

Not so much on the pipe shape, but if you will clench the stem bit between your teeth, I find vulcanite vs acrylic stems are easier on your teeth. Clenching will mar them up a bit, so be aware if you care. Like others have said, a cob from Missouri meerschaum is a good start, as they have a type of plastic stem that is tough enough but cheap to replace. They offer extras on their website. For a tobacco, maybe a codger blend like Prince Albert, Velvet, ot Granger would work. Hope you get a good start and enjoy. Check out topics to avoid tongue bite, and how to do the breath way of smoking.Muttonchop piper on YT has good videos on this.
https://www.smokingpipes.com/smokin...moking-flavor-and-comfort-with-breath-smoking

 

[mosin1932]

Since it sounds like you're committed to making it work and will have plenty of opportunities to get the hang of it I would go with your first instinct and skip the cob (for now). The most important aspects of a pipe is that it has a comfortable bit and a good draw for you, a new briar from a popular brand is your best bet for finding that out the gate.
I agree entirely with @Swede sage advice concerning stem material, Acrylic(plastic) stems are too hard and slick to clench comfortably and I only smoke pipes with Vulcanite(rubber) stems.

Take a grain of salt because this is only my opinion and pipe smoking is all about personal preference so I will just tell you what I think would have helped me, If I had to start smoking a pipe all over again.

I would take your pipe budget and get a few cheaper pipes, one base model offered by Peterson, Savinelli and a couple unsmoked estate(NOS) pipes off eBay, depending on the brand they are better quality for much cheaper than current production pipes look for Yello-Bole, Medico, Dr.Grabow, Kaywoodie, Willard. Look at the dimensions when buying any pipe, a good average sized straight pipe is going to be at least |5.34" Overall length| |.75" Bowl Diameter| |1.5"+ Bowl Depth|.

For tobacco I would want to get a few old-school blends that have stood the test of time and then one blend that highlights each of the 5 "types" of tobacco leaf: Virginia, Burley, Cavendish, Latakia, Orientals, in order to develop a basic understanding of what kinds of tobacco I like.
I would start with: a pouch of Sir Walter Raleigh regular, Captain Black original, Half and Half, 2oz bulk samples of Peter Stokebye PS 400 Luxury Navy Flake, PS 17 English Luxury, Lane Limited BL/WB, Cornell and Diehl Virginia Gentleman, Haunted Bookshop and a tin of Orlik Golden Slices.

You need more pipe cleaners than you think starting out, white elephant brand are my favorite because of how stiff they are and keep a couple "czech" tools around because they run away on their own.

Good luck and I hope you enjoy the hobby!

 

[montanacowboy]

Since it sounds like you're committed to making it work and will have plenty of opportunities to get the hang of it I would go with your first instinct and skip the cob (for now). The most important aspects of a pipe is that it has a comfortable bit and a good draw for you, a new briar from a popular brand is your best bet for finding that out the gate.
I agree entirely with @Swede sage advice concerning stem material, Acrylic(plastic) stems are too hard and slick to clench comfortably and I only smoke pipes with Vulcanite(rubber) stems.

Take a grain of salt because this is only my opinion and pipe smoking is all about personal preference so I will just tell you what I think would have helped me, If I had to start smoking a pipe all over again.

I would take your pipe budget and get a few cheaper pipes, one base model offered by Peterson, Savinelli and a couple unsmoked estate(NOS) pipes off eBay, depending on the brand they are better quality for much cheaper than current production pipes look for Yello-Bole, Medico, Dr.Grabow, Kaywoodie, Willard. Look at the dimensions when buying any pipe, a good average sized straight pipe is going to be at least |5.34" Overall length| |.75" Bowl Diameter| |1.5"+ Bowl Depth|.

For tobacco I would want to get a few old-school blends that have stood the test of time and then one blend that highlights each of the 5 "types" of tobacco leaf: Virginia, Burley, Cavendish, Latakia, Orientals, in order to develop a basic understanding of what kinds of tobacco I like.
I would start with: a pouch of Sir Walter Raleigh regular, Captain Black original, Half and Half, 2oz bulk samples of Peter Stokebye PS 400 Luxury Navy Flake, PS 17 English Luxury, Lane Limited BL/WB, Cornell and Diehl Virginia Gentleman, Haunted Bookshop and a tin of Orlik Golden Slices.

You need more pipe cleaners than you think starting out, white elephant brand are my favorite because of how stiff they are and keep a couple "czech" tools around because they run away on their own.

Good luck and I hope you enjoy the hobby!

Thank you kindly for your great input. Much appreciated!!!

 

[MLBbreton]

A good place to look for suggestions is on the Tobacco forum under what would you... I asked about tobacco blend suggestions and I got lots of feedback and suggestions.
Helped me a lot when I was first stocking up.