General Consensus and Cigars and Pipes

[momus]

I've mentioned before how trying to start pipe smoking is hindered because of the lack of pipe smokers to know in real life and because of the various opinions about proper ways to handle pipes and pipe tobacco. Know, at least to me, it seems that for cigars there is a pretty big consensus about how to do everything. There are cigar experts that will say, "Thus saith the Cigar Deities..." and everyone seems to be on the same page. Now to an extent that is true of pipes (kind of) but there seems to be a lot of different opinions about it. Part of it is that I think a lot of people who enjoy smoking pipes (but may or may not be "experts"--whatever that term means) love putting out their opinions---thus this board (which I love, and I am absolutely not trying to sound belittling...far from it!....this board, and all of you, are great). It just seems like for pipe smoking there doesn't seem to be the technical bible about it in like for cigars. Hence, a million books about cigars and few about pipes (although supply and demand figures heavily into that)....Perhaps my knowledge of cigars is lacking enough that I don't see the oscillating views, or perhaps the answer is just that pipe smoking is much more complex and thus has a polyphony of correct answers. What are your thoughts?

 

[Harlock999]

Pipe smoking is a simple activity with many subtleties. It's like the guitar of tobacco burning implements. No other instrument exists in as many varieties as the guitar, and no other instrument has as many variables as the electric guitar; style, shape, scale length, pick ups, hardware, string gauge, straps, cables, effects, amps...the list goes on. You can personalize the instrument in so many ways. Pipes are similar. You're not going to rip the strings out of a piano to customize it, and you're not going to pull tobacco out of a cigar and replace it with something else. But pipes and pipe tobacco are whole different stories. They exist in so many varieties, and can be enjoyed in so many combinations that any attempts to write a definitive bible of pipe smoking could seem like a never ending endeavor.

Enjoy that pipe, any way you like! :cheers:

 

[LL]

...or perhaps the answer is just that pipe smoking is much more complex and thus has a polyphony of correct answers.

This ^^^^

While physics has the final say on the limits of what works, pretty much anything in between can be made to work. With experimentation and practice, smokers can successfully smoke wet tobacco, dry tobacco, giant pipes, tiny pipes, tight airways, cavernous airways, tight fills, loose fills, and so forth.

Then---and far too often---they declare their method to be the Only Way. Which simply isn't true.

The easiest way for a beginner to get up to speed is to stick to the middle of the road with every variable. The center of the bell curve. Average-sized pipe, average-sized bowl, ribbon-cut tobacco, etc. Then, don't mess with extremes until you have enough experience with average components that you can create a good/successful smoke with them every time.

 

[Thomas Tkach]

+1 to the multiplicity of variables

 

[MisterE]

Pipe smokers are cooler. 8) 8)

I used to work with guys who were "serious" cigar smokers and while I appreciated their enthusiasm it never caught on for me. One of the fellows explained to me that most people associate cigar smoking with a gereal "f%&k you" attititude. That appealed to him, hahaha. :suspect:

One thing I´ve noticed is when I go to a tobacco shop there is always a smoking lounge largely populated with cigar smokers. That "general attitude" is very tangible if you try to join in with your pipe.... :lol: :lol:

I don´t wish to offend anyone in the cigar circle, it´s just not for me...

 

[Harlock999]

Pipe smokers are cooler. 8) 8)

I used to work with guys who were "serious" cigar smokers and while I appreciated their enthusiasm it never caught on for me. One of the fellows explained to me that most people associate cigar smoking with a gereal "f%&k you" attititude. That appealed to him, hahaha. :suspect:

One thing I´ve noticed is when I go to a tobacco shop there is always a smoking lounge largely populated with cigar smokers. That "general attitude" is very tangible if you try to join in with your pipe.... :lol: :lol:

I don´t wish to offend anyone in the cigar circle, it´s just not for me...

Yes! :cheers:

 

[ZeroContent]

Building on the guitar analogy, everyone who plays guitar can play standard chords, but not everyone can shred and you know what? That's ok, not being able to shred doesn't mean you can't still make good music. As long as you get the basics down with pipe smoking you can pursue the subtleties if you want to, if you don't want to it doesn't mean you can't still smoke a pipe.

Hopefully that made sense. It did in my head, and that's all the really matters.

 

[Harlock999]

Building on the guitar analogy, everyone who plays guitar can play standard chords, but not everyone can shred and you know what? That's ok, not being able to shred doesn't mean you can't still make good music. As long as you get the basics down with pipe smoking you can pursue the subtleties if you want to, if you don't want to it doesn't mean you can't still smoke a pipe.

Hopefully that made sense. It did in my head, and that's all the really matters.

Makes perfect sense, and I agree.

 

[puros_bran]

The only right way, Thus sayeth the Pipe Dieties, is the way you enjoy it..

Screw worrying about what I think, what Carlos thinks, (gulp) what Greg Pease thinks.. It's yours to smoke how you see fit..


There are basic guidlines as previously mentioned. Put tobacco in bowl, add fire.. everything else is just magic.. sometimes it works sometimes it doesn't, even when all the variables (that you can observe anyway) are the exact same seldom is it the same from bowl to bowl.

 

[spatzkat]

Guidelines are just that. It's a listing of things that others have tried and had (or not) success with. Unfortunately when those experiences get listed on a forum, they can be overwhelming. My suggestion is to get the pipe lit. Once you've accomplished that, work on keeping it going. After that, just sample tobaccos until you find the ones you like. Let your own experiences be your guide and smoke what you like along the way. Short of breaking your pipe into many pieces, there's not much you can do to a pipe that can't be fixed. Valuable lessons will be learned along the way. Just remember that the most important of all is that everyone has their own way of doing it, and what is right for the individual smoker will always be best for them.

 

[Lazarus Long]

oscillating... polyphony...

your vocabulary begs the question: so, do you play the synthesizer?

 

[pipe dreamer]

Simply said.We need more pipe smokers.There are chords in music and some rules.after that the chord is struck and the musician plays.There are rules in cigar and pipe smoking.but more room to improvise with a pipe.WE are the bible for pipes .The rules and what has been handed down and the experiences.What is current and yes the changes taking place even now.I know more about pipes than any ten people should have to know.Yet there are many that have forgotten more than I know.I have always liked pipes.As a kid I got around people that smoked them and listened.I was also lucky with generations of pipers before me.People that want to smoke pipes have it easier today .They have internet and blogs like B.O.B.You can learn it all.My grand father ,it was a Dunhill and edgeworth.That was it.He knew a lot.But you get my point.At this late date in my life you would think I would be burned out on the subject of pipes,newbies what tobacco etc.But you know along comes someone with a gem of wisdom or a new way.All I can say is it is worth it and so are the people that smoke pipes.Sooo one of you guys out there get off your duff and write this guy a book.

 

[Handsome Dynamite]

Pipe smoking is a simple activity with many subtleties. It's like the guitar of tobacco burning implements. No other instrument exists in as many varieties as the guitar, and no other instrument has as many variables as the electric guitar; style, shape, scale length, pick ups, hardware, string gauge, straps, cables, effects, amps...the list goes on. You can personalize the instrument in so many ways. Pipes are similar. You're not going to rip the strings out of a piano to customize it, and you're not going to pull tobacco out of a cigar and replace it with something else. But pipes and pipe tobacco are whole different stories. They exist in so many varieties, and can be enjoyed in so many combinations that any attempts to write a definitive bible of pipe smoking could seem like a never ending endeavor.

Enjoy that pipe, any way you like! :cheers:

I'm pretty sure the triangle is far more complex. What with have three sides and all :lol:

Kidding of course, you got it dead on. I always tell people how there's thousands of blends as it is, and even those can be changed. Different tobacco cuts for different shape/ size bowls ect

 

[Harlock999]

Pipe smoking is a simple activity with many subtleties. It's like the guitar of tobacco burning implements. No other instrument exists in as many varieties as the guitar, and no other instrument has as many variables as the electric guitar; style, shape, scale length, pick ups, hardware, string gauge, straps, cables, effects, amps...the list goes on. You can personalize the instrument in so many ways. Pipes are similar. You're not going to rip the strings out of a piano to customize it, and you're not going to pull tobacco out of a cigar and replace it with something else. But pipes and pipe tobacco are whole different stories. They exist in so many varieties, and can be enjoyed in so many combinations that any attempts to write a definitive bible of pipe smoking could seem like a never ending endeavor.

Enjoy that pipe, any way you like! :cheers:

I'm pretty sure the triangle is far more complex. What with have three sides and all :lol:

Kidding of course, you got it dead on. I always tell people how there's thousands of blends as it is, and even those can be changed. Different tobacco cuts for different shape/ size bowls ect

:cheers: :cheers:

 

[the macdonald]

I started out as a casual cigar smoker. I think some of the observations about cigar attitudes are dead on. Frankly. I bought a pipe almost as a joke, but I fell in love with it. To me, the main difference between "us" and "them" is that pipe smokers are those folks that don't color inside the lines all the time. A cigar smoker is often "typecast" as a rugged individual, but a pipe smoker is fist and foremost an individual.

 

[LIPIPE]

I'm primarily a pipe smoker, that said, I always have a box of cigars on hand. A good stout powerful cigar, now and then, is also a real treat between pipes. Keeps the taste buds "motivated"!

 

[LIPIPE]

Had four great pipes yesterday. Enjoyed Sterling Tobacco samples of Richmond, Klompen Kloggen, and Royal London Dock finishing off with Three Oaks Syrian before bed. Today I'm doing cigar; Partagas Black Label and my taste buds are dancing to a somewhat different tune. The many pleasures of the leaf are there for the taking. Like the lady said, "Ya gotta pick one up and smoke it sometime". For the benefit of you younger men, the lady was Edie Adams in her commercials for Muriel cigars. I'm taking you back to the '50's.

 

[MartinH]

When I do smoke a cigar I love the H Uppman 1844 Cabinet. Very smooth cigar.

 

[LIPIPE]

We Martin's think alike. My handle is LIPIPE. My name is Martin also, though Marty is preferred. I wonder how many guys out there who really love a pipe as I do also switch off periodically for the robust smoke an oscuro stick in the likes of a 54 to 60 ring gauge offers. It is a very different taste pleasure and a real change of pace.

 

[MartinH]

Ha! Only have met a handful of Martin's in my life. I do love the Uppmans, although when I go to Germany, I'll indulge in a Cuban here an there, but I have to say that the Cuban's I've had really weren't any better than the "non-Cuban's" I've had in the States. Of course, most of those wrapper are "Cuban" wrapper grown in other countries. I'm right about that?

Martin :?: