Just bought my starter package

[Anonymous]

How about grabbing a notebook and entering your impressions of each blend you smoke for future reference,,,makes interesting reading as your tastes change and keeps track of the keepers and passes,,,just a thought,,,

I wish I had kept a journal myself because I forget whether I like tobaccos I've already tried. If I had had the Internet as a youngster, my pipe smoking would have taken off. I had to drive 4 hours to sa to buy pipes and tobacco. I allowed myself one a year (back before I'd established myself financially).

With the Internet, and estates, I would have had more than just a handful of pipes. But, it makes me appreciate what I have currently.

 

[Puff Daddy]

I started out with one pipe and an ounce of Black Cavendish and was happy as I could be. That soon changed as I started playing around on the internet and whatnot... the PAD and TAD will attack, it gets us all sooner or later!

Amen to dat!! :shock: I found a couple of pipe forums and in short order had 10 grand go up in smoke, so to speak :lol:

Some good advice here. I'll ditto the 'Get some cobs' and 'Smoke one kind of tobacco in one pipe' responses. Cobs really do smoke well, nothing at all wrong with them. The only thing I'd say about em is don't buy the small ones, go with the Country Gentleman at www.corncobpipes.com as they're more the size of a normal pipe bowl, the cheaper ones are awfully small.

Also, do yourself a favor and stay away from those aromatics, they don't taste like they smell, they bite and are goopy, and they will just frustrate you. Get some decent burley like Peretti's BPC or GL Pease Barbary coast, as the tobacco's used are good quality, they taste good and they won't bite you. If you're going to want to learn to smoke good tobacco don't put yourself through the pains of smoking cheap tobacco, then relearning to smoke the better quality stuff. Even PA or Carter Hall (or, dare I say it, even Walnut) would be a much better way to go than Capt Black.

Once you develop a bit of a palate and a pace for smoking bite free tobacco, then move into the Virginias and English blends. Don't try to do it all at once, get 3 or 4 cobs and learn to enjoy 2 or 3 simple blends first.

But by all means, start looking at the Bangs and Maenz' and Castellos on EBay, you may as well start saving now, you'll need it

 

[Anonymous]

You want corncobs anyway for when you don't want to smoke your Pete. Take it from me, invest in some cobs BEFORE you drop a good pipe into the lake fishing or drop it on the sidewalk doing work outside.

I buy the whole cardboard bunch when the shop has them, so that I can grab them on my way out fishing and such. With the shop about 45 min away, locals come to me to bum or buy a cob when they want to smoke some baccy.

 

[HoosierPuffer]

Excellent advice, brothers!

I will probably smoke once or twice a week - max. It will likely be out back on my deck / patio, or at a friend's in the same.

A couple cobs are about to be ordered...

I did get some pipe cleaners and tools. I should be good to go there for a long time!

 

[Anonymous]

I will probably smoke once or twice a week - max. It will likely be out back on my deck / patio, or at a friend's in the same.

Ha! Ha! Good one!
(that's what alot of us said, but then found excuses for a smoke everyday, then twice a day, etc...)

 

[TallSmoke]

Excellent advice, brothers!

I will probably smoke once or twice a week - max. It will likely be out back on my deck / patio, or at a friend's in the same.

A couple cobs are about to be ordered...

I did get some pipe cleaners and tools. I should be good to go there for a long time!

Yea. I remember when I used to smoke once or twice a week. I was such a sweet kid.

 

[Anonymous]

Excellent advice, brothers!

I will probably smoke once or twice a week - max. It will likely be out back on my deck / patio, or at a friend's in the same.

A couple cobs are about to be ordered...

I did get some pipe cleaners and tools. I should be good to go there for a long time!

One pipe is fine for once or twice a week smoking. Can cobs be sanitized like briar? I've been throwing mine away rather than cleaning them (easier to just pull another off the cardboard insert).

 

[SmokeyTweed]

Once or twice a week eh?

That sounds so familiar. If you can keep it up all the power to you! :twisted:

 

[HoosierPuffer]

Sounds like the sage wisdom of pipe smokers past may come back to bite me! :lol:

Well, I'm eagerly awaiting its arrival in the mail....

 

[Anonymous]

Can cobs be sanitized like briar? I've been throwing mine away rather than cleaning them (easier to just pull another off the cardboard insert).

Mine tend to 'burn out', and the stems seem to be soft so they get chewed up, so I just trash em after a while. Never tried to clean one, other than the usual pipe cleaner.

 

[HistoryMajor]

Can cobs be sanitized like briar? I've been throwing mine away rather than cleaning them (easier to just pull another off the cardboard insert).

Mine tend to 'burn out', and the stems seem to be soft so they get chewed up, so I just trash em after a while. Never tried to clean one, other than the usual pipe cleaner.

I neglect mine horribly as well...but the advice I've seen recommends running a cleaner through them, and wiping out the inside of the bowl with paper towel afterwards. There was a thread on SF a few weeks back about cleaning cobs...it is possible from what I gathered.

 

[HoosierPuffer]

:evil:

OK, so I ordered this bucket of stuff last Wednesday morning (4/15).

Got my order receipt right away which was good!

However, things then turned for the worse. By Friday I had not received a shipment (and was supposed to when it shipped) so I sent them an email with my order receipt in it. No response.

So, I sent them another email on Tuesday inquiring whether my order was successful or needed to be canceled. Meanwhile the order status page showed no update.

I finally got a response Tuesday saying that they needed my order information, which I promptly sent them.

That was two days ago and I still haven't received a response.

I'm getting very upset. It was a week and a half a go. One of the pipes was a gift for a friend for a party tomorrow night and now I can't give it to them.

Their website warns that they may be low on things due to demand and may have delayed shipping, but it also promised notification if that is the case. I've not received any such notification.

I'm going to call here in a minute and this is the last chance for them. This is not a very good way to begin as a pipe smoker!

:evil:

 

[Justpipes]

Who did you place the order with?

 

[Sasquatch]

Yeah... who are you dealing with?

I can guess who it ISN'T, and that would be smokingpipes.com

If I had to guess at an internet merchant that ignores orders, doesn't respond to emails, and sends whatever they feel like when they finally do ship, I'd guess Vegassmokes.

 

[FibberMcGee]

:evil:

OK, so I ordered this bucket of stuff last Wednesday morning (4/15).

Got my order receipt right away which was good!

However, things then turned for the worse. By Friday I had not received a shipment (and was supposed to when it shipped) so I sent them an email with my order receipt in it. No response.

So, I sent them another email on Tuesday inquiring whether my order was successful or needed to be canceled. Meanwhile the order status page showed no update.

I finally got a response Tuesday saying that they needed my order information, which I promptly sent them.

That was two days ago and I still haven't received a response.

I'm getting very upset. It was a week and a half a go. One of the pipes was a gift for a friend for a party tomorrow night and now I can't give it to them.

Their website warns that they may be low on things due to demand and may have delayed shipping, but it also promised notification if that is the case. I've not received any such notification.

I'm going to call here in a minute and this is the last chance for them. This is not a very good way to begin as a pipe smoker!

:evil:

There is a certain e-tailer that I used quite frequently a few years ago, but went to another instead because this first place was very unreliable. If something was out of stock, they would hold the entire order until it came in, no email to let me know, no communication at all that my order would be delayed. Just the week before last I decided to give them another try and after an initial confirmation email: no package, no email, I was just in limbo. I canceled the order. Since I am new here I would feel a little weird about saying who it is, but I won't ever be using them again.

 

[jlbst49]

Its a sickness...

A year in and I average a pipe purchase a month and lots of tobacco in mason jars.....

Ah well. I have to keep at least one vice going...


Jeff

 

[HoosierPuffer]

Well, here's what happened.

It sounds like the same retailer as FibberMcGee's

I called and didn't get a busy signal on Friday finally. Still no email responses.

They are holding the entire order because my Calabash pipe needed to be ordered, even though their website didn't say otherwise.

They've changed their website some to show things out of stock it seems, and taken down the text on the checkout warning of delays in shipping for things out of stock due to increased demand.

This is good - they're probably reading this thread

Anyways, the stuff is supposed to ship early this week. Sure would be nice if they overnighted it to me given that it is 2 weeks in coming now. (hint, hint)

 

[HoosierPuffer]

Got word that my stuff shipped on Wed! It is supposed to arrive Friday!

I'm excited - smokeout at our place Friday night!