so.. What made you wanna smoke a pipe?

[greasemunki85]

As the title asks, what drew you to the pipe?
I never liked cigarettes, I thought they were pretty nasty; but I do remember my dad smoking a pipe for a short period of time, when I was little.
Something about it seemed cool, and yet, I never at that point saw anyone my age (23 at the time) smoke a pipe.
I was raised to always think for myself and question things that I heard, and always was the loner type. I was a skateboarder (still am), and into alot of heavy metal/punk rock growing up, so I've always felt the need to express myself, and I saw pipe smoking as going against the grain, in this day and age. I learned quickly that it was alot more than that. Ive been away from BoB for a minute, due to not having good internet at the house. But Im back, and trying to catch up, with the goings on.
I went from burning my mouth with Borkum Riff Cherry in a MM Cherry wood poker, to enjoying Balkan and English Blends with 20 or so pipes now. Its been a heck of a ride so far, and Im enjoying it.

 

[the rev]

I enjoyed smoking cigars but couldn't afford to smoke cigars... pipe smoking seemed more affordable. Until I wanted a certain pipe, but then I decided I would make it, and a new hobby was started, which has turned into a fledgling business

rev

 

[Ocelot55]

For me, I seemed destined to be a smoker. My entire family except for my parents smoke cigarettes. Despite what a lot of people experience, I find the smell of cigarettes comforting. Every Holiday we would go to great grandmas house. Fog would be rolling out the door when we opened it. When we came back home, dad always insisted we shuck off our clothes and throw them straight into the washer. I was always reluctant to do so. The lingering smell reminded me of family, good wishes, holiday food, and Grandma's kisses.

My Grandfather was probably also a big part of it. He and I just clicked on just about every level. He was kind, generous, wise, helpful, intelligent, and he always had a cigarette hanging out of his mouth (except when he came over to our house). Granddad was and is still my role model. I knew smoking was going to be part of my life, not because I thought it looked cool, but because every time I smelled burning tobacco I was reminded of family and especially of my Granddad.

Now my folks didn't raise a fool. I knew good and well that smoking is not healthy. I lost both Grandfathers to cancer that I am convinced was brought on by their smoking. I would not dare touch a cigarette. I got started with grocery store cigars I would steal from my dad, who enjoyed one now and then (without my mother's knowledge of course). When I turned 18 I knew a pipe was exactly what I wanted. I drove 200 miles to the nearest pipe store I knew of and bought my first pipe with two ounces of "Sweet Dutch Cavendish."

Sometime later a friend of mine named Nicole really got me turned on to premium cigars. I all but gave up pipes until I met a retired Navy guy who worked at the local B&M. He invited me over to look at his pipe collection and the rest is history.

 

[BigCasino]

I don't really know 20yrs ago standing in line I bought a cob as an impulse item, grabbed a pouch of capt. black went home didn't know what I was doing and burned my mouth up, cob became a halloween costume prop, about 4 weeks ago something told me to try it out again, so went to the local B&M he helped me pick out a basket pipe and set me up with a bunch of samples from the bulk supply, when I finally tried peter stokkebye's proper english I thought this is what I have been looking for been trying everything I can get my fingers on since

 

[Puff Daddy]

My grampa smoked a pipe when I was a little kid. I saw a few other cool old guys smoking em. I tried a few times but failed (grabows and captain black). One day I decided to see if that internet thang had some information that might help me learn and enjoy it (I must be doin sumthin wrong....). I found the Knox forum, met a few amazing fellows, never looked back.

 

[Brewdude]

My late Pap always smoked a pipe from my earliest memory. When I was in grade school I clearly remember going to the drugstore in our Milwaukee, WI burbs to pick up a pack of his one and only blend for Christmas - Uhles #255. And I was able to buy it back then!

Got into premium cigars during the boom years, and picked up the pipe a few years later. And my 'baccy of choice?

Uhles #255! I figured if it was good enough for my Pap it was good enough for me.

Still enjoy this but don't smoke it exclusively like he did.

And there ya go...





Cheers,

RR

 

[Slide]

My grandfather gave me a few of his old pipes to play with when I was a kid.

I wish I still had them. They were Grabows but still they were my grandfathers. If I recall they got terribly ghosted by something when I was a teenager and disappeared :drunken:

Later in life I picked up pipes to try to get off cigarettes. Eventually I got off the cigarettes but the pipe didn't do the trick for me. Had I been smoking GH Dark Flake or something along the lines of Peterson's Irish Flake I think it might have done the trick.

 

[user 2027]

I was a avid cigar smoker. It was the only way for me to relax. Started smoking in '91. Smoked a lot of smokes from a certain island south of Florida and then Russia pulled out and the crop when to crap. Started smoking Fuente and Padrons. Then the stupid cigar boom hit and everything was either sold out or so fresh, you had to put them in a humidor for 6 months before they were smokable. Wife bought me my first pipe then in '97 and I smoked on and off between the pipe and cigars.

I tend to smoke heavy cigars such as Padron and Cain F's. After a while everything just tasted like leather. So about 2 years it is my main stay. I think the variety of smokes out there for pipe tobacco are much more complex then cigars and more enjoyable. Helps me think.

 

[Frozenthunderbolt]

Lord of the rings. :cheers:

I love blowing smoke rings and dont want to be a nicotine addict.

Pipe smoking gives me the chance to evaluate my home grown backy for quality while doing less dammage to my health. It is also relaxing and it gives me ANOTHER hobby where i can have a go at making an artisan product.

Why would i NOT smoke a pipe!

 

[Briar Spirit]

Taken from my answer to the same question on SF:

One of the staff at the last kids home I was in was a pipe smoker, he was also the only guy there who didn't beat on us, I used to hide in the trees in the grounds watching him smoke his pipe, he looked so peaceful and so lost in thought. I used to take his dottle from his ashtray and smoke it, couldn't afford to buy smokes obviously, one day I 'found' an old pipe in the bin shed, I used to hide there a lot from the other kids. I thought I had found 'gold', I realise now that he'd put it there for me to find, he of course knew I was taking his dottle to smoke, one Christmas I found a pouch of clan in the bin sheds, the rest is history.

 

[Kyle Weiss]

Because it was different. In my teens, it attracted wanted attention. Now it's an excuse to tell people to eff off, "...I'm smoking my pipe." Any self-indulging vice that can adapt that smoothly from idiot adolescence to old man cantankery is worthy of keeping.

8)

 

[Dutch]

I have smoked cigars for years, since I was in my early 20's. My local tobacconist is a very knowledgable pipe man, and as such has a super nice selection of briars as well as pipe tobacco in his shop. I found myself drawn to the beautifully crafted briars in his display cases, but the prices made me reluctant to invest in the hobby. When I bought my first briar I remember thinking that I would never allow myself to spend over $150 on a pipe. Looking back on that mentality now, is quite comical.

Once I invested the time necessary to learn how to actually enjoy smoking a pipe, I enjoy the experience much more than smoking cigars. Pipe tobacco is so much richer and the selection varied than the cigars available today.

 

[RonA3597]

My best friend's father and all his hunting buddies were pipe smokers. Carter Hall, Sugar Barrel, Sir Walter Raleigh, etc. I was indoctrinated at an early age - bought a cob and a tin of Half and Half, a severe cases of PAD and TAD developed from that.

 

[Natch]

Freshman year in college, I thought it would make me look cool and sophisticated! :roll: I never really smoked cigarettes before, so it must have been more for show than enjoyment. I smoked god-awful aromatics that I kept way to wet to burn, but did manage to burn the hell out of my tongue every time I "tried" to actually get it going.

I still have my first pipe, a half-bent Dr. Grabow, which I pull out and smoke around a campfire from time to time. My first real pipe was a nice (albeit huge) Danish freehand that I loved. But one night I left it next to the cook area on a camping trip, and by morning all that was left was a pile of sawdust and a small lump of what used to be some nicely grained brier. Apparently a porcupine needed the salt in the wood than I needed that pipe.

Natch

 

[herbinedave]

In the Fall of 1987 I went into a tobacconist shop in State College, PA to purchase some cigars. I left with a GBD pipe and some Dunhill EMP. The shop owner was quite the salesman!

 

[puros_bran]

Cause Popeye smoked it.

 

[MisterE]

Because I saw PB trying to be like Popeye with one.

My grandfather, my dad, and two of my most important musical mentors were/are pipe smokers. I figured I'd give it a try and see if a little of their awesomeness would come along with it.

Not much of their awesomeness has taken yet, but I'm still at it just to be sure.

 

[somedumbjerk]

i was a cigarette smoker from age 11 to 18 (my mom and dad smoked, it was easy to steal packs as a young turd). quit and stayed away from all tobacco for years, until i could occasionally indulge in a cigar and it wasn't a big deal. about five years ago, my roommate would smoke cigars all the time. he would smoke big heady cigars that would make me want to puke. i really like relaxing with tobacco again now that i didn't have a monkey on my back so i went to the local tobacconist and got a corncob pipe and a bunch of bulk tobacco. tried it about five times with tongue bite and no taste except hot air. threw it all out. fast forward to about a year ago and i discover that cigars come in small sizes and i start buyign those. they just didn't have the same flavor as big cigars! this summer i found myself drawn to the Pipe again. i've always liked the way a pipe looks. I research a little bit and look at things like packing technique and smoking technique. i get drawn into GL Pease's website. that same day i walk to Hemmingways in Palo Alto and buy a Fe.Ro basket pipe. got pretty bad customer service there so i went online and bought a bunch of different tobaccos. i go full on pipe crazy! now i'm making pipes, cellaring tobacco, smoking as often as i can (which sadly is pretty much only at night during the week, and a few times a day on weekends). pretty stoked right now. except that now i'm smoking all these nice high end tobaccos i find myself wanting to try the drugstore brands, having never smoked em

 

[plumbernater]

I smoked cigerettes for alot of years. Got to the point the cigs were getting old, Then I remembered my great grand paw smoked a pipe and I loved the way his house smelled when we would visit. So I went to my local humidator and got a baskit pipe and some samples till I found what I liked. been smoking a pipe ever since.

 

[dshpipes]

I was a seasonal cigarette smoker. There's always been something about the winter that's really made me want to light up. I never liked how it made me feel though. A friend of mine asked me what I liked about it. When I told him it was the taste that drew me, he recommended trying out a pipe. I picked up some black cavendish and a dr. grabow straight apple from Walgreens and never looked back.