What drew you to pipes?

[Anonymous]

Pipes did.

:face:

 

[Milan]

Crack and meth. Oh sorry... this must be about those other pipes? Umm... yeah, I had a dream in which God told me that I needed a second hobby. So... I started smoking pipes.
:clown:

 

[mike_68]

Grampa..whom I miss very much and whom I wish I could've spoken to man to man..but he left to soon.

My mother told me he smoked SWR and PA so I will always have some on hand and I always smoke one of those first in every "new to me" pipe I get. Matter of fact, some PA in my Great Dane sounds good right now..thanks for the great subject and all the great stories.

 

[idbowman]

I wish I could say that I had a grandfather or father who smoked a pipe (dad smoked/smokes cigs, but that hardly counts) or some other adult figure who led me to the hobby...to be 100% honest, I started smoking the pipe as a joke.

In college, there was a group of guys who smoked cigars outside of our dorm room in the evening. This wouldn't have been a problem (cigars can be wonderful and their smokers can be fine folks), except they were the "we're in college and awesome because we smoke cigars, so we'll stand where we get the most attention just to show off our total badassery" kind of cigar smokers. So, some of us thought it would be amusing to smoke pipes and act very "proper" right next to them. A friend had a bunch of his grandfathers old pipes, we each grabbed one and had some fun with it for a week or so (typing this for an unfamiliar audience, this seems entirely pathetic...I guess you had to be there).

At any rate, even though we were making a joke about it and no idea what we were doing, it was fantastic. Really, really fantastic. And it stuck...at least the idea of it did. We had to return the pipes, and I wasn't about to run out and spend money on something as outdated as pipes and pipe tobacco - after all, what early 20-something smokes a pipe, for cryin' out loud?!?! Still, I couldn't get it out of my head.

Two years later, still in college and having developed a bit of a taste for cigars, a fellow student and cigar smoker revealed that he also enjoyed a pipe every now and again. We'd planned to have a cigar one evening, but he brought along an extra pipe just in case I'd like to give it a try, this time "for real." I did, and was hooked. The next day I was at a local tobacco shop in the Columbus area buying a pipe and three small samples of tobacco.

The rest, as they say, is history.

 

[Trekkerdude]

Sadly I had no relatives that could have led me down this wonderful and contemplative path.

The first pipe that I ever bought was part of an outfit that I was creating for a gothic dinner party that I was hosting. I had smoked cigs before but not on a regular basis, and after the part I thought why not give the pipe ago? I ordered a couple of samples online and set out to try them. Now the pipe that I bought was a very cheap no name pipe and I did not get on with it at all. Over the next week or so I told a work friend of mine about trying the pipe, and she told me her grandad used t smoke one. The next day she came in with a pipe for me, it was a cheap Bull brand pipe but it was much better than what I had initially bought. I as able to smoke that pipe and I enjoyed it so much mire because i was able to smoke it. Since that day I have never looked back, and have even gone on to purchase a church warden pipe.

I think also my love has to do with the revival of 'gentlemanly' traits from a bygone era. It seems things were so much more simple back then and the experience of life was passed on.

 

[calipuffer]

So many great stories. When I was in high school I went with a friend whose father was a meerschaum collector to buy a pipe and some tobacco. Since I had no reference for pipe smoking (grew up without television/old movies/smoking family members), I had to stumble before it got worked out. Since I like the solitude of pipe smoking it really connected with me. It took over 18 years until I found online forums like this and improved my technique and branched out to new tobaccos (I was lucky to have a decent tobacconist so the house blends were decent).

 

[s.ireland]

From the time I was very young, I have always been fascinated by pipes. My Grandfather is a retired Navy Commander and his study was filled with awesome Nautical themed paintings and decorations. I would spend hours in that room looking at all of his stuff. On his desk was a round pipe rack with a jar in the middle filled with PA. I must have gotten in trouble at least 100 times for taking one of the pipes and walking around with it in my mouth... I seem to recall even breaking one of the pipe's stem at some point. Good thing my Grandfather loved me! I also opened the jar and stuck my nose in for a big whiff of PA at least once a day... Then as a teen I began smoking cigs because being underage and finding places to buy cigs was quite easy. As soon as I turned 18 I went to a local shop here in San Diego (Racine & Laramie) and bought my first pipe and a few different house blends. I have now been smoking pipes for almost 6 years... My pipes have gotten me through some difficult times and shared some wonderful times with me as well.

 

[szyzk]

I've been a cigar smoker for a while, and it wasn't until I really started to enjoy cigars - and, by default, tobacco - that I started looking into pipes. I spent a LOT of time reading about it, and after reading so many amazing reviews and realizing how this side of the leaf is so different from the side I was used to, I had to jump in feet first without a helmet, goggles or a snorkle.

Needless to say, I love it. It's become nearly a daily thing for me, and cigars have turned into a change-of-pace "treat" for me.

 

[joshoowah]

I smoked cigarettes for about five years in my youth (14-19). Through that time, I witnessed my grandfather diagnosed with lung cancer and die shortly after. I remember feeding him while he lay in bed during his final days. He had smoked pipes earlier in his life and started to chew instead (Red Man). He chewed quite a bit. Alas, I kicked the habit after having to go through such.

I was twenty-three when I began to explore the pipe world. I had always had fond memories of my grandfather and his pipe. I was real young when he switched from the pipe to chew; however, I still remembered a certain pipe I had found in his lower drawer during those days. To this day, I have not been able to find that pipe. I believe one of my uncles took it as a memento. 'Tis a shame really seeing as I smoke pipes now. In any case, those fond memories truly were the reason I began to explore the hobby. After I started to get serious, as in actually buying pipes and tobacco, my mother gave me a pipe that just so happened to be my grandfather's. It was not the one I remember, but it's special nonetheless. I still have yet to restore it (it needs a lot of work), but it is an old St. Claude pipe from France. Though originally the fondness of memory regarding my grandfather was the reason behind my interest, I have come to love the hobby and greatly wish I could smoke a pipe with my grandfather. More than anything though, I wish I would have been better to him.