How Much is Too Much?

[Chasing Embers]

with no additives

Unless you grow your own, most pipe tobacco has something added to it.

You have to give cigarette companies a little credit though. Pipe tobacco benefits from crops grown primarily for cigarettes and chewing tobacco.

 

[warren]

If you don't inhale that eliminates so many issues right there already.

Eliminates? Maybe reduces some, not all, issues but, not eliminates. Some carcinogens will make it to your lungs whether you inhale or not. One should also remember, carcinogens are not released until flame is applied to tobacco or, charcoal, firewood, tires, and so forth.

The pipe will be much more enjoyable if one happily accepts all of the attendant risks. Choices have consequences. Except 'em and enjoy. And, if the worst happens, at least in the U.S. and many other countries, you can count on your neighbors' tax dollars to cover many of the attendant health care costs. It's the best of all worlds!

 

[Sobrbiker]

I’m an unabashed nic addict-pipes are just my latest addition.
As to the hardware itself, most days I’m actively smoking I will do so half a dozen or so times. I’ve actually found that my briars take abuse better and provide better smokes than my cobs. The cobs are true beaters that I smoke when working around the property with animals, engines, chemicals etc.
For instance, this is my fifth smoke in my Peterson Short Army today, on its fourth day in a row of such treatment. It’s been kept company in my lunchbox rotation this week by two Kaywoodies that are 80ish years old and still kicking.
YMMV

 

[StPatrickPiper]

Eliminates? Maybe reduces some, not all, issues but, not eliminates. Some carcinogens will make it to your lungs whether you inhale or not. One should also remember, carcinogens are not released until flame is applied to tobacco or, charcoal, firewood, tires, and so forth.

The pipe will be much more enjoyable if one happily accepts all of the attendant risks. Choices have consequences. Except 'em and enjoy. And, if the worst happens, at least in the U.S. and many other countries, you can count on your neighbors' tax dollars to cover many of the attendant health care costs. It's the best of all worlds!

I may have exaggerated. SIGNIFICANTLY reduces some factors rather.

 

[Sigmund]

No one can tell you how much is "Safe" since no one really knows. If you only smoke a pipe and only do it with moderation my thinking is its not too bad. Like my grandfather always said, "Something is gonna kill you". He was an ex-smoker, ex-coal miner with black lung, ex-house painter with lead paint and more. He made it to 81 and that was back in the 70's. No one knows the leaning of their genetic code.

So far as addiction: I smoke 2 or 3 bowls a day. If I dont smoke for a day or part of the day I do not notice the lack of nicotine. I smoke filter pipes most the time becuase I like the taste better, not so much because of risk. It does remove quite a bit of nasties but no one knows how much real life difference this makes. I certainly think the pipe is WAY better than sucking down cigarette smoke and the numbers APPEAR to suggset this is the case. If you have one stuck in your face all day...well, you increase risks. So proceed with care. Do what you need to do.

 

[churchlady]

When I started I was smoking around three bowls a day, and I also use a wee bit of snus on occasion. I can use nic 3x a day for a week and then not touch it for two weeks, so I doubt I'm addicted. And I'm pretty sure the stress reduction balances out any potential harm from smoking. There are times when I almost wish I was more hooked on it because I've had weeks where I won't bother to get my pipe out and then once I do get out on the porch I'm kicking myself for forgetting what a great stress reliever it is. As full time homeschooling mom with ADHD I'll take all the help I can get! There a lot worse coping mechanisms you can have.

 

[dingdong]

I would rather smoking (pipe or otherwise) than going insane
its more of picking poison - sugar, cholesterol, salt, etc all kills and with all preservatives and chemicals we had everywhere in (processed) food and drink, i think nicotine is a lesser evil.

 

[fishmansf]

This is a 2 part inquiry.

1) How many bowls can you smoke in a day that is not considered an addiction or health risk. I know we are all different and smoke is bad but how much are you codgers smoking? I am starting to like 2 bowls in the morning and 1-2 in the evening and I am just a beginner. I think 2 because I have yet gotten a bowl to last more than 20 minutes.

2) Pipes - I heard that you should use a pipe for only a day and then rotate it. I have 2 cobs and a cheap kit pear that works. Should I use a different one for each smoke session?

I am going to echo what most others have probably said here:
1. I am no doctor and none of this is medical advice but there are no # of bowls you can smoke a day that is not a health risk. Smoking will always be a health risk no matter how many bowls you smoke a day. If we are talking 1-2 bowls a week, I can say that you're probably at a breakeven but it is still not healthy. Personally, I think 1-2 bowls a day is no big deal in terms of your health question. If you read the studies (I am not talking about the "doctor" that came to speak to SPC a while back about how pipe smoking really isn't that bad for you, but the actual peer reviewed medpub studies) you'll see that smokers in the 1-2 bowls a day category are at a pretty low risk comparatively though the results range wildly from study to study. I can't tell you what to do but if I may suggest, I think that the lowest impact for health impact and addiction would be 0 bowls a day . Though, I am a lover of the hobby as well and therefore understand that is not realistic. Personally, I limit myself to one bowl a day if I feel like it. I would also say that pipe smoking isn't addictive like cigarettes, dip, or snus. The nicotine delivered is quite low and unless you're choochin on 5, 6, 7, 8+ bowls a day, I really don't see it as enough nicotine to become addictive in the actual sense of the word. Most pipe smokers I know have zero issues putting down the pipe for a few days or even weeks at a time unlike real nicotine addicts who can't go three hours without a cig on their lip or a dip in their cheek. You may however get addicted to the routine. The process of inspecting your pipes, of worshiping your flakes, rubbing them out and leaving them to dry; of packing your pipe and gently applying the char light; of hanging the pipe from your mouth as you turn off your brain or unpack the days events... This is what is addicting to me.
2. You can do whatever you want. Some people let them rest and rotate through their pipes but if you're using a cob, they're so cheap and dry relatively well that I think you would be fine rotating through the two cobs a day. If you even get into it, Meerschaum pipes do not need any rest period and do not ghost (or at least that is what they say, that is not my experience) so you can smoke one pipe as many time as you want throughout the day without worry. I almost exclusively smoke them. They are not cheap however and for meers, there is a dollar-quality correlation so the less you spend, the poorer quality the pipe will be and the more you spend the better it will be.