How long would 10 lbs of tobacco last you?

Log in

SmokingPipes.com Updates

Watch for Updates Twice a Week

PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor

PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor

Drucquers Banner

PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor

PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor

PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor

Status
Not open for further replies.

brudnod

Part of the Furniture Now
Aug 26, 2013
938
6
Great Falls, VA
If it was as much as I would like to smoke, it would be about 5 years; if it is how much I DO smoke, 10-12 years. Working in a hospital and having a wife who does particularly like me to smoke does slow one down.

 

huntertrw

Lifer
Jul 23, 2014
5,289
5,575
The Lower Forty of Hill Country
"How long would 10 lbs of tobacco last you?"
In his "The Ultimate Pipe Book" Richard Carleton Hacker provides a possible answer this question by stating, in part, that, "...there are about 30 to 40 pipefuls of tobacco in every pound (with a slight variance being allowed for pipe bowl size and the cut of the tobacco)..." Using 35 as the average, that means that each pipeful would be 0.457 ounces. Accordingly, 10 lbs. represents 350.1 pipefuls, that is if my arithmetic is correct.
For me 10 pounds of pipe-tobacco would last a long time!

 

mcitinner1

Lifer
Apr 5, 2014
4,043
24
Missouri
"30 to 40 pipes full of tobacco in every pound (with a slight variance being allowed for pipe bowl size and the cut of the tobacco)..."
Mr Hacker must be related to Bradley....Size matters! Peck says about 3 grams/bowl. Mr Hacker is about 12-13 grams/bowl. Even by Bradley's standards that a big damn pipe! Wish I knew where to get a big pipe pic to put here. 8)

 
Dec 24, 2012
7,195
456
Well, it obviously depends on the bowl size and the cut (and therefore density) of the tobacco. I have found that I tend to get 15 to 20 bowls out of a 50g tin. I therefore took 3g as a round and approximate (but pretty realistic) average guestimate for most pipe smokers using a group 4/5 pipe. Hacker must use massive pipes - either that, or he is mathematically challenged.

 

warren

Lifer
Sep 13, 2013
11,734
16,332
Foothills of the Chugach Range, AK
When I posted my estimate it was with the idea that I would smoke at most seven or eight bowls of the 10 pounder, most likely "Balkan Supreme" and a few bowls of different blends. No way in hell would I limit myself to one blend day in and day out. I'm not a connoisseur of blends but, I do like a bit of variety.

 

conlejm

Lifer
Mar 22, 2014
1,433
8
Peck's estimate of 1,512 bowls in 10lbs of tobacco, divided by 365 days, equates to 4.14 bowls per day to go through it in one year. If you only smoke one bowl a day, it would take you 4.14 years to go through it. if your pipe is substantially bigger or smaller than Peck's theoretical pipe, then adjust accordingly.

 

warren

Lifer
Sep 13, 2013
11,734
16,332
Foothills of the Chugach Range, AK
Hacker, The Ultimate Pipe Book on page 170 states that "tobacconists normally consider a pound to be a one month's supply for the medium to heavy pipe smoker." The book was written in 1984 and I doubt that his reference has changed much either way with regards to individual smokers.
I'm guessing that I would be rated a heavy pipe smoker and 10 pounds would last me a year, more or less depending on how much I supplemented the with other blends.

 

aristokles

Can't Leave
Jan 18, 2011
399
0
About a year. That is what my recorded usage has been. Longer if weathers stinks, shorter if pleasant.

 

leacha

Part of the Furniture Now
Jun 19, 2013
939
8
Colorado
I'm saying 2 to 4 years. I smoke more in the spring/summer/fall than winter. If we relocate further south in a few years, the number of smokes will increase dramatically which would shorten the amount of time it takes to finish the 10.

 
According to Peck's math, 6 months for me, but my pipes mostly have small bowls, so in reality, it would probably last me a year.

The reality of how much I smoke never pans out exactly with calculations. According to the tobacco inventory App on my phone, 175 pounds of tobacco will only provide me with ten years of smoking, but it sure looks like a lot more against the realty of those looming stacks of boxes.

 

yazamitaz

Lifer
Mar 1, 2013
1,757
1
A LONG freaking time at 3 bowls per week. I have about 20 lbs now, so I am now only buying stuff I want to age 5-10 yrs

 
I don't understand 3 bowls per week. That would mean that you spend more time here than smoking? Ha ha. The anticipation between bowls would kill me, and the anxiety of wanting to finish a tin to try a new blend... If I could wait that long between bowls, I would just toss the whole lot and be done with smoking. But, that's me.
I don't mean to pick on you, Yaz. I just always wonder at guys who only smoke a few bowls a week, yet will stand in the freezing cold for an hour to smoke. It seems like a lot of shivering just to do something they aren't addicted to. As much as I love smoking, you couldn't get me to stand in the cold to do ANYTHING. :wink:

 

seagullplayer

Part of the Furniture Now
Jan 30, 2014
500
129
Indiana
I have several 1/2 pint jelly jars of sample tobacco from a local B&M. I am 90% sure they hold right at 2 oz.
Even with several samples with different cuts, there was just a little difference in the volume that 2 oz took up.
If I am correct, then there is no way that anything like an average pipe is going to hold 0.457 oz of tobacco.
I have the means to weigh a pipe full here at work, I will try and do that very thing later this week.
I can try a fine cut like PA for a worst case. But I am limited in pipe size, my smallest would be a Dr. Grabow Lark and my largest a common MM cob. I suppose I could do both?
Of course you will just have to live with the way I choose to pack it...
At any rate I can tell you that 10 lbs would last me forever.

 

seagullplayer

Part of the Furniture Now
Jan 30, 2014
500
129
Indiana
By my scale at work my Dr. Grabow "Lark" holds a little less than 1.5 grams of Kentucky Gold.
You can look the Lark up, it has a rather small bowl, I could easily see some holding 2x as much.
So if we give it a range of 1.5g to 3g depending on pipe.
10lb = 4535 grams
So a range of 3023 bowls - down to 1511 bowls
If I use my Lark everyday for one smoke it would last me a little over eight years.
So if it ever hits the fan, grab your smallest pipe to make your cellar go further!

 

griffonwing

Can't Leave
Nov 12, 2014
498
21
Omaha AR
10lb would probably last me 8 years, if I smoked it regularly. As of now, I am not smoking indoors, and only smoke on the way to/from work and on walks.

 

brdavidson

Lifer
Dec 30, 2012
2,017
5
Cosmic, I smoke a little more that Yaz, but if you work in an office (as Dan and I both do) there is no opportunity to smoke during the work day, then add in young children and all other aspects of daily life and that is the reality of the "Hobby Smoker". At most I'm 7 bowls a week, but when the weather like this hits its less as I don't smoke indoors with young kids in the house. I would love to smoke more than that, however daily responsibilities and the dwindling areas in which to enjoy a pipe limit me. Of note, when I hit my place in Northern Ontario in the summer I'll often have 3 bowls a day plus a cigar simply because I can.

 
Status
Not open for further replies.