I don't want to talk you out of anything but I'll share my experience. Had I bought some cobs and carter hall or prince albert, it would have changed my entire learning curve. Instead I bought 3 pipes from a head shop as they were the only place that sold pipes or pipe tobacco, if that's what you want to call them, and one pipe's bowl just split in half in line with the stem. The second's bowl burnt out in about 3 weeks, and I just threw the third in the garbage when I bought my first real pipe from a local b&m when I moved to Savannah. Also smoked all that garbage tobacco and some of the b&m's house mixtures they were all goopy low end aromatics that tasted awful, smelled great and wouldn't stay lit. And don't even ask about starting a cake. That never happened. Then I bought a tin of opened and dry Nightcap (what's up with stores letting people open the tins and just put it back on the shelf), but it changed my smoking completely. Then, after reading some guys on here, i bought a MM cob and shared some prince albert with my papa (he rolled cigarettes out of it). First time I ever lit a pipe and smoked it to ash without relighting was that night. Though I don't particularly care for PA now, it was a huge confidence builder and I wonder just how much money I through away those first 2 and a half years that I smoked a pipe. Please don't let me persuade you to not purchase that very nice pipe if you know that you enjoy smoking, but are looking to buy your first pipe. However, if you're not sure if you are going to like it, but really want to try it, start where I wish i would have. And if you private message me your address, I'll send you some tobacco. I've probably got 25 jars of tobacco open ranging from aros to english and most that's in between.
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