Smoking while Driving?

[huntertrw]

mcitinner1:
I cannot answer your question concerning trucks; however, I believe that you would be hard pressed to find a new sedan or coupe with an ashtray as standard equipment.

 

[kwilliams40]

Same here... 6 speed manual Tacoma pickup. I smoke cigars in my truck, but not pipes(I tried once...). Dealing with idiot drivers, lane changes, etc. make it much less enjoyable to smoke my pipes while driving. With cigars, all I have to worry about is where to put the ash before it falls in my lap.

 

[vfefrenzy]

I have smoked while driving a few times. Since I have to stop every few seconds at a relight, I do all my tamping and relights then. Of course, I drive an automatic, so I only need one hand for the wheel, which leaves the other one free to hold the pipe.

 

[cmdrmcbragg]

I smoke while I drive. I do my lighting and tamping in the driveway or at a traffic light. I have a little niche in my console that works great for my pipe as it is tight enough to hold the bowl and rest the stem against the e-brake.
I don't worry about being distracted as I barely remember the thing is in my hand after it gets going.

 

[desertpipe]

I have smoked in my vehicles for the past 45 years, standard and automatic. I found that the right pipe made all the difference in ease of use. I have a dozen pipes that I use, I keep the sun roof cracked up in the rear, and I have a easy to use lighter. Life is good.

 

[kaboom]

I smoke in the car too, and i'm a total newbie.
I'll generally smoke during the very short commute to work so I choose a smaller pipe and Prince Albert so I can minimize the amount of relights required. As said by most above, when a relight is required it usually take place at a red light or at the entrance to a roundabout (This is Europe, they are everywhere and suburban areas are literally littered with them) while the idiot in front waits for a 9-car gap before getting moving. Tamping I'll do when the traffic gets lighter and i'll hold the wheel with a knee.
I'm living in an Island now so I haven't been able to yet, but I'm DYING to do a long highway trip while smoking a pipe!
I enjoy cigars in the car too...

 

[psychpipes]

As someone who primarily smokes in the car, I can offer a few tips that have worked for me:
1. Lighter pipes that you can clench for a while are your friend. I tend to smoke cobs and my Devil Anse.

2. Use a lighter that you can easily light and extinguish with one hand. I use a zippo with a pipe insert. The pipe insert is really good for keeping the flame over the bowl and not on the rim while the car moves.

3. If you can, crack the window as wide as you can stand. This is not just for ventilation for your lungs, but also for air movement to keep the pipe lit longer.

4. Use muscle memory to grab the lighter/tamper, and keep them within arms length. No need to shift or keep your eye off the road.

5. For the average driver, red lights simply mean stop. For the pipe smoking driver, red lights mean tamp/relight.

6. With no lights available (such as on a highway), move the pipe onto your steering wheel. I usually can hold the wheel with my middle ring and pinky, the pipe with my pointer and thumb, and the tamper with my other hand. Basically you tend to drive the car in the direction your looking, so move the pipe into your view not your view to the pipe.

7. Use your noggin. High speed traffic a'int the best time to attempt a relight/tamp. Wait for a safer opportunity.

 

[terrygoldman123]

I smoke often in the car. Never a problem. Wife drives carefully allowing me maximum lighting pleasure.

 

[Chasing Embers]

Been smoking and driving for over 2 decades now. Don't think any more about it than I do breathing. Just pack and light before I get in the car.

 

[prndl]

my 2013 toyota pickup is ashtrayless, as well.
as far as smoking a pipe and driving, at my age, I'm doing good just smoking a pipe and walking at the same time.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

I don't need hands to smoke my pipe, once it's lit. It just hangs in my maw. I can't imagine driving without my pipe. Actually, I can't imagine anything without my pipe in clench, driving, working, walking, shopping, talking. I do have two wooden pipe rests mounted to my center car console, but they are for my pipe waiting to be lit and the one I just finished. I'm not sure what the big deal is. It's not like I have to do anything while smoking. Heck, sometimes I don't even tamp, just smoke till I start sucking ashes, ha ha. On some days, in Birmingham traffic, if I didn't have my pipe, you'd be reading about me wreaking havoc in the streets, ha ha.

 

[tbradsim1]

To show you how the times They Are A Changeing, my 07 Tundra has a cup ashtray with a spring loaded lid. I haven't smoked in my truck that's just because my driving according to my wife is the worst . Don't believe that Gents, I did over 100,000 miles in a flatbed UD Hotshotting over S USA with nary an accident. No my trips are far and few between and no more than 15 miles one way, but if they were frequent and far I would have all kinds of guizzmos in my truck for smoking.

 

[saltedplug]

I smoke everyday in my car. I let habit guide me to opening my pipe case, extracting the tobacco and pipe, loading the pipe and lighting it, which means I do it the same way each time. For instance I hold the bowl in my left hand at 10 o'clock and take pinches of tobacco from my pouch, the bottom part of it nestled in the console partition made for extra stuff. I do stay well aware of traffic, but say if someone crossed the road unexpectedly, I know I'd be slower to see them. What I'm trying to see is that before I avert my eyes, I assess traffic to judge what safe interval is for them to be taken off the road.
But my take home point is that there really is no safe amount of time to take one's eyes off the road; and that only time I feel safe is oscillating between road and task, quickly and repeatedly, which cuts eyes away from the road time down, a more or less continual checking of the road, albeit with very short absences.

 

[natibo]

I can't imagine NOT smoking in my car.

 

[brass]

I smoke during my morning commute from Maryland, across DC, into Northern Virginia, every morning and reverse course coming home. Our stop and go traffic allows plenty of opportunity to tamp and light as needed. I'm sure that this involves some distraction but smoking my pipe reduces my inclination towards road rage and hypertension caused by commuting 3 hours a day.Figure its a wash.
I use two nested cups in my cup holder. The top cup servers as a pipe caddy. I dump ashes in the bottom cup, being sure they're dead. I also keep my tamper and lighter in the same place, so I can get to them without looking.
I also keep a half-pint jar of tobacco, with bail lid, on the seat. I find it easier to load them from the jar, than a pouch. And the jar keeps the tobacco fresh indefinitely.
Like others, here, I like to pack, tamp and light before putting the car in gear. I wouldn't recommend smoking and driving but for many of us, it may be the only regular time we get to enjoy a solitary smoke.
Pax

 

[frank13]

I do the same as many people, here. Pack before I get in the Jeep. Char, light, tamp, light, then put 'er in gear, and down the road I go. If I need to tamp and relight, I wait until I'm at a stop light.

 

[ravkesef]

I would really enjoy smoking my pipe in the car but SWMBO draws the line at that. She said she was good enough to build me a man cave in the house that has many lovely features, but since we share the car smoking is out.

 

[brudnod]

Brass, I drive AGAINST the traffic around DC. Sorry you have the incessant stops... Welcome to DC!

 

[sparrowhawk]

During the road trip with judicial to Paul's Pipe Shop, I watched the experienced fellow as he smoked his own pipe during the hour long drive. He has it down to a science. So this week, for the first time, I tried smoking while driving. I smoked my Shire, firmly clenched in my teeth. As long as it's prebacked, and you do successive lights during stops, it doesn't seem that hard, just a matter of practice. Just try being careful in the practicing stage. Also, I noticed Jud had parts of his dash rigged to accept stuff like pipe cleaners and a container of some sort he made to place in his cupholder. I need to figure out how to make something similar for my car.

 

[newbroom]

Yep. I try to get a pipe going before take off. If I'm going on a lengthy drive, I'll pre pack more...I keep a brylon and a pouch in the car for back up.

One thing I've learned very quickly, is to take the pipe from my maw before entering the car.