What got you into pipe smoking?

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chalbach72

Starting to Get Obsessed
Nov 27, 2014
158
2
28
United States
halbachphoto.com
Please go into as much detail as you like! I want to know how all of you fine gents got into this wonderful hobby!
For me, I've been smoking for a very measly 3 months, and for the longest time, I wouldn't have even DARED to touch any sort of tobacco. It wasn't until this summer that a buddy I worked at a camp with had told me how he smoked a pipe and how much he loved it.
Once I found out that you don't inhale and with moderation, there is no addiction, I quickly became attracted to the classy aspect of pipe smoking! Fast forward to my first week of college, my best friend's roommate and my roommate (who are best friends themselves) actually ended up being pipe smokers! One day after studying, they wanted to go smoke and I ended up tagging along. My roommate had an extra pipe on him, and I decided to try it, and I ended up loving it! about 2 weeks later I ended up buying a wall pipe from our local B&M (The Country Squire in Flowood, MS) and some of their own house blends! As of late, I've been trying some different aromatic blends, but my all-time favorite smokes are probably my 2 Virginia blends made by the Squire, and I ended up selling my wall pipe as trade-in towards a Rossi Rubino. I also just bought a Peterson that will be coming today!
So that's my story in detail; what's yours?

 

phil67

Lifer
Dec 14, 2013
2,052
7
I needed something to match up with the jacket I had with elbow patches.

 

toby67

Can't Leave
Sep 30, 2014
413
1
Australia
lol Phil, I have been a smoker since I was 16, I am now 47. I too started about 3-4 months ago. Beig a single full time father I was getting sick of spending so much on cigarettes so I was looking to quit. Then I visited my cousin who has been a pipe smoker for a lot of years, he has now quit and gave me his only 2 pipes and half a tin of Dr. Pats Irish Blend. I took to it immediately and loved it more than cigarettes.
You say you don't inhale from a pipe, well I do, always have. I understand that many don't but many do, it's a personal choice. But anyway, pipe smoking isn't just about smoking, it's a hobby, caring for your pipes, learning about the different tobaccos, curing methods and the blending styles of tobacco, the different styles (shapes and makes) of pipes. It's all totally enthralling and addictive, I'm teaching myself to restore pipes and building up my collection with mostly estate pipes but occassionally buying new pipes.
Like I said, I love my pipes, have not met many people who smoke a pipe, would be great to sit down with another pipe smoker and have a bowl or three together but here in Australia you don't meet many who also smoke a pipe. Wish it was like America here when it comes to pipes and tobacco prices. Have met a great many friends here and this site is brilliant..

 

planetary

Starting to Get Obsessed
Jul 4, 2012
165
4
SF Bay Area
I don't remember exactly what prompted it. It was late 1999 or early 2000. I remember getting my first pipe and telescope within a few months of each other. Those were crazy days in Silicon Valley; anyone with a pulse and a little technical job experience was getting piles of cash. I think I felt like exploring some of my latent interests. And since my dad smoked a pipe... why not give it a try?

 

vfefrenzy

Starting to Get Obsessed
Nov 4, 2014
113
0
When I was in college I was in a fraternity. While looking at some old pictures, we noticed that several of the older brothers were smoking pipes. Having seen my father smoke a pipe intermittently when I was growing up and realizing I was now an adult, I decided to give it a try. Much like my father, my smoking has been highly irregular. I have gone years at a time without smoking anything. When I would smoke I often turned to cigars because of the simplicity and availability. Then, in October I ran into one of my frat brothers at a beer festival, and he was smoking his pipe. I realized that it was something I missed and would like to get back into, so I did. Now I'm here.

 

wyfbane

Lifer
Apr 26, 2013
5,117
3,517
Tennessee
My Grandfather smoked pipes so that is in there.
But I didn't start until I was in Afghanistan. It helped keep some of the bugs away and was far and away tastier than cigarettes.

 

tarheel1

Part of the Furniture Now
Oct 16, 2014
936
2
I was young and in the military. Everyone either smoked cigs, dipped, or chewed. We smoked Cubans while deployed down south and when comming back from deployments. I wanted something cherry flavor and had a friend that smoked pipes.

 

Chasing Embers

Captain of the Black Frigate
Nov 12, 2014
43,248
108,343
Reminded me of my grandfather. Started pipesmoking when I was 17 and tried a pouch called Masterpiece. That blend had latakia in it, and it was love at first puff. Twenty-three years later, still primarily smoking the latakia, just in much larger doses. :puffy:

 

meatballj

Starting to Get Obsessed
Jan 14, 2014
129
20
New Brunswick, Canada
Growing up, both my parents smoked. I abhorred anything to do with smoking, at least so I thought. Spending a summer working as a groundskeeper for my local church, there were some elders who would take breaks in the afternoon and all pull out their pipes. These were hard working men I respected and I loved the smell of their tobacco (Amphora Brown I recall, as it was my first tobacco choice as well). The next year when I went off to university I bought myself a basket pipe and I've been a piper on and off now for almost 20 years. Those "elderly" gentlemen are still around and I keep thinking I should tell them what an influence they were on me and how they've affected my life.

 

pipebaum81

Part of the Furniture Now
Nov 23, 2014
669
235
Hurray for pipe stories. Both my parents are chain smokers of cigarettes. I grew up in a home with vast amounts of respect for smokers and their Liberated right to smoke but wasn't really enthusiastic about my clothing smelling so bad that me teachers were asking me if I was a smoker. The benefits of tobacco use did not go unnoticed though.
I am an avid listener of Dennis Prager's radio program. He is a passionate cigar smoker and also dabbles in pipes. After listening to him for a decade and always wishing I was cool enough to be a pipe smoker, a 23 year young man called Prager's radio show and told a story of how he had taken up pipe smoking due to Prager's influence. How it had changed his life for the better and how thankful he was. I said to myself right then and there 'thats its! I am doing this!' That weekend I bought my first pipe.

 

freakiefrog

Part of the Furniture Now
Dec 26, 2012
745
2
Mississippi
friends themselves) actually ended up being pipe smokers! One day after studying, they wanted to go smoke and I ended up tagging along. My roommate had an extra pipe on him, and I decided to try it, and I ended up loving it! about 2 weeks later I ended up buying a wall pipe from our local B&M (The Country Squire in Flowood, MS) and some of their own house blends!

Hey a local. I'm a big Country Squire guy myself. Maybe I'll see you in there sometime. As for me, my wife got me into pipes. I smoked cigars for years and one year on vacation we stopped into the Tobacconist up in Gatlinburg TN. She suggest that I try a pipe cause she love the way her grandfathers smelled. So I got a basket pipe tried like hell to smoke that with really heavy aromatics. Later I found the Country Squire as well Mrs. Gwen (God rest her sweet kind soul) straightened me out and that's been 10 years ago.. I've been hooked ever since.

 

boilermakerandy

Starting to Get Obsessed
Nov 27, 2014
248
0
I first tried a pipe in 1993 in order to try to quit cigarettes. My first attempt was with a cheap Saseini second with a sandpit/hole where the bowl meets the shank. The combination of the terrible smoking pipe coupled with tongue roasting aromatics doomed my first attempt (which lasted for a couple of months) to failure. Information wasn't nearly as readily available then as it is now thanks to the internet.
I succeeded in quitting cigarettes in 1997 and about a year later decided to try the pipe again as cigars which I had continued to enjoy were becoming prohibitively expensive. I found a knowledgeable tobacconist and told him about my first attempt. He suggested a different pipe and some English blend tobaccos and from that point I was hooked and understood the attraction of the pipe.
chalbach72,
If you like Virginia blends sent me a PM with your address and I'll send you some C&D Poplar Camp to try. It's my favorite VA/Per blend that I've been smoking for years.

 

mso489

Lifer
Feb 21, 2013
41,210
60,433
My dad smoked from right after breakfast until bedtime all the time I was growing up. (He quit cold turkey at

age 65.) He smoked one pipe, no rotation, until it burnt out, and always smoked Granger and only Granger.

I never smoked cigs, and only occasional cigars in college and military. Finally tried a pipe a few years after

I was married at age 30. I've never been hooked, able to drop it for a few days or a few years. But by the time

I tried it for the first time, I pretty much knew what I was doing. My dad and I were close and I spent a lot of time

with him, so the technique of pipe smoking was deeply imprinted without much more information. I still maintain

a can of Granger in his honor.

 

ivapewithfire

Starting to Get Obsessed
Nov 26, 2014
268
0
West Virginia, USA
Overgrown shrubbery (black walnut) at the edge of my hedge growing over into my neighbor's property.
Cut it down because the top was covering my Jeep. Looked at the grain of the wood while I was carrying it out back. It was awesome.
That led to wood working, led to a pipe, led to putting something in it, led to WOW.
And thus I'm loving imbibing tobacco through a pipe.

 
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