A bit on the serious side - how long have you been smoking and family reaction

Hey Chris.
I've been smoking a pipe, again, since 2013. My last stint with the pipe was in college in the early 1990s. In the intervening years I smoked cigarettes to the tune of a pack a day. I quit cigarettes entirely in 2006 and hadn't smoked a thing until returning to the pipe.
My family was very concerned that I would return to smoking cigarettes after picking up the pipe. They all expressed their concern in different ways. But as we were all adults this largely took the form of reasoned discussion, expression of concern, trust and love, and we all said what we thought need to be said.
Two years down the road, I still haven't touched a dart, and I smoke as much or as little as I like.
My recommendation? Be straight with your family about what you want to do, and what you need from them to support you in your hobby. Meet the objections with honesty, and integrity, and you'll be fine.
-- Pat

My mother in particular hates my pipe smoking. We are both RNs so it just astounds her. We have agreed to disagree.
My wife I know doesn't love that I do it, but she knows how much I like it so she sort of tolerates it. I have some things I do to show her respect and acknowledge her concerns that I think help- I don't smoke a ton (3 bowls a week if I'm lucky!), never in the house. I keep all of my pipe stuff down in a little "man cave" area. I usually leave whatever coat or hoodie I've been wearing down in the basement or garage so I don't bring the smell in. I try to shower and change whenever I can - she worries a lot about our kids and the smell on my clothes.
One thing that has helped is I've had a lot of credible folks- A head/neck surgeon, two ENT physicians, and 2 dentists all confirm that MODERATE pipe smoking incurs very little increased risk for oral disease or cancers, and very little increased risk for lung cancer. This has helped abate some of her fears. And these aren't just stories I've read on the internet - she knows all the docs I've referred too (unfortunately not all of us regularly interact with surgeons to get that back up!)
The rest of my family is fairly okay about it- I think the main thing though, is that I'm a very moderate smoker, so to them its akin to someone who enjoys a few good beers a week. If I started smoking 3x/day or smoking cigarettes....I think they'd come at me a little differently :lol:

My family doesn't like it, but they are not vocal about it. It doesn't bother my mom at all. I smoked cigs for 30 years, kicked them in 2013, and took up the pipe a month later. My family also knows how I despise political correctness (regardless of what side it resides on) and how much I depise the crusade to stop smoking. I wish people were so energetic about large scale pollution, like factories that spew thousands of tons of coal smoke into the air. Pipe smoking seems quite minor compared to that.

Having said that, I do try to restrain my piping in my office where I spend most of my time. In general, it has not been a very vocal problem.

A subject I never get tired of! (Thank you for it).
I was 9. First pipe was given to me by my dad to put a thistle under my mom's saddle: She had put her foot down, ordering him not to let me smoke cigarettes in her house. Voila! I got a pipe on my birthday.
So I don't count. But I'm reading!

Well...you're 61, and whatever effects there are to pipe smoking are likely going to be cumulative, so...at the risk of sounding indelicate...how much damage can you do? I hope no one takes that the wrong way.

Since the mid-twentieth century. My parents were aghast and my hockey coach a bit disappointed. The compromise was no smoking at home and I ceased altogether at the start of football to get in shape for hockey. I would restart at the end of the last game.

If my moderate pipe smoking really upset a close family member, I'd have to take it seriously. People are responding to health warnings they receive from health organizations. No one is sorting out what constitutes a health hazard; the message is, all tobacco use does. If it was really weighing on a family member, who had no ulterior motive in terms of wanting control or badgering rights, I might keep it private, or if it were a spouse, maybe quit, or reduce it. When it enters personal relationships, it goes beyond the smoking question. I'd opt for a human relationship above an enjoyable habit, if it came to that, if I believed the distress was sincere.

My wife the only important thing in my life, is one hundred percent behind me , she even suggests sometimes to order something. she's the best.

I'm in much the same boat as scrooge. Lucky me. :D
I just turned 50 and I've never smoked cigarettes but I've puffed the pipe on and off for 30 years. My oldest and youngest daughters, 25 and 20, do not have any issues with it. My oldest daughter actually is a cigarette smoker and has 3 pipes of her own. My middle daughter, 24, does express some concern but accepts it. My parents and inlaws are also ok with it. My wife is an ex-cigarette smoker and smokes a pipe with me several times a week. She is welcome to use any of my pipes and tobacco at anytime but I recently bought her a Savinelli Clark's favorite that she just loves. She even smokes by herself now occasionally when she has an urge.
I guess I am pretty fortunate. ::

My family has no problem with my pipe smoking, which I just took up 2-1/2 months ago. I'm 58, with no kids and no woman, so the possibility of complaint from there can't arise. Sorry your family is so controlling. Remind them that you're an adult.

I had never smoked anything until I bought a pipe a year ago at the age of 37. My wife was totally fine with it and even encouraging. Her Dad smoked when she grew up so it very familiar with the smells and sounds. I don't smoke in the house. My daughter (who is 11) has had all sorts of health warnings drilled into her at school. I grew up with many of these same warnings so I had to sort fact from fictions before I was willing to start. I spent lots of time talking with my daughter about her concerns who genuinely belived that I would die immediatly if I smoked anything. Learning that her grandfather smoked a pipe for many many years shoked her. My son does not care at all, he just wants me to buy increadibly weird and colourful pipes that are way outside my budget. My parents never smoked (although I have a vague memory of my mother briefly smoking when she was pregnant with my much younger brother, probably some kind of old wives tale about reducing birth weight. I am sure if I ask her about it she would deny the whole thing but I was 8 and it is a clear memory).
I am sure my parents would disapprove but they disapprove of pretty much everything. They know I made a pipe last year but we have yet to have a discussion about it. They live on the other side of the globe and I have not seen them since I started pipe smoking.

:clap: @ Shikano53
I'm glad you took it in the spirit in which it was intended! As for my family, they generally think tobacco is icky, and I'm not out to convert, so we leave it at that. I wouldn't presume to bring it into their homes, and theyre not going to tell me what to do in mine.

Over a year...Started in March 2014, my wife supports me, but she messes with me about the breath. Water and Altoids are my friends. :D. My kids think it's cool. Cause it is cool. Smoking a pipe goes well with an Absinthe which is my other Hobby. Plus smoking a pipe is no different than a wine tasting. Can I get a YEP!

Off and on for about 43 years. I took a long sabbatical, and took up the pipe again about 25 years ago. My family thinks that I'm crazy. But they always thought that I was crazy, so nothing has changed.

It's good you see their concern. My dad was a 2 or 3 pack a day for most of his life, quitting almost cold turkey about a year ago. I hounded him quite often about it, but of course nobody will quit until THEY want to.
You said you have never been a cigarette smoker, but my point is that they care about you. Hopefully they care enough to listen to your reasoning behind your new hobby. It's a two way street!

Both my wife and daughter, who is now aged 31, generally leave me alone but their thoughts are quite clear-- 'please stop smoking'
My wife really doesn't mind when I purchase another pipe but I try to keep the tobacco purchases quiet and sneak them in the house
I realize they love me and are afraid of the risks
Hey, once in a while I think about it, too