Is Pipe Smoking On The Rise?

puffy · Jun 12, 2014

I can remember when I only knew of two American carvers.There were probably some that I didn't know about.Now though who knows how many there are? They seem to be everywhere. Check an online retailers site and there seems to be dozens of pipe tobacco blends.If people are buying all this stuff they must be pipe smokers.(lots of them).At least I hope thats the case.

carlweis · Jun 13, 2014

I am not sure if pipe smoking is on the rise, I do not see anyone in my neck of the woods North GA mountains, smoking pipe in public. For me it was this thing that got stuck in my head one day. Thought to myself that must be such a relaxing thing to do. Went out and got me some baccy and a pipe and within a week I've got like 7 pipes and a erik nording on the way (monday)! LOL. I've found with all the meds veterans affairs gives me pipe smoking works 100x better.

derfargin · Jun 13, 2014

I would say an emphatic YES!!! Well...at least here at my house. :-D

phil67 · Jun 13, 2014

What's a pipe?
I don't know, but the last time I saw someone smoking a pipe was where I used to work back in the mid 70's. On the rise? I'd like to think so, but I seriously doubt it. Then again, I might possibly be wrong but I'm certainly not aware of it.

JimInks · Jun 13, 2014

A couple of weeks back when I was in Washington, D.C., I noticed people giving me strange looks because I was smoking a pipe. You'd think my face would have been bad enough!!! Anyway, I'd see them look at me, and see their eyes shift to the pipe, some times with a very puzzled look. So, I started counting how many people did that. I counted 28 people during the 8 block walk to the Washington Mall. Same thing happened in the other cities we were in during our vacation. Once, while sitting in a small city park in Boston, I overheard a woman tell her friend, "I've never seen anybody smoke a pipe here before." Well, at least nobody had me arrested!!

andystewart · Jun 13, 2014

Welcome to the forums, Carl! I'd like to think so, Puffy, and the number of pipes and blends available suggest some popularity, but I'm still the only pipe smoker I ever see in a city of 11 millions. Lots of looks, smirks, comments but no brothers/sisters. Sad, really.
Andy

pipestud · Jun 13, 2014

My own personal experience with my website and eBay sales is that there has been a HUGE uptick in new pipe smokers who are eager to learn, ask a lot of questions, are Internet savvy and a pleasure to get to know. I think we live in an age where younger folks, in particular, are showing their "rebel" nature by gravitating to pipe smoking. I also see many new (and very talented) pipe makers at pipe shows and on the Internet. Sure, there are some that whittle poorly, get a website and try to sell their creations at near laughable prices, but the cream rises to the top and I am excited about the turn our hobby has taken over the last few years.
Best,
Pipestud

judcole · Jun 13, 2014

We sure are seeing a lot of the young folks 'Stud talks about here. : puffy

:

condorlover1 · Jun 13, 2014

They have always been around particularly were I came from but you could only see them during warm weather. Before the ban on pub smoking there was always a small group of pipe smokers hidden in the pub usually in company with the cigar smokers. I am sure you remember the advertisements for 'Panatella Cigars' on ITV, well those people would always hang out with Condor/St Bruno crowd normally discussing something like classic cars or restoring Sunbeam motorcycles or going ferreting etc. Every pub had them where ever you traveled in the UK. I think that people are more health conscious these days and know the risks of smoking cigarettes and see a pipe as a healthier alternative. Cigarettes have only been around since the 1890s and with the exception of women the number of consumers is steadily falling. Pipes have shown up in popular movies of recent which all leads to new people wanting to give them a try. Even this forum with its international reach has a very large young content so I must say that it is growing more popular.

spilproof · Jun 13, 2014

The only other pipe smoker I know personally is my father. He was only a part time piper, full time cigarette smoker. Now he is a full time e-piper, and quit the cigarettes at 65 after smoking them for 50 years. He will indulge in the occasional cigar around the campfire with me.

mso489 · Jun 13, 2014

The online retail action suggests there is a distinct up-tick in pipe smoking. I think it is still a small cohort overall.

I'm trying to think of another interest on approximately the same scale. Maybe historical re-enacting or participants

in horse shows. I'm not comparing pipes and those, only the number of people involved and the market associated

with them. I would guess the number of people involved in the millions, but I doubt it is as much as ten million,

maybe half that if you count the peripheral participants, a cob pipe and pouch of tobacco. Part of that is invisibility.

If there were places where pipe smoking was commonly practiced in public, the numbers would rise to another level,

maybe half again as many pipe smokers.

yazamitaz · Jun 13, 2014

Except for Morley's Pipe Club in Philly I only see one other pipe smoker. It is an older gentleman in my neighborhood that only has one pipe and it is always in his mouth. I think we don't "see" a lot of other smokers because of the mere fact that (at least in the Peoples Republik of NJ) smokers are thought of as evil and smoking is banned just about EVERYWHERE but the privacy of your own home or a tobacco shop.
With that being said, SOMEONE is buying all of the Esoterica and other HTF baccy when it hits the market.

decigar · Jun 13, 2014

With that being said, SOMEONE is buying all of the Esoterica and other HTF baccy when it hits the market.

8O

rolldog · Jun 13, 2014

From the number of new users on forums like this one, a thriving (growing) pipe smoking YouTube community, the answer is yes. That is where the growth can be seen and measured, along with online sales as others have mentioned. Will it ever be as open and public as it once was decades ago? Probably not. Legislation and the anti-smoking movement propagated by folks that do not take time to know, will keep public smoking down.
In Michigan I cannot smoke a pipe in public, including most cigar shops, as the shop owners have interpreted the cigar law incorrectly. I smoke a pipe on my porch, around the fire pit at friends houses and other less public places. I still get odd looks when I am in my car or truck smoking a pipe, because most folks just aren't doing it these days.
However, when I tell folks I smoke a pipe the reaction is almost always positive. That means I have won over people that may have held contrary views. That tells me the path is 'one at a time' to educate non-smokers about pipes and growing the field of new smokers, or even old smokers like me who once took up cigarette or cigars and now smoke pipes.
Perhaps others that were at the Chicago show can share observations on new smokers.
RD

erichbaumer · Jun 13, 2014

It really depends on whether or not newcomers are sticking with it. More and more young people are picking it up, as mentioned by many, but the drop rate I've seen concerns me. Of the piping friends I have in my age group, two were never all that into it and two have quit, one of the latter unfortunately being the classmate who introduced me to pipes and cigars. The other half dozen or so range from "I smoke with friends" to actually dedicating themselves to the hobby, the former being more common. I know there are at the very least three dozen pipe smokers at my college, even excluding the multiple professors. No joke. The question is how many will continue with the pipe after graduating.

yazamitaz · Jun 13, 2014

....and that means YOU Andrew (aka decigar) :D

mso489 · Jun 13, 2014

erichbaumer, I think you are correct in suggesting that college students try different activities

and interests that they don't carry into their working lives. Some will continue with pipes, some

not, of course. I think the possibility that some will come back to pipes is much better once

they have tried them is certain. It's more difficult to take up something cold that to go back to it.

layinpipe · Jun 13, 2014

With that being said, SOMEONE is buying all of the Esoterica and other HTF baccy when it hits the market.

I think now that Peck's cellar is supposedly "complete", we will start to see esoterica and other hard to get blends become readily available and on the shelves again. :nana:
I never get smirks or ugly faced looks when i smoke my pipe in public. Curiosity and general stares are the norm, but i never sense any hostility. I don't know though, maybe they can sense how my attitude would be if they did run their mouth and project their opinions about smoking on me. I am VERY polite and considerate and go out of my way to take other people into consideration with my pipe smoking and in life in general. That said, i expect a certain degree of the same politeness and consideration from others when in public. I certainly have absolutely no issue with telling a loud mouthed prick to fuck off when they step out of line and give me unwanted attitude and opinions.

erichbaumer · Jun 13, 2014

mso489- You're absolutely right. I may have sounded like a bit of a pessimist in that last post. I don't mean in any way to downplay the fact that such widespread pipesmoking in colleges is a huge positive. My school may feature a bit more than average (sometimes, it seams at least 1/4 of the male student body smokes cigars or pipes to one degree or another), but it seems to be picking up in collegiate environments worldwide. I'm sure college town B&Ms would tell the same story.

unholy1 · Jun 13, 2014

It seems that everything in the artisan realm has exploded over the past 5-10 years: food, beer, spirits, tobacco, etc.
Folks are looking for "the real". Things with soul. Simple things that enhance life.

Is Pipe Smoking On The Rise?

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