Is There Such a Thing as A Professional Pipe Smoker?

cigrmaster · Aug 28, 2013

In many hobbies and endeavors in life there are the professionals and then the amateurs. Do you think there is such a thing as a professional pipe smoker and if so who would you consider one to be. Are there people with such vast experience that they can be considered pros or is pipe smoking such a personal thing that no one can be thought of that way. Now if there are professional pipe smokers, do they share their knowledge, would they teach a class or charge for lessons? Could someone start a course at a community college and call themselves a professor of pipe smoking?
I will offer my personal views later in the thread, I want to see what other people think.

weezell · Aug 28, 2013

jiminks...NUFF SAID... :wink:

zack24 · Aug 28, 2013

Harris, You can do it!

drwatson · Aug 28, 2013

Dave Wolff from Walker Briar works I think would be IMO. But I don't think any school would allow any class that has to do with smoking.

ssjones · Aug 28, 2013

I don't think the term "professional" is synonymous with a pipe smoker, so I answer "no".
Here is the definition for "professional":

(of a person) engaged in a specified activity as one's main paid occupation rather than as a pastime.
I was tempted to call Richard Hacker or Rick Newcombe professionals as they seemed to make a living from pipes. But, I don't suspect pies are their main paid source of income. Is a tobacconist a professional, yes but I say business person. Kevin Godbee might be the person closest to being a professional pipe smoker.
Of course, this is strictly my opinion and you know what Brian Levine says about that!

cigrmaster · Aug 28, 2013

Sorry but Kevin ain't no pro, did you see the pipe he just burnt out? lol
Al, when you use the definition of professional as you did then yes it would be difficult to come up with someone who fits the bill. I guess I am talking about people who have a vast amount of experience with all kinds of different pipes and tobaccos and who have been at it for decades. I would consider guys like Les Trout and Pipestud pro's when it comes to tobacco, they have smoked literally thousands of different blends.
For pipes a guy like Mike at Briar Blues has handled and smoked thousands of different pipes and has been in the business for over 30 years. These are the kind of people I think of when I think of a pro, does anyone have other examples of people they know who might fit this bill?

ssjones · Aug 28, 2013

Gotcha Harris, I thought you were going in a different direction. "Expert" might be a better term? (a person who has a comprehensive and authoritative knowledge of or skill in a particular area)
Pipe smokers like Les definitely leap to mind and vendors like Steve F, Mike G. etc.

cigrmaster · Aug 28, 2013

Al, I was pretty much interchanging a pro with expert but I think you know what I mean now. Who else would you consider to be an expert? Would Fred Hanna make your list?

petes03 · Aug 28, 2013

+1 weezell! Lol!

zekest · Aug 28, 2013

Legally you are only a "Professional" if you derive more than half of your declared income on your tax forms from that activity.
I know this because at one time I "attempted" to become a professional photographer, and gain the tax benefits from being a professional.

undecagon · Aug 28, 2013

Mike Balter (percussion mallet maker) talks about how a professional has nothing to do with money. So yes, not the stict or official definition of the term. But, he says a professional is someone who can GUARANTEE what they do. So for musicians, if you say "this type of ensemble will be there, will provide this caliber music, play these styles, set up and tear down this quickly" then that's EXACTLY what happens.
So, by that reasoning, a professional pipe smoker is someone with so much knowledge and experience they can say "with this pipe, this tobacco, this type of light and this tamping, I will achieve great flavor that tastes like________" and that's what they get.
Personally, I can not think of any pro pipers.

pylorns · Aug 28, 2013

I think it all depends on where you go with it - if its professional when it comes to knowledge of the industry - you can look at the tobacconist university but its just a starting point.
BUT if you are like me and think - competition... then its the slow-smoke pipe smokers.

erichbaumer · Aug 29, 2013

I think the blenders idea is a good one. Consider the fact that pipe smoking and the knowledge gained from it is absolutely necessary to, say, G.L. Pease's work as a tobacco blender AND writer. One could argue that if he didn't smoke a pipe well and often he would be unable to perform at all in his job, so regardless of how much he may enjoy the hobby he "has" to partake in it in order to recieve the income from blending and writing. That's the best example of a "professional pipe-smoker" that I can think of.

misterlowercase · Aug 29, 2013

I'm glad Les Trout has been mentioned.

+1
Here's a short list that I consider as such, the true list would be very long because there is and was many many folks deserving to be included, and I'm probably leaving quite a few out that I don't even know about who fit the bill. This list is only the Americans off the top of my head, to make a worldwide list would be huge, but there's many folks that fit the profile, who've contributed somehow to the gentle art of pipesmoking.
Tom Dunn

John C. Loring

Bob Runowski

Michael Reschke

Tad Gage

Gregory Pease

Chuck Stanion

Steve Richman

Fred Hanna

Gary B. Schrier

Robert F. Winans

Carl Ehwa

Michael Butera

David Field

Marty Pulvers

Steve Fallon

Barry Levin

Ben Rapaport

Mike McNiel

Jon Guss

Neill Archer Roan

Steve Laug

Sykes Wilford

Kevin Godbee

Dale Harrison

Stephen P. Smith

Richard Esserman

Rick Newcombe

ssjones · Aug 29, 2013

That is a pretty comprehensive list misterl!

mso489 · Aug 29, 2013

Pipe smoker, maybe not. As we know, there are several pipe related professions, in sales, tobacco blending,

carving, managing and working in tobacco pipe factories, and so on. The pipe smoking is always an amateur

endeavor. I think the word amateur means lover, in the sense of an amateur radio operator loves radio but

doesn't make a living at it. I guess the closest to a professional pipe smoker would be a tobacconist who

smokes to sample and evaluate his/her work. That would be the closest to getting paid to smoke a pipe and

therefore having professional status.

misterlowercase · Aug 29, 2013

Are we talkin' common vernacular here, like saying "yep, that guys a pro allright" or are we talkin' in the strict sense of someone inna money-makin' occupation?

drcarlo · Aug 29, 2013

Easy, guys!
First agree on the definition of "professional".
THEN one can start the discussion.
According to the Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary professional means a person who earns his income from a craft/are, his profession, which is an area of knowledge.
If so, no pipe smoker is a professional, by his/her smoking habit as such.
I would say pipe maker or a tobacco blender is a professional in the field of pipe smoking, however.

drcarlo · Aug 29, 2013

But of course, that do not negate the use of the venacular expression of considering someone a pro, form professional. Calling somone, like Cigarmaster him self, a pro is a recognition and appreciation of knowledge. By extention, you could say pro referring to the title professor and there by suggesting someones knowledge to be at a very high level.

cigrmaster · Aug 29, 2013

drcarlo, I am definitely not calling myself a pro, I am a relative newbie when it comes to this hobby.
I think the list mister posted is a good one. I recognize most of the names on the list and I know it would be much bigger if it were not just American names.

Is There Such a Thing as A Professional Pipe Smoker?

Log in

SmokingPipes.com Updates

PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor

Site Sponsors

PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor

PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor

PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor

PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor

Lifer

Lifer

Lifer

Lifer

Moderator

Lifer

Moderator

Lifer

Lifer

Lifer

Part of the Furniture Now

Lifer

Part of the Furniture Now

Lifer

Moderator

Lifer

Lifer

Starting to Get Obsessed

Starting to Get Obsessed

Lifer