It's all relative.

trouttimes · Jul 21, 2019

I was thinking about my hobbies/vices, their cost and where pipe smoking fits in. A box of say 9mm which will last 15 mins at the range is about $12.00 if you don't reload and who only shoots one box? Think about a weekend elk hunting, maybe you shouldn't. A one day ski lift ticket is a minimum of $80 to $125 in Colorado. Amortization of my motorcycle...I don't even want to calculate it, same for my horses. A day fly fishing the way I lose flies and don't even calculate the cost of all the gear. A good bottle of wine or liquor and who only drinks one Scotch. Pipe smoking is one of the cheapest habits I have per hour of enjoyment even if you figure in expensive pipes and imported tabacco. How about you?

pitchfork · Jul 21, 2019

True enough (as long as I don't amortize the cost of all those pipes!)

cshubhra · Jul 21, 2019

Pipe smoking is the cheapest hobby ... Pipe smoking budget for me is the least of all my hobbies, vices, activities, etc...
It becomes very expensive though if you do not limit your PAD and TAD

hawky454 · Jul 21, 2019

Hear hear! I agree! It’s even better when ya get all the buying out of the way as early on as possible, then you forget about all the money that was spent and just enjoy what ya got.

mikefu · Jul 21, 2019

Absolutely! I remind myself of how much money I’m saving every time I buy a new pipe or order tobacco. I’m an easy sell.

jpmcwjr · Jul 21, 2019

Yes, it's one of the cheapest of pleasures per dollar/hour.

Chasing Embers · Jul 21, 2019

Pipe smoking is one of the cheapest habits I have per hour of enjoyment even if you figure in expensive pipes and imported tabacco.

Quite by accident I found one even less expensive.

ashdigger · Jul 21, 2019

Pipes, Baccy, Fountain Pens, Guns, Ammo and Whiskey. My vices front and center. I have enough of all of the above.....or do I?

pipestud · Jul 21, 2019

I bass fished almost every weekend, no matter the season, for about 12-years (when I was much younger). Had all the latest fancy gear and a couple of nice bass boats. When I finally put a pen and paper to it and discovered that the fresh bass, crappie and catfish that I was eating was costing me about $850 a pound, I quit cold turkey.
I have never calculated how much each bowl of tobacco is costing me to smoke and I never intend to.

cigrmaster · Jul 21, 2019

I have calculated how much my 3-4 gram bowls cost me and it is so small I never looked at any blend as expensive. If I spend a whole dollar with a premium pipe tobacco that can last 1-2 hours, I find that a great value.

olkofri · Jul 21, 2019

Only in the US.

PaulTheScandinavian · Jul 21, 2019

Only in The U.S, and good pipes are not cheap, nowhere,

alaskanpiper · Jul 21, 2019

Certainly on the cheaper end of things over time. I don’t even think about the cost of keeping the airplane running/legal anymore. It’s too depressing. Moose meat and salmon per pound are probably pretty rough all in too, but one must live life, after all. Without hunting and fly fishing God only knows what kind of mischief I’d be up to. Running the numbers on cigars makes any pipe tobacco feel cheap, so thats usually where I take my brain. Cost per smoke makes things easy to justify, hahaha.
Nothing beats having a baby though. Thats one expensive miracle.

shayde · Jul 21, 2019

Books, old cars, guns, collecting pipes, jumping out of things that fly, camping, bushcraft and hoping to add scuba diving/surfing to the list of hobbies.
I don’t really consider smoking to be a hobby, but if I did it would definitely be one of my cheaper ones!

elbert · Jul 21, 2019

When I finally put a pen and paper to it and discovered that the fresh bass, crappie and catfish that I was eating was costing me about $850 a pound, I quit cold turkey.

One might take a little Thoreau on this point;

Commonly they did not think that they were lucky, or well paid for their time, unless they got a long string of fish, though they had the opportunity of seeing the pond all the while. They might go there a thousand times before the sediment of fishing would sink to the bottom and leave their purpose pure; but no doubt such a clarifying process would be going on all the while. The Governor and his Council faintly remember the pond, for they went a-fishing there when they were boys; but now they are too old and dignified to go a-fishing, and so they know it no more forever. Yet even they expect to go to heaven at last. If the legislature regards it, it is chiefly to regulate the number of hooks to be used there; but they know nothing about the hook of hooks with which to angle for the pond itself, impaling the legislature for a bait.

logs · Jul 21, 2019

I was interested in imported tea for a time. Rare tea blends can be as fascinating and varied as pipe tobacco. It's an expensive pass-time and more challenging than collecting vintage McLelland, but it's also a very different crowd. The wellness fanatics and mystical spiritual enthusiasts aren't really my style. Pipe people are much more salt of the earth.

mso489 · Jul 21, 2019

Most of us, like me for example, buy too many pipes and blends at a rate that exceeds our consumption. Even so, pipe smoking can be a low cost activity. Cobs smoke well, as do estate factory pipes that can cost very little, or new factory pipes on discount. A rack of eight or ten will suffice for years. Bulk, pouch and bag tobacco can keep leaf prices modest, and if you smoke moderately, you will barely dent your discretionary budget. I don't like to sound too poor-mouth. Some exalt in going high end on artisan pipes and stocking a cellar of the best premium tobaccos for the century. I enjoy a taste of that style too, but mostly go with thrift. I just hate to think of anyone skipping pipes because it's too great an expense. It just doesn't have to be. A cob or Dr. Grabow and a blend you like ... sublime.

husky · Jul 21, 2019

When I finally put a pen and paper to it and discovered that the fresh bass, crappie and catfish that I was eating was costing me about $850 a pound, I quit cold turkey.

Did you find something else to put that money into that gave you more quality of life than the fishing?

alaskanpiper · Jul 21, 2019

Did you find something else to put that money into that gave you more quality of life than the fishing?

There is no such activity.

pipestud · Jul 21, 2019

Did you find something else to put that money into that gave you more quality of life than the fishing?husky

Well, only a couple of things. Being able to keep a roof over my head and diverting the funds to taking care of a wife and 4 kids's needs kind of helped me over the hump. Still miss my regular fishing trips though, even some 30 odd years later. )-:
Pipestud

It's all relative.

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