New Generation Pipers

Hard to say, but I guess that's because the new generation would be... me

Yes, but each generation is different. It's necessary. It's the only way traditions are built, innovated, and continued. It's important that us new guys learn what we can from the "old guard". I think if you look at the history of pipe making even you can see new guys taking classic shapes and pushing them into really creative and artistic expressions. The same is true for blending. I think the one amazing thing about the pipe community is that there is an amazing camaraderie and bond between generations. You don't have much of that "kids these days" type of thing.

I was born in the south.It was probably around 1950 when I first realized what pipe smoking was.In those days folks got a pipe for a few bucks and some Prince Albert and just smoked away.No Big Deal.I don't know what folks in the big city were doing back then.I suppose they had access to smoke shops who carried more expensive pipes and tobacco.I think the big difference today is online shopping,and people's willingness to pay big bucks for pipes and tobacco.

I'm 19 so I guess I'm part of the new generation. Yes it's different there are more artisn pipe makers and a wider array of tobaccos. As far as the people go I think we are all pretty much the same sort of people from the older generation to the new.

I am in my mid-30's and I have been smoking for about 15 years. My habit started small with a couple of cobs, my grandpa's hand me down Grabow and whatever cheap tobacco I could get my hands on. Forums like this didn't exist and I certainly didn't have cash flow providing the opportunity to experiment with the "expensive stuff" back then. 15 years ago, I think more of the old guard existed (WWII vets), but I don't think it was as odd then as it is now for a young person to pick-up the hobby. Pipe smoking wasn't trendy 15 years ago either. Now, I think it is trendy, or even a fad. I've smoked in public for a long time and never hesitated to do so, however, I think with this recent trend, even strangers are looking at me differently, and I feel are somehow making judgements on my genuine habit, "Isn't he too old to be apart of this whole pipe smoking thing." I have big shoulders and I really could give a s#!t what a stranger thinks of me smoking, but I have noticed the change.
Just being honest, I too catch myself silently judging. I judge the "neck beard" at the B&M counter playing with the churchwardens and fingering every pipe they can get their hands on, only to look over at their friend and say, "does this one make me look cool." Instead of silently judging, I should be saying to them, have you considered weight, materials, draft hole placement, etc., but I don't, but I know I should. The recent popularity, I've noticed, has driven up the prices (supply & demand) and at least locally and I can't seem to get some of the items I used to count on. It might take some time for the industry to catch-up. That being said, I hope it's not a fad or a trend and I hope that this group of young people will appreciate pipe smoking for much of the same benefits, many of us have realized. I also hope they respect the hobby and don't do too much to tarnish it's legacy.
I hope what I have said doesn't sound like a rant, and it probably sounds dis-jointed, but I really had to get that out. There, I am going to do my best to be more helpful to this group of young people and hopefully make their experience more enjoyable. Maybe that will ensure that this isn't just some fad or trend.

I'll turn 61 next month so I guess I'm close enough to being a codger that I can comment on any differences I note between the younger guys and my peer group. Frankly, I don't notice much. I find that the young guys are truly interested in the make-up of blends and listen to the veterans when we speak (not lecture).

Unlike the cigar craze, I don't see them buying upscale pipes for the sake of having bragging rights. After all, a $15.00 cigar is one thing when compared to a $500.00 pipe. The oyunger pipe smokers seem to be cut from a different bolt of cloth. They are interested in the history of the hobby and I've never seen any of them act like jerks. Quite the opposite. They seem to genuinely enjoy the company of the older smokers and we like them as well.

I'm glad to have them and I learn some interesting things from them as well. I wish I had a bunch of older pipe smokers to consult when I was their age.

We're all ambassadors of the hobby and should act accordingly.It is all about sharing something mutually enjoyable.

My grandfather and great uncles were pipe smokers. It seems to have skipped a generation of cigarette smokers. Now I'm a pipe smoker. The men in my family were pipe smokers and not pipe collectors. They smoked whatever they could buy at the drug store. They owned a few pipes. Again, whatever they could buy at the drugstore. They enjoyed their pipes. They often smoked them together. I think the great tradition is that they shared their enjoyment and enjoyed each other. I wish I could get them all together and share it with them. While many of us smoke with only our own company, the fact that we all found our way here says something about the tradition of pipe smoking. It is better shared with like minded and interesting people. I thank all of you for making my experience more enjoyable. - bp

We're all ambassadors of the hobby and should act accordingly.It is all about sharing something mutually enjoyable.

You said it.

People sometimes look at me funny for smoking a pipe, being only 20, but most just tell me the smoke smells well and that it reminds them of there grandfather.

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I'm part of the newer generation of pipe smokers, I suppose, given my age (35) and recent entrance into the hobby (about three years now, I guess). I started of my own volition, not really influenced by any kind of outside source. I know someone who smokes a pipe, it seemed enjoyable, so I went with it. I consider it a wise decision. I enjoy the culture, the history, and perhaps mostly, the manufacturing/restoration end of it.
Strangely, in terms of the people I am in contact with every day, I know no other pipe smokers besides the one. No one in my age range. No one even close. You guys are my pipe friends. That's it pretty much. So I guess I never considered the notion that it was a new fad. Years ago, I thought jokingly that Lord of the Rings fans would walk around with churchwardens hanging out their mouths. I guess they have, as it's been written/spoken about -- I've just never seen it. I've always been guilty of being out-of-the-loop, so to speak.
But I consider this a good thing. I had to figure everything out, at first: how to pack; how to light; how to keep it lit. It was my own journey. Then I found this forum, and my knowledge base expanded. Considering that, the experience has been uniquely my own. When people ask why I smoke a pipe, my answer is very clear and without hidden meaning:
Because I enjoy it.

Unlike the cigar craze, I don't see them buying upscale pipes for the sake of having bragging rights

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Pipe smokers are a different breed, I think.
I started smoking when it was a lot more common, but I started smoking at a large university, with a good pipe shop. By the time I left the area, I had moved beyond drugstore blends, and was able to smoke some legendary, not long gone blends. (Wish I'd kept a pipe journal.)
Glad to have the young guys (and gals) aboard.

I suspect pipe smokers have more in common than not across generational lines.

Someone in their sixties isn't like someone in their twenties, but pipes require a

certain kind of deliberative patience and a modicum of thought to use. The different

shapes, styles, prices, and materials of pipes call forth a sort of curiosity of spirit

that isn't universal among people in general. So though you could identify some

generational divides over music, technological proficiency with electronic devices in

some cases, dress, habits, and historical experience, I think a retiree pipe smoker

and a young guy or gal on a job or at school who smokes pipes could settle into

a conversation on the pipe interest with great ease, zero to sixty in three seconds.

I'm 19 so I guess I'm part of the new generation

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I am exactly 30 years older than you gunny and I consider myself NewGen too. Some of the old timers (in pipe years not necessarily in year years) had to learn this from their dad or grandpa or some other way. But our Gen was somehow introduced to this, we jumped on the internet, found this place and others, and the level and speed of knowledge dissemination is incredible. Of course, knowledge does not = experience. But since Nov 2012, I consider myself to have a goodly amount of knowledge of this hobby.

I'm 51 and have smoked a pipe off and on for over 20 years. In between I smoked cigars and cigs way before that. Besides my dad who gave up the pipe in the 70's I haven't encountered anyone who does. I know alot of cigar smokers but until now I've never met a pipe smoker. I've worked with this guy for years and never knew. I smoked cigars with him before but never the pipe. We are both the same age so there aren't any young folk around here smoking a pipe. At least now I have someone to talk with about it now. It has been a lonely persuit for me which is fine it is alot more relaxing for me. Carry on the tradition young man and make us proud.

Agreed! I started healvly researching pipes and tobacco when I was 16 4 years now and I feel I have a good amount of knowledge on pipes and tobaccos

I was young once and a pipe smoker. My grandmother smoked a cob. My grandfather smoked a cob. When I went off to college, many of my professors smoked briars and mostly SWR or PA. I did not smoke cigarettes, but loved the look and smell of a pipe. It reminded me of my grandmother and grandfather. I began smoking pipes and never looked back, though I did catch some guff from my college mates, who were big into cigarettes in that era.
Now, I am a geezer, and still smoking my pipe. I am happy to see a younger generation coming to pipe smoking. It keeps me young, and the hobby young, though it is ageless. I also love that this Forum exists to teach and to expand horizons. I have been smoking a pipe for more than 40 years and I find that I have been learning constantly on this good and grand Forum. This is the home to some very knowledgeable pipe smokers. So, smoke and learn. It's all here.

I'm 42 but only recently took up with pipe. I quickly became a passionate enthusiast and was especially attracted to the history surrounding the hobby itself because I was stunned at how rewarding it is and I knew absolutely nothing about it.
The NewGen has the online advantage and this has helped folks to be more knowledgeable and aware of what's what, although the serious hobbyists are only a fraction of pipesmokers in general, they are more largely represented online. The upsides have been mentioned, but the downside is probably how certain tobaccos get over-hyped to the point of unavailability and a lack of the oldschool pipeshop mentoring, hanging out and learning the ropes.
I've read about guys in the early 70's talk of their experience, they would go to the pipeshop and get ribbed for being a longhair, jostled for buying funny looking Danish freehands, ridiculed for loving the upmarket British bacco, laughingly called a dilettante by the old codgers at the pipeshop -- things have changed quite a bit it seems!

biggest change by far is the InterWeb. no way previous generations could learn about so much baccy in one day and have it delivered within the week to fill their pipes with. Im not sure if its entirely a good thing either. I like the variety though as a 10 yr smoking noob.

Yes I am a newer smoker, yes I am differint (but not in the way your thinking). I live over in the MD/DE area of the USA if your from my area, definatley give me a hollar. I am 27.

I'm 28 so I guess I'm part of the new generation. I think the kind of people who are smoking pipes is pretty much the same with the new as with the veterans. As far as differences it seems to me that the new generation is more into how the pipes and blends are made and what goes into them etc. than the veterans. Seems to me that most of the old guard picked up a pipe and blend and had a good time. I guess what I'm getting at is the it seems to me that the old guard loved the pipe for the smoke and the new guard is curious as to why it's a good smoke.