Newbie needs suggestions.

For abriar you can get a Dr. Grabow off of Amazon cheap. They are good briar pipes, and some of the other members know a couple other brands. Dont get any other wood than briar. You're looking at $20 or so. Pick up a couple of $10 corn cobs like rsuniv mentioned so you can rotate them so your pipe doesnt turn sour. Pipe tobacco is cheap so its worth picking up a couple nice pipes down the road.

+1 MM cobs. Amazing smoke.

you might also want to check out smoking pipes and Pipes and Cigars online to browse. Send them an email they are helpful.

Welcome, never too old to start a good thing!
I also suggest getting a couple of MM Cobs - they are inexpensive (under $15 each), with a variety of shapes, and are probably the most forgiving beginner pipe you can find. Everyone should have at least one. Eventually you will want to add a Forever stem - it steps everything up several notches and is "forever".
Try bulk blends - you can try 1 oz sizes very inexpensively to find your tastes.

Are you an aro smoker (like me)? If so, I would recommend the following:

Lane 1Q

7 Seas Royal

Lord Methley (4noggins)

Trout Stream (4noggins)

Sutliff Molte Dolce

4noggins also has $20 samplers - call Rich and talk with him about suggestions.
Good Luck!

+1 on a Missouri Meerschaum Cob. Some Carter Hall and some Five Brothers to mix in with the Carter Hall since your coming off the cigs.

Another +1 for MM cobs. But also a +1 for good ole Dr Grabows: A good pipe at a good price.

For like 25 bucks you can have your self 5 Missouri meerschaums and try at least that many blends for a starter

Welcome Gunner1, glad to have you. Listen I'm new too, and I have bought a lot of pipes and tobacco, and it's cost a pretty penny, but that was my choice. I just got my first MM cob pipes a few days ago, and wow, I feel myself reaching for them first out of all this fancy expensive biar in front of me.
Listen to these guys! Go online directly to Missouri Meerschaum check out all the pipes and order 3 or 5 of your favorite. Then order some tobacco.. I would recommend English or Virginia blends. Do this and you will not spend much money, but you will be able to enjoy smoking a pipe for what it is and be able to decide if it's for you. If you like it great! You can then start adding a briar pipe to your collection, slowly. After you decide what you like to smoke and looking in this forum and online and seeing what pipes your attracted to personally. The MM Cob is the best way to start... PERIOD!

I'll second all of the suggestions on pipes made so far in this thread. Just be aware, MM cobs come in filtered and unfiltered

versions. Starting out, you might want the unfiltered versions to get a clear taste on the tobaccos you are sampling. After

that, you might sometimes enjoy a filter; some folks (often Europeans) smoke almost exclusively filtered. Briar pipes that

can be bought on a budget -- there are a lot of them. Here are a few: Unfinished Savenelli pipes, unlike most Savenellis, are

sold unfiltered and cost around $50, from Pipe and Leaf and Cup O Joes, among others. Iwan Ries has house pipes, Iwan

Ries Exclusives, for about $34 to $52, and I recommend both their medium size and compact pipes (which are really quite

ample and good pocket pipes). I think PTM Amadeus pipes with Greek briars, from Iwan Ries, are excellent. And Chapuis-

Comoy from Tobaccopipes.com are excellent briar pipes for $31 to $50 -- just look for the Add to my Cart icon, since

they picture many pipes that are out of stock. Those are just a few good smoking pipes that are very reasonable in price.

Also, I am very pleased with Old Dominion corn cob pipes with bamboo stems, for a historical experience in a good light weight

pipe. One or two of these briars ought to get you started, with MM and/or Old Dominion cobs to round out a rotation. You

don't have to be a rich guy to enjoy a pipe.

Cobs are cheap enough that everyone should have some. But you may desire something a little more substantial.

Savinelli makes a Series III pipe which is unfinished, and has some inconsequential cosmetic flaws, but they

will smoke well, and only cost about $45. I think they are a great entry level briar. (Sorry to have stepped on MSO's post a bit.)

I'll second Cotez's comments re Savinelli pipes. You can't go wrong with any of them. They can't be beat for the money/ Good luck and welcome to the forum.

The MM cobs are definatly the way to go. And plateauguy has a good list of tobaccos to start with.

I agree with Cortez - PipeandLeaf has a pretty good selection of the Savinelli Series III pipes. I bought a bent apple and received it a few days ago. This is a good, solid, plain jane pipe. Savinelli is a very popular pipe with a lot of us on the forum. I bought my first one this year. I now have 3 of them.
You still need a couple of MM cobs, you won't regret it. Missouri Meerschaum (on the left) has a great deal on "seconds". A bag of 10 is $29.00 - listed under Gifts, these are seconds, with no choice.
Kevin has posted a link to "Function over Form". This is a great article about cobs, written by Russ.

Keep in mind that cigarettes are comparatively way more expensive. Once you have your pipes (+1 on the suggestions here) you will find the tobacco to be dirt cheap, even at the most expensive brick and mortars (B&Ms). I was spending $300+ a month on cigarettes. I don't even think its possible to smoke $300 worth of pipe tobacco a month. On a good month of chain pipe smoking, I can barely do 4 tins.

I suggest setting aside whatever your budget was for cigarettes, buy your month's supply of tobacco, and use the rest for upgrading your pipes. I suggest Stanwells, Savinellis, and maybe Petersons for good starter pipes. Keep the Grabows and cobs, you'll probably want them in your rotation until you've built up a good rack of pipes.
I have a full pipe rotation now, so I still maintain that ex-cigarette budget for stocking up my cellar with tobaccos for the future. $300 a month is over a years worth I am stowing away every month (in comparison to a month's worth of cigarettes). Plus, I can afford to occasionally splurge on an artisan made pipe.
Pipe smoking is considerably less expensive than cigarettes, even if you only shop at the most expensive B&Ms.
That's just my take on it.

Another proponent of the cobs and would suggest LaRocca, Savinelli or Winslow for a moderately priced briar to start out with. I'm not knocking Dr. Grabow pipes but for what they are costing these days it's only another $20 bill or so to get you into a little better quality compartment. Tobacco selection is a tough one and I'd suggest building a relationship with a local tobacconist, if that's an option and get as many samples of quality blends to figure out what direction to head. Coming off cigs tells me that you might tolerate some of the heavier, full flavored offerings that are out there. Welcome!

"I don't even think its possible to smoke $300 worth of pipe tobacco a month."
Unfortunately, it is possible.

Wow, that would be about 20-30 tins. My hat's off to you. I can chain smoke at best 6 tins, if I stay focused on it.

There's another way...if you are crazy enough to pay $85 for your Penzance/Stonehaven, you can cook up a $300 budget in a blink.

+1 on the cobs. Some Dr. Grabows are pretty cheap as well. As for tobaccos, you could start with some over the counter blends that you could possibly find at your local drug store and or grocery store. Blends like; Carter Hall, Captain Black, Prince Albert and some of the blends that Walgreens sells. If you are looking online, I would recommend some bulk blends and or a sampler pack to get your started. Do some shopping around and you will be surprised at the deals you can find. And dont forget your pipe cleaners! Take care of your pipes and they will take care of you.