Percent of Pipe Smokers that are Hobbiest?

bcharles123 · Aug 15, 2015

Relevant to many of the threads here, especially those discussing aromatics vs. non, cellering, etc, MOST pipe smokers of the pipe smoking universe must not think about this stuff much.

By that, I mean it in a complementary way. They know what they like, buy it by the lbs and buy more when they are running out. Same thing for pipes, they have a few and just smoke them.
Me, I'm a one bowl a day guy, love the ritual, love learning, trying new things, reading (here), and so on. Same for cigars (prior), but also coffee, scotch, beer, not to mention photography, bicycles, knives and any other hobby of the day. (The guy across the street has over ten bicycles!)
So on the one hand while this is all fun, benign, hurts no one, and is good for the economy, is there something wrong with not being able to simply enjoy something without thinking about it? Are we nuts? PADs & TADs are by definition diseases!

mso489 · Aug 15, 2015

bcharles, good point. Most of us are extra enthusiastic and even ardent about tobacco pipes and tobacco, but your point is well taken that it is important to back off enough on a regular basis to touch base with the contentment and enjoyment that one hopes is at the core of this. Probably good to focus on the doing and not just the buying, more often than not. It's good to go shopping on your own pipe rack and in your own cellar.

Sjmiller CPG · Aug 15, 2015

Okay, the last time I mentioned an aspect of my personal life on a forum the fertilizer hit the ventilation device but it is related to your question so here goes.
No, we are not nuts, merely inquisitive. Additionally, PAD and TAD are disorders, not diseases and yes, there is a difference. I am on the autism spectrum and thus am labeled as having an autism spectrum disorder. I am not however, diseased. Nor, despite what a certain group would lead you to believe, do I need to be cured. It really roasts my chestnuts to hear or see that slogan "Cure autism now". I am different, that is not a bad thing. Hobbyists in pipe smoking are different. They march to the beat of a different drummer. It makes us explorers, searching for the perfect pipe or blend. It makes us adventurers who want to see what lies over the horizon. It makes us special because we do not want to settle for what is but want to find out what can be.
Just because we are the minority, why does that us the ones with a problem? Those that are slaves to one blend or only see pipes as tools, in my opinion, are the ones with the problem because they are the ones that are missing out.
I will now relinquish my soapbox. Thank you and good day.

aldecaker · Aug 15, 2015

Full Disclosure: I do realize that we all may be completely nuts and do not know it.
I'm not really sure what turns a person from just a pipe smoker into a pipe hobbyist. Having lurked on the site for a long time before joining, then joining and actually interacting with the members here, I have noticed a couple things that may have some bearing on the subject.
It seems to me that an inordinate percentage of the members here are a) very artistically inclined (music, art, literature, craftsmen of one sort or another), b) well educated in, or at least very interested in, history (world, American, ancient, medieval, etc.), or c) both.
Perhaps if someone is a casual pipe smoker and starts relating to it as a piece of art or craftsmanship, that adds the extra dimension that would turn one into a hobbyist. Likewise, one with a zeal for history could easily find in pipe smoking a tangible link to the past which could catalyze casual interest into a hobby.
Or we're just a bunch of nutters with a smoldering stick stuck in our jibs. I'm okay either way.

warren · Aug 15, 2015

I'm sure that we have a few Obsessive/Compulsive members. Just as we have some "collectors", hoarders, a few of those who are trying to taste every blend on the market, even a dilettante or two. Me? I just like the nicotine during the day and a couple of quiet pipes while reading in the evening.
I own a couple dozen pipes, have purchased and discarded many (cobs excepted-they are usually lost or broken, and purchased by the fist full a couple of times a year) briars. I have been extremely lucky with my meers. I've purchased 6 over the years and each was a keeper. I will not retain a pipe unless it is an exceptional smoker in my opinion. And, only my opinion counts.
I will admit to owning one pipe (a seventh meer), a gift from my wife in our courting days, which is only infrequently smoked, too ornate for my taste and the bowl is tiny. Yet, it is my most prized pipe.
PADs and TADs are benign as long as the kids have shoes and no body is going hungry. If one can comfortably afford either or both disorders, what's the harm!

bcharles123 · Aug 15, 2015

Another example: someone here posted something about tea. I spent most of Friday night reading about tea. It turns out that it is the second most common drink in the world next to water. Billions of consumers who have never given it a thought yet here I go again!!
In all honesty, I don't think it's a disease or a disorder and no offense to those with diseases and disorder (I deal with plenty myself). These things are fun in a modern era where access to information is overwhelming. It's not better or worse than the old days. It's just different.
But why not, for basically the same cost, smoke a great pipe and a great tobacco? I am the way I am.

prairiedruid · Aug 15, 2015

I smoke pipes because it makes my life better. I suffer from clinical depression and the process of smoking a pipe slows down my brain, relaxes me and is better than meditation; actually sometimes smoking a pipe is meditation for me.

Perique · Aug 15, 2015

I think it's just a male thing. Most men above room temperature IQ get into hobbies and read about them, dig into them, and in some cases become mildly obsessed with them. It starts in boyhood. Anyone who has raised boys understands this. And it manifests to a greater or lesser degree among individuals. Some women are like this, but it's very rare. A simple marketing review of magazine subscription demographics will confirm that, but of course it's politically incorrect to "notice" such things. So anyway, if you have obsessive hobbies you're not weird. You're just a man. Ever know a real baseball fan? Talk about autistic... So pipes aren't all that weird.

Just another thing to get into.
No harm in having a pipe hobby. Those same non-hobbiest pipe smokers have other hobbies that we might think are obscure.

maxx · Aug 15, 2015

I like MSO's description. I'm ardent. We should also distinguish between an addiction and a habit. Also, many of us are explorers. We're curious and inner directed. We like nuance and getting to the bottom of things. We're contemplative and enjoy thinking. Not all of us, of course.

Perique · Aug 15, 2015

PS: if you think pipe smoking is obsessive and/or expensive, try getting into wine

marcel · Aug 15, 2015

Well yes this starts out as a hobby, I mean we are all amateurs when we start and some are quite content to stay at that level but me I have greater aspirations. I'm looking to become a professional pipe smoker! I'm convinced I'm destined for greatness.
Now if I can just find a couple of good sponsors…

seacaptain · Aug 15, 2015

I've had many hobbies over the years. I like learning about pipes and get a lot of satisfaction from them but it's probably not a "hobby" for me per se. I'll probably only have a few pipes and smoke a few blends. The fun now is working my way through things to get to that point where I no longer am "thinking about it".

bcharles123 · Aug 15, 2015

PS: if you think pipe smoking is obsessive and/or expensive, try getting into wine

Obsessive for sure. Pipes and the collections can be very expensive, but pipe tobacco is fairly inexpensive or relatively inexpensive. Anyone calculate the per bowl from a $10 tin?
But yeah wine has gotta be a monkey on the back. Especially that purist don't leave an open bottle unfinished. Right?

Perique · Aug 15, 2015

I quickly recognized that I didn't have the bankroll to get any deeper into wine and backed off. The expense of a pipe smoking hobby PALES in comparison.

jah76 · Aug 16, 2015

I smoke pipes because it makes my life better...and the process of smoking a pipe slows down my brain, relaxes me and is better than meditation; actually sometimes smoking a pipe is meditation for me.

Ditto. Slows me down and lets me enjoy the moment. I like just sitting in the yard with the dogs, kids, and some music on.
I went a bit crazy at the start but my orders these days consist of stocking up on my favorites and trying a few ounces of something new. When it comes to pipes, I'm slowly replacing some of my self refurbished estates with some higher end pipes, but I love being able to spend $25 dollars and a few hours restoration and enjoy a "new" pipe for a few months before reselling it.
Most of my pipes are yard or campfire pipes. My higher end pipes I smoke, but honestly my life is pretty mobile and I don't take them with me.

ray47 · Aug 16, 2015

There's room for everyone in the pipe smoking realm.

drezz01 · Aug 16, 2015

I think the people who end up on forums like these, wether it be for pipe-smoking, single malt Scottish whiskey, coffee making, pocket knives, goodyear welt boots, vintage custom motorcycles ... et al, are the type of folk who enjoy the hobby as much for the accoutrement as the act itself.
I love smoking a pipe, the down tempo focued act of it, the tastes and smells, the feel of the pipe in my hand, but I'm also fascinated by tobacco and pipes. How they are made, the subtle differences, which are ascribed with quality and why. Pipe smoking as a hobby has the added benefit of being a relatively inexpensive collection-based hobby. Sure it can all add up but I feel lucky enough to have a decent collection of tobacco and pipes (though one which pales in comparison to many of yours) - if I could say the same about scotch or motorcycles I would be a much poorer man!
I'm interested to know what percentage of the pipe smoking world is represented by our type (I hope I don't offend any of you by lumping you together with such unsavoury characters as myself), versus the type who never find their way on to forums such as these; who just want to smoke a pipe full of their favourite pouch blend and find complete satisfaction in that and that alone. Are we the outliers or are they?

jmatt · Aug 16, 2015

Hobbyist pipesmokers? 1% at most. Probably less.

nhpro · Aug 16, 2015

I enjoy the nostalgia of smoking a pipe most.

I recall as a kid walking home from school, watching a house painter coming down his ladder, stepping back a few feet and reaching into his white bib overalls to retrieve his trusty pipe.

As he stood there puffing, he was also admiring his work.
He impressed upon me the joy and satisfaction that comes from doing a job well.

mso489 · Aug 16, 2015

What we're calling hobbiests on this thread, people who take an interest in many details and study on blends and brands of pipes, are a small percent of pipe smokers -- anyone's guess, I'll say five percent. But the number of those who are on Forums or similar online groups is a small percent of those people, so it probably comes up as about one percent, but it's probably the only place you can talk to that many pipe interest people at once. I surmise, Forums by itself has probably the same following as the online customer base of any one of its five largest pipe/tobacco online retail sponsors. Compared to the number of people who buy one or two pipes and stick with a blend or two over years we are a small group. The online people must have sufficient writing skills to participate, sufficient time, and the motivation and momentum to keep up a written conversation -- this is a small part of the populations. Despite texts, tweets, emails, and the whole chattering shabang, the general population would rather mop the kitchen floor than write more than two sentences in sequence.

Percent of Pipe Smokers that are Hobbiest?

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