Pipe and Cigarettes

Here's why I smoked again : the rush!

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Have you tried Royal Yacht recently? It's not the instant cigarette rush, but more like a wave rolling over you and filled with sharks...

I still smoke cigarettes, but only after a meal. I was a 3 pack a day cigarette smoker and cut way back using dip (smokeless tobacco). If I get a real bad urge for a cigarette I just put in some dip and the urge passes. I also found it helpful to smoke strong pipe tobacco. Since you live in China I can't help with blend recommendations because I don't know what you can get over there. My recommendation would be "everything in moderation". Remember when your climbing down a ladder, you don't jump from the top to the bottom, you step down one rung at a time to get to the bottom.

Carver,
Like others have said, try blends with lots of nicotine.
You are right, the nic rush just isn't there with pipes, but I've been able to get enough to satisfy. I sometimes crave a cigarette. When I do, I light up some Old Dark Fired, Bold Kentucky, Dark Flake, or some-such. I've been successful so far, but I know how difficult it can be.
Don't beat yourself up, and try it again! Remember, abstinence (from anything) is a process, not an event!

I've never smoked cigarettes but I've had other addictions so I know how hard it is to quit and I know the self loathing feeling of weakness and failure. I was also there to support my wife when she quit cigarettes, a smoker since her early teens. There's no easy way for most and I can see your concern of pipes taking you back. Few smokers, my wife included are able to quit the first attempt and many take several attempts with each attempt being a bit more successful. You truly want to quit so eventually you will.
This is what I told my wife when defeat and sadness had her down.....be strong and don't quit quitting! I wish you good luck and strength. ::

Sadly, I feel I am riding on the same train. As a long-time cigarette smoker and Copenhagen user, I cannot relate to some of the stories I read about certain pipe tobaccos making the smoker dizzy, queasy, downright sick, etc. My nic tolerance is too high; I enjoy pipe smoking for the taste experience, but definitely not for the nicotine delivery. I hope it is not an endless cycle, and wish you the best.

In my opinion a good long break from the pipe is the only way to get completely off other forms of nic, and then there's no guarantees, and it sucks tbh. Another consideration might be Swedish Snus, if you can find it. General Snus is the brand I'm familiar with. Its not quite chewing tobacco, it comes in a little pouch you tuck in your upper lip. You swallow the juice and everything. It's handy when you need a little kick, reminds me of nicotine gum for big kids or something.

Here is the truth for me - I didn't understand pipes until I quit smoking cigarettes.
I had to move past the rush. The need for the immediate kick goes away and is replaced by a pleasantly slow bake.
Give yourself enough time to slow down, sit, and enjoy the pipe. With a strong tobacco and sufficient time the nicotine itch will be scratched.

You are right, the nic rush just isn't there with pipes,

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I would disagree on that, if you've ever tried a strong twist, something like G&H dark flake, Peterson's University flake I find the nicotine rush to be way stronger than when I smoked cigarettes. I hardly ever got a nicotine rush when I smoked cigarettes, only when I first started, but a bowl of something strong will leave me hiccuping and my head spinning with a kind of nauseus feeling if I don't slow down. I do inhale my pipe though.

I concur. Also Royal Yacht and delicious, magnificent OJK of course!

You don't get the rush from pipe smoking.

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Reasons I prefer the pipe: the tobacco intensity is prolonged, and the flavor is better, which melds different parts of the experience together. I say this as someone who finds American cigarettes, Budweiser and Pantera to be mass-product imitations of great products and unconscionable, so it's somewhat evident that I preferred flavor as part of the experience in cigarette smoking as well.
Lately I have been craving cigars however. Weird how that is. Smoke one of the damn things (a 7-inch Macanudo of some sort) and you start thinking about them when you have downtime.

Very interesting thread and the differences folks obtain. Myself, for some reason I stopped smoking cigarettes when I started the pipe Jan 2014. The previous 6-8 yrs had been "roll your own" Bugler Gold predominately. After about three month of exclusive pipe smoking I noticed a change in my nic cravings. Before I would roll a smoke, then a second, then another as I got to the parking lot before work(a 30min drive). After this 3 months or so I found I would often wait until I got to the parking lot. The pipe is more enjoyed when the chores are done. I find I am not craving the nicotine so much but the relaxation that is accented by the pipe where as before when I seemed to be chasing the nicotine with cigarettes.
I do smoke the pipe almost constantly when not at work and find I put things off as my head fills with the Vitamin N I enjoy. If I want a mild head rush I get a fresh bowl going strong and roll the heavy smoke out my nose. I can do this many times a day where cigarettes only satisfied that head once in the morning. So a pipe to me is more satisfying in the long run. I really enjoy smoking different blends and mixing up my own. I do not inhale ever. So I'd say there is a transition and adjustment period with a switch from cigarettes to pipes.
I do look for the high nic blends but often smoke a sweet blend like Lane 1Q or Carter Hall. My favorite is Latakia blends however if I smoke them all the time my taste buds numb out a bit. This is when I go to the sweeter or something like SG 1792. I find Dunhill Nightcap a product I return to often as its fairly strong in nicotine and the Latakia is obvious. Pirate Kake is an interesting lat bomb but I must mix it with CH to help it burn well. Flakes are the most intriguing to me. I also try my hand at aging tobacco mixtures often adding straight Perique to a blend. So I guess the diversity and testing new mixtures has replaced the hum-drum same ole cigarette habit.
Hope some of this gives you ideas. One cannot enjoy a pipe if they are in "fear". Ah oh yes, and I also consider my pipe a spiritual ritual which may be the real motive or offering to The Great Spirit.

1Q is a sublime aro by Lane Limited. It's what Captain Black tries to be. CH is Carter Hall. Very simple and satisfying burley blend.

It is a tough conversion. I still havent quit cigarettes completely, and i have been slowly quitting for a few years now... Went from roughly two packs a day down to less than half a pack these days. The rush isn't there. But be mindful of what the rush is, a quick fix. I was talking to a co-worker of mine yesterday and we made the comparison: if smoking a cigarette is like a junkie shooting up, then smoking a pipe is like a monk sitting down to meditate.
It involves changing your outlook. Like Sallow said, you have to slow down. Think of the rush as a form of instant gratification, a cheap dirty form. Think of the pipe as a well earned break, a focused period of relaxation. It truly helps adjust the mental appeals of each.
Good luck!

1Q is a sublime aro by Lane Limited.

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This was highly recommended to me when I ran out of my original pipe tobacco that I smoked for around five years. It is not terrible, if you like low-strength high-sugar tobaccos with extensive artificial flavoring and glycol humectants. I still have about ten ounces of it left that I someday hope to find a happy home.

My brain agrees with you but sometimes, the junkie takes the lead. It's true, the rush is a quick instant gratification.

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Here's an experiment: get some high strength tobacco, and load a quarter-bowl in a pipe... then hit that and see if it delivers the same gratification.
Another method might be to transfer some of your cigarette tobacco to a pipe and smoke it there.
Either way, you might get a better "feel" for the gulf between cigarette and pipe, and might be able to close it somewhat.
I remember reading an OJK review where the writer said it finally enabled him to kick the cigarette habit. It will be VERY hard to move from cigarettes to lighter tobaccos; easier to move to heavier ones.

Don't be so hard on yourself. There's nothing wrong with the occasional cigarette (Sherlock Holmes was a big fan) provided it is a reall tobacco cigarette and not a modern, sheet tobacco "cigarette product".
Roll your own (not tube-stuffing) with some great, real tobaccos from Peter Stokkebye. You can even use a roller to roll them up with a filter. It's not the end of the world if you like cigarettes. Life is short: enjoy the ride. Just choose natural products. As with food, don't smoke ( or eat) anything designed in a corporate boardroom.
You'll be fine. And yes, you can enjoy your pipe and cigarette tobacco. Sometimes they'll even be the same.
*But those Marlboros (or whichever), leave that poison for the dimwits.