Question Here. . .

No offense man but I don't need to be told everything about a tobacco in order to try it. Some of the mystery behind a blend is part of the fun for me. I'm afraid that if a blend had a description that said Nic bomb I may not want to try it. Not knowing how it'll be is part of the fun for me, of course YMMV. The best way to decide how strong a blend is is to become familiar with the typical nicotine content of the major types of leaf. For instance, Burley is high in nicotine, Virginia not as much. Perique=high, Latakia=lower. So if you know what is in a blend, you can kind of figure it out on your own.
As to tar and other "toxic constituants" as you put it (not too sure what you mean by that) pipe tobacco just plain isn't as bad a cigarette tobacco. Its not doused in chemicals like urea and embalming fluid, nor is it wrapped in a piece of toxic paper. Pipe tobacco is tobacco in its purest (consumable) form and when used in moderation is no more dangerous than being a non smoker.

As far as nicotine amounts, it simply doesn't work like that. What is strong to me may be weak to you, it is more complicated than a simple nicotine #. The effect a tobacco has on you is largely to do with body chemistry. Also, I can't speak for others, but I don't want any more gov't mandated labeling on my tins, IMHO the existing stickers are too much, but I have learned never to smoke in California. It seems many tobaccos cause diseases in Cali, so as long as I don't smoke there, I'm cool.

I know that the McBaren tobacco tins have a line on the top cover that is supposed to give an indication of how strong each of their tobacco blends are. Not sure if other companies do such a thing ?

On top of that, the more specific the numbers, the more likely the FDA gets involved. If that happens, then no one wins.

If there is a baccy that interests you mate, you can go to Tobacco Reviews and read the reviews of your selected blend. On the right side of each review page, there is a section that tells the strength of the baccy. This will give you a decent idea of strength of flavor, nicotine etc.
http://www.google.ca/#hl=en&sclient=psy-ab&q=tobacco+reviews&oq=tobacco&aq=1&aqi=g4&aql=&gs_sm=1&gs_upl=2449l4446l0l6786l7l5l0l2l2l0l203l734l0.4.1l7l0&gs_l=hp.1.1.0l4.2449l4446l0l6786l7l5l0l2l2l0l203l734l0j4j1l7l0.frgbld.&pbx=1&fp=1&biw=1366&bih=566&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_qf.&cad=b

I was about to say something similar Kevin. I was with a friend who smokes cigarettes yesterday and didn't notice any nic or tar levels noted on their pack.

All i wanted to know is why its not on there like it is for cigarettes

Click to expand...

Because pipe tobacco is nothing like a cigarette.

"I'm a little bit confused here. I just went to the store and asked to see a pack of Marlboro Red.

Nowhere on the pack does it even have the words nicotine or tar, let alone the amounts, or how strong the blend is.

It did have one of the mandatory rotating warnings that said: Contains Carbon Monoxide."
I haven't looked at a pack of cigarettes up close ever since I quit over 35 years ago, but I'm fairly sure that at that time tar and nicotine content was indeed listed on American cigarette packs.

Don't think about it! It will do all the great things Cigs will if you smoke them like Cigs. It is hard to die healthy.

I don't think the OP is American, that's why... Many other countries have such dubious information on their cigarette packs.
The reality is that such numbers can be manipulated.
"Light" cigarettes were only "light" when tested by a machine. A real smoker will drag harder on the cigarette and smoke faster to get as much nicotine/tar/whatever as a regular cigarette. They would also cover the ventilation holes in the filter with their fingers and therefore retain greater absorption of said chemicals.
I also believe it is intrusive health propaganda rather than a helpful reference for the smoker...
(Okay, that you can "smoke around" the design of the cigarette doesn't change the inherent nicotine properties of the tobacco within but I'm mostly just railing about the perceived validity of such info)
+1000 to NSfisher. Sorting by strength in on TR.com is the single best way to decipher a pipe tobacco's strength.
Asking on the forum about a blend or googling "BlendX strength" is second best.
Third best is guessing based on the general attributes of the leaf. This method has its limitations...
(A flaw, for example: Most VAs are light to medium in strength. 1792 is all VA, therefore 1792 is light to medium in strength. Wrong! Dark fired VAs throw a high nic curveball down the pipes.)
I'm not to get into the great cigarette health debate, but I will definitely question the assumption that pipe tobacco is the purest of all tobacco forms. Definitely not. It is highly processed and manipulated with numerous additives, however benign.
Cigar tobacco wins the purity crown by a landslide, IMO.

Putting information like that on a package of any type of tobacco would be similar to putting a warning lable on water specifying the exact amount of water it would take for you to drink yourself to death.
Completed with a lable reading, "Warning, water is dangerous and hundreds of thousands of people drown every year."
If you do some reasearch and follow some simple guidelines as to which types of leaf generally have more nic than others, and that it really depends on your body chemistry (which can change from day to day) as to how fast you can absorb nicotine through your mouth, or lungs if you inhale, then this labeling becomes unnecessary.
I am personally sick of misleading labeling, and labeling that insults the inteligence of the reader.
"This box of frosted flakes is a fat free food!" It's covered in SUGAR! Screw you frosted flakes and your delicious coated goodness! :crazy:

(I don't know if frosted flakes has ever said that, but you catch my drift)

I think there's a history of not labeling the ingredients in pipe tobaccos, beyond the general VA, Burley, Cavendish, Latakia, etc. designation. Because of the blender's need for secrecy. You can't patent a tobacco blend. And so blenders choose to keep their ratios, and casings to themselves. Part of the fun of it all on the receiving end for us. Maintains the "Pipe mystique".

Oh... well it's not on there cuz this is AMERICA. 8)
lol
I know that you're technically "America" too... still funny though.

I know what you are talking about. They used to put the nic and tar levels on packs of cigarettes. Example 5mg tar 8mg nic...Didnt think they still did this, but maybe in the lights or ultra lights they might. It would be very hard to do this for pipes, as everyones pipe is different (here comes the jokes). But really how much you are putting in a small pipe vs how much he/she is putting in a magnum pipe will vary. Cigarettes are regulated in size, diameter, length. So they will be able to tell the consumer what the amount is in each one.

I do remember seeing Nicotene and tar in milligrams in magazine print ads for cigarettes back in the 80's...