Use It up or Put It on the Shelf?

Log in

SmokingPipes.com Updates

New Cigars




PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor

PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor

PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor

PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor

Drucquers Banner

PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor

Drucquers Banner
Status
Not open for further replies.

brightleaf

Part of the Furniture Now
Sep 4, 2017
555
4
I heat my home with a wood stove. Recently I have been using some really beautiful sections of a 60 year old Japanese Red Maple to feed the flames. I saved the wood from being placed in a curbside trash pile during a yard work job I did over the Summer. It has beautiful knots and swirly grain. I wold enjoy it more if I could watch it burn in a fireplace but I throw it in the wood stove for a little bit of heat. What strikes me is how much I feel like I am turning something precious into a cloud of smoke, for a few moments of pleasure.
I notice a similar hesitation to opening new tins of tobacco sometimes. If I keep it unopened it is still there to provide the pleasure of possession, but it is not serving it's real purpose of being smoked. I seem to choose to smoke bulk tobacco more often to avoid opening the tins I have. While I do open them from time to time, I like building a growing cellar of tins.
Do any of you also have a similar hesitation in cracking your beautiful sealed tins?

 

warren

Lifer
Sep 13, 2013
11,699
16,207
Foothills of the Chugach Range, AK
I buy art and antiques to look at and enjoy. Pipes and blends I buy to smoke. It's what ever floats your boat. I'm not one to have an appreciation of a sealed tin, no matter the art. It's the blender's art I'm after.

 

deathmetal

Lifer
Jul 21, 2015
7,714
32
Do any of you also have a similar hesitation in cracking your beautiful sealed tins?
Yes, I sympathize, and I do not even have any classic tins from the golden era. Nostalgia, sentiment, and worship of the past are related, with the latter being the healthiest version of the former... however, I still crack them open and enjoy them. The only solution to a disappearing past is to renew it.
And that is what most people now are running away from with their tails between their legs. Rome 2.0 has not long before the fall.

 

jpmcwjr

Moderator
Staff member
May 12, 2015
24,568
27,070
Carmel Valley, CA
Some tins I am tempted to open I don't because I have either A.) too many tins already open, or B.) I want to age it more before diving in.

 

jravenwood

Can't Leave
Apr 23, 2017
430
84
I definitely have a similar hesitation. Ive collected some oldies but goodies and I get that its a nice feeling to have them in the cellar as a prize. Its like a matchbox car when you were a kid - you want to keep it nice and pristine in the box but you also want to open it and race it around.
Having said that I now open a rare tin on every special occasion that happens, then keep the tin or display it on my pipe cabinet in my living room.

 

deathmetal

Lifer
Jul 21, 2015
7,714
32
Its like a matchbox car when you were a kid - you want to keep it nice and pristine in the box but you also want to open it and race it around.
So much of life is this way. The answer is both that we are the matchbox car, and the matchbox car is what we want to pass on to the next generation.

 

mso489

Lifer
Feb 21, 2013
41,210
60,433
I hesitate to open tins only because I often have a number of jars and pouches available and ready-to-go, so it seems like an inhibition on opening tins that then have to be smoked quickly or jarred. I rationalize that the tins are just getting better and better, which in many cases is true. I have several dozen tins or more in waiting, and probably two dozen or more jars, pouches and open tubs available. Many of the already-available blends and leaf is delectable, so it isn't second best. So yes, I do somewhat stall on opening tins, but they do get opened from time to time, and are usually a pleasing addition to my rotation. An embarrassment of riches, as is said.

 

deathmetal

Lifer
Jul 21, 2015
7,714
32
I feel the same way about ammunition. Unless I have someone who really deserves getting shot and having their corpse fed through a wood chipper over an anonymous river, I am hesitant to decant these cartridges.

 

deathmetal

Lifer
Jul 21, 2015
7,714
32
I just re-watched the Forensic Files wood chipper episode (Helle Crafts). Holy horror... I'm going to church (or ashram) more after seeing this.

 

deathmetal

Lifer
Jul 21, 2015
7,714
32
I am of the opinion that most of the world is screwing up, most of the time, and with the others, there is an implicit sense of, "You should do what those others are doing," even when it is really cRaZy. Best to walk alone.

 

brightleaf

Part of the Furniture Now
Sep 4, 2017
555
4
"Negative stuff feeds on the brain" reminds me of the saying "Monkey on your back." They both have the same general meaning, we can be addicted to states of mind just as easily as to anything else.

 

deathmetal

Lifer
Jul 21, 2015
7,714
32
That's profound. The term "decompensation" comes to mind; most people live in mental loops, whether induced by emotion or drugs.

 

saltedplug

Lifer
Aug 20, 2013
5,194
5,097
Yes, closed tins do amount to relish but the purpose of tobacco is to be smoked. If you are more of a tobacco collector, then hoarding makes sense, but otherwise rip those tins open!

 

brightleaf

Part of the Furniture Now
Sep 4, 2017
555
4
I am not sure what my relationship with is to my tobacco supply. I will always have some open and available to smoke, whether tin or bulk, but I do have a real Fear about government B.S. raining on my parade. I cannot decide to stock up at the last minute due to an extremely tight budget. I am happy opening all of my tins for the most part but when I get to the last one of that type I hesitate. If I knew all of the FDA party crashing nonsense would blow over I wouldn't hesitate.

 

sablebrush52

The Bard Of Barlings
Jun 15, 2013
19,623
44,833
Southern Oregon
jrs457.wixsite.com
It's interesting to see this concern applied to tins of tobacco. Mostly I see people express their reluctance to fire up and deflower a new pipe. I do have a few rare and probably irreplaceable tins that I'm saving for a time when I can just relax and enjoy them. Right now my schedule is too hectic and I don't want to waste them when I'm pressed for time. There are also a few tins that I want to share with friends in the pipe smoking community. Otherwise, it's all going to get smoked. With the tobaccopalypse a fairly common theme over the past several years, I've stocked up enough to last me for years. And if my stash runs out, it runs out. More than likely I'll run out before my stash runs out.

 

brightleaf

Part of the Furniture Now
Sep 4, 2017
555
4
I have been following the Secret Santa thread. I was too new to join this year, but it looks fun. I did think to myself how it was probably for the best as I would want to do something nice, based on more experience in smoking different blends. Have something saved for gifts seems like a good idea.
Thanks for the input everyone. For some reason I am confused as to what is causing the hesitation/hoarding and your opinions are helping me to clear that up.

 
Status
Not open for further replies.