Why Did You Start?

I was born into it you might say. My Dad and his Dad all smoked pipes. When I decided to start smoking, my girl friend gave me a Benson's and Hedges Menthol. I smoked a couple of packs and decided that I liked smoking, but wanted more from the experience than just an infusion of nicotine. So I bought my first pipe. A Rusticated Royal Coachman 256 made in France. I still smoke it frequently.

I can't really remember why I started smoking a pipe. Maybe it had something to do with all the Sherlock holmes stories I read.

Very much the same story as Oppie. I wrote a blog on it. Had to find a way to quit the cigarettes.

My reason was simple. I loved smoking quality tobacco, in the form of cigars, and could no longer afford them. I have never looked back, because I enjoy pipes, and everything that goes with them much better.

I'm a late arriver. For me it was a natural evolution from MYO cigarettes. I make my own cigarettes primarily for quality concerns vs. cost savings. This lead me to learning about tobacco in general and all its qualities. It's history. How it's cultivated and cured. Blendign and how different varietals interplay etc.
I eventually found I wasn't fully experiencing fine blends in a 5 minute smoke from a paper tube. So the pipe made sense.
I never inhale a pipe. (OK maybe rarely and by accident) so it's not that aspect of smoking cigarettes that lead me to the pipe. And I don't and still have no intention of quitting cigarettes. A cigarette is a darned fine experience in the right situation. I find I smoke far fewer cigarettes now though.
For me pipe smoking initially was all about the taste and sensation derived from tobacco. But now that I've figured a few things out there's much more that perfectly fits me. For instance, I'm a bit scatter brained and the pipe is a good way to sit and sort of drift rather than manically leaping from place to place and thought to thought. Allows me to chill out and reflect. It's therapeutic.
I love the process and the "equipment". I'm into pipes now and not just tobacco.
I like the "occasion". Given that I only smoke 2 or 3 bowls a day it makes it special. Cigarettes tend to all run together mindlessly.
I like the aesthetic. I tend to admire things that are classic or iconic and the pipe fits in there somewhere for me.
So short answer is I started smoking a pipe because I love tobacco. I'll continue because I love so many aspects of pipe smoking. It seemed to immediately suit me.

I guess all the "old timers " I knew as a kid were my influence. I never was much of a cigarette smoker. Grandpa was a pipe smoker and I just followed "family tradition" LOL

My father smoked pipe and I remember from my childhood. I was always interesting in pipes and tobacco, but I dont like the cigarrets. During the university I start smoking cigars.

I start smoking pipe when I finish the university. My first job after that was in the middle of the desert, in a very isolated twon, where I have no much to do during my free time. In this place you cant get a decent cigar, but there available some tobacco pipe. I buy a cheap pipe and start smoking pipe.

My gilrfrien at that time, actually my wife, was very pro pipe, because her father smoke pipe too.

When I comeback to the university (postgraduate) my mentor (tutor) was a pipe smoker, and I learn a lot from him, mainly about life and pipesmoking.

Why I smoke, because the pipe smoking helps me to calrify my mind and think in a different way, for me smoke a pipe is more than a sort of meditation than a hobby.

Bests
Luis Barra

I think it's in my blood my grandfather smoked a pipe and so did some of my great grandparents.

My story sounds very similar to Jonesing (except I still smoke way too many cigs).

For as long as I can remember, I have been fascinated with pipes, though. Nobody in my family ever smoked a pipe, but I can remember going into the Tinderbox whenever we went to the mall. The smell was supreme and the pipes were just works of art to me. I think that's why I just can't kick the PAD! I don't have tons of pipes, but definitely more than I need...but I always want to buy a new one.
Edit: I suppose...more precisely...the reason I started was because my wife got me one for Christmas (and she was hoping I'd kick the cigs). But she also new of my fascination with pipes long before she bought me one! Bless her heart...I think I'll keep her!

Confession time Bytor,

I used to smoke "coughin' nails".

I inhale my pipe. Once or twice... maybe three times per bowl, now.

But, when I decided to smoke my pipes exclusively I smoked them like cigarettes for a short while. I have slacked off the inhaling drastically.

I figure I will eventually stop inhaling.

It's the Vitamin N thing.

For lots of us I think it's the PAD thing. They are SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO Pretty!

Oddly enough...I never inhale with the pipe. Now, if I smoke a cigar, that's a different story. I'll inhale the whole thing.

Cigs , cigars , so now the pipe . Iam a slow learner . lol

I'm trying to quit cigarettes, and smoking pipes has reduced the number of cigs I smoke a lot. Also, I really like the craftsmanship in professionally made pipes. I figured I'd get a couple of good pipes and now I have seven of them. Where will it end? :D
How can you not like something like this:

My father smoked a pipe, my grandfather smoked a pipe ,my great grandfather smoked a pipe. So what elce was I going to do! Oh yes my son smokes a pipe! The problem is I didnt get any of the old pipes. They were probley worth a lot of money.

Juni,

That is a great shape. It's kind of the direction I have been leaning lately.
Vkimp,

Like all great traditions, pipe smoking has been passed from generation to generation.

We are fortunate indeed.

My story is similar to Jonesing's. I've been into RYO for a few years and it opened my eyes to high quality tobaccos. It seemed insane not to start enjoying a pipe after I knew I wasn't limited to cavendish or cherry.
I kind of went through phases where I wouldn't smoke a bowl for a couple weeks from time to time, but since the passage of the S-CHIP taxes, my interest came back again in a big way.
As a matter of fact, I'm now getting bored with cigarettes, since all I'm willing to pay to inhale tobacco is the price of the ersatz pipe tobaccos. If the tax becomes equivalent, I'll still spend my money on loose tobacco, but only on that which I enjoy the most that is worth its cost, pipe tobacco.

I smoked a few cigs back in my high school days but premium cigars have always been my main vice. The pipe for me was just the next step of my evolution into all things tobacco (er….most things). My father smoked a pipe but that was well before my fat ass graced this planet so I really can't attribute my passion for tobacco on him. Good beer and Scotch he gets full credit for though.
Pipe smoking as well as cigars to me is my hobby so when there is extra cash, more hobby. Less cash, well you get the idea. I didn't get into it because of the price, it was for the feeling I get while enjoying a smoke alone or especially with a friend.