Greetings,
As you can see, I am brand new to the site. Wanted to introduce myself thoroughly. As the name might entail, I am a sailor, an officer in the Navy, currently in Bahrain (a little island in the Persian Gulf). I'm also fairly new to pipe smoking. Last year I visited my favorite tobacconist in Old Town San Diego and after admiring a few of their pipes, wondered about transitioning from cigars to pipes. The gentleman behind the counter set me up with a starter pipe (a nice subdued, simple straight pipe with what you might consider a standard bowl, and a flat rather than polished finish) and a delicious smelling blend they called Dr Charlie's. That was just before last deployment out here, and I had the opportunity to smoke it a few times, and made it through an entire two ounce bag before going back to the States and pretty much forgetting about my pipe for a good while. Preparing to come out here again a month-and-change ago something compelled me to bring along my pipe. Boy am I glad I did.
My pipe has been my source of sanity in a crazy deployment. It has become a near daily routine, when I get an hour, to head back to the smoke pit with a bowl full and think about anything but work for a while. I found a cigar shop here that had a pipe that caught my fancy, and was inexpensive enough I wouldn't be heart broken if I lost it or broke it, a Dr Plumb. It's smoked great so far, with a bent stem so I can look down at my tobacco as I light it, draws smooth, and I've been able to smoke the bowl to the bottom, something that was a little more difficult with my other pipe. Most recently I've become fond of Dunhill's "Royal Yacht" mixture, with a subdued sweetness from the blend of virginia tobaccos.
I'm very happy I discovered pipe smoking, as it has filled a void left when I came on deployment. My true passion is beer brewing, and I can do none of that here. Now I can focus on improving my pipe smoking technique, finding the right blend and contemplate the purchase of my first heirloom-worthy pipe where I once was focused on formulating the recipe for my next batch, contemplating the hop combinations, the style of beer that I could brew next and improving my brewing technique. It's a great thing.
-Todd
As you can see, I am brand new to the site. Wanted to introduce myself thoroughly. As the name might entail, I am a sailor, an officer in the Navy, currently in Bahrain (a little island in the Persian Gulf). I'm also fairly new to pipe smoking. Last year I visited my favorite tobacconist in Old Town San Diego and after admiring a few of their pipes, wondered about transitioning from cigars to pipes. The gentleman behind the counter set me up with a starter pipe (a nice subdued, simple straight pipe with what you might consider a standard bowl, and a flat rather than polished finish) and a delicious smelling blend they called Dr Charlie's. That was just before last deployment out here, and I had the opportunity to smoke it a few times, and made it through an entire two ounce bag before going back to the States and pretty much forgetting about my pipe for a good while. Preparing to come out here again a month-and-change ago something compelled me to bring along my pipe. Boy am I glad I did.
My pipe has been my source of sanity in a crazy deployment. It has become a near daily routine, when I get an hour, to head back to the smoke pit with a bowl full and think about anything but work for a while. I found a cigar shop here that had a pipe that caught my fancy, and was inexpensive enough I wouldn't be heart broken if I lost it or broke it, a Dr Plumb. It's smoked great so far, with a bent stem so I can look down at my tobacco as I light it, draws smooth, and I've been able to smoke the bowl to the bottom, something that was a little more difficult with my other pipe. Most recently I've become fond of Dunhill's "Royal Yacht" mixture, with a subdued sweetness from the blend of virginia tobaccos.
I'm very happy I discovered pipe smoking, as it has filled a void left when I came on deployment. My true passion is beer brewing, and I can do none of that here. Now I can focus on improving my pipe smoking technique, finding the right blend and contemplate the purchase of my first heirloom-worthy pipe where I once was focused on formulating the recipe for my next batch, contemplating the hop combinations, the style of beer that I could brew next and improving my brewing technique. It's a great thing.
-Todd
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