Why the Pipe?

Well i grew up in a house of a smoker, while i was young i was actively trying to get my mother to stop smoking(cigs have always been way to expensive for my taste and didnt smell good at all) Now that i am a little older and understand things in life more, i can enjoy a drink or two and have a pleasant smoke. Now i still hate cigs but i enjoy a good cigar but cigars can be messy and while i do enjoy them i have to smoke it all in one go which takes time so you enjoy the taste of it and not burn your mouth off. SO logically i tried a pipe, a controlled amount of tobacco and once done you tap it out and go about your day. Now while i am very logical about the smoking i find i am in search of my holy grail as it were of pipes. Something long and cool smoking, but with a nice style and big bowl with thicker sides so it stays cool to the touch. I enjoy the smell of a good pipe and tobacco that have a bit of age on both, pipes have a way of not smelling like ash but smelling like the warm scent of wood and nature with hints of the bacci that was used in it. I find that scent stirs up memories of camping with my friends or working on a project and even of the first time at a beach with a lady. lol
Really its about the experience you have had and the thoughts it provokes while smoking. that calmness and almost wise look you have while smoking that really sets apart from cig and cigar users.

Because I thought it would be cheaper than cigarettes and cigars ,boy was I wrong . :rofl:

I needed to solve several mysteries.

With the exception of my Mother everyone in our family on the male side smoked a pipe. It was just logical after you had gone through ones brief flirtation with the old Woodbine gaspers!

I smoked cigars when no one else I knew did. I moved to pipes because once I smoked the first one, I knew it was for me. One simple fact is I enjoy having something left after I smoke, not so with cigars.

The peaceful transcendence while smoking a pipe is a wonderful thing.

Because all the cool kids were doing it.

Everyone needs a hobby. I used to be quite a lush, but I am starting to mature and recent injuries have left me somewhat restricted in the things I can do these days. Collecting pipes,attempting to try every blend in the known universe, etc, are things I can do from home, for relatively little money. That is, if I am careful. It is far cheaper than cigarettes and liquor. And I tend to do far less stupid shit. With my hand and foot messed up, motocycles kinda went out the window, and hiking, well, I'm working on a solution to get me back on the trails. I also used to play a card game, similar to Magic, and I was dumping cash into that like crazy. I was going to card/comic shops like 3 times a week to buy or play in tournaments. Now, I am home with my family, where I like to be. The farthest I need to go to enjoy my hobby is ten feet to the porch. Besides that, it is relaxing. It helps me unwind, and keeps my anxiety under control. The reasons go on and on, but those are the big ones for me.

I tried smoking without the pipe, but I kept burning my hands and lips. :wink:
Seriously, all of the men in my family smoked pipes, except my dad who smoked cigarettes. So, naturally, I went to cigarettes also. But after ten years of trying every gimmick, prescription, and Jedi mind tricks, I wasn't successful in quitting those evil nails. And, when I was trying the RYO thing with buying bulk bags of tobacco and then using the RYO industrial machines at the RYO club, I realized that if I just put the tobacco into a pipe, I could knock $20 off the cost of smoking. So, I picked up a cob and a beater pipe, and went off on my way. I think this is a trend here, as I see about 1 in 10 pipe smokers in cars in the morning now, cobs, Grabows, clay pipes, etc... All of the RYO stores here have them at the check out line. And, the RYO pipe tobacco isn't that bad when smoked in a pipe. It definitely forces you to sloooooow down, or else you get scorched.
But, soon I was interested in real pipes and real pipe tobacco. And, considering that cigarettes cost me almost $300+ a month, the pipe hobby is dirt cheap. Plus, it brings back all of those childhood memories of all of my uncles and granddad on the porch whittling pipes and smoking. Style, history, and the enjoyment of the taste are what keeps me going in the hobby. But, I have finally quit the cigs and I don't inhale, so I am feeling much more healthy already.

Because all the cool kids were doing it.

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lol!
For me, I've been a "smoker" in one form or another for all of my life (had my fist cigarette at age 10 and I did try a pipe in my teens once). I am a bit fidgety and "need" to keep occupied.
But I also knew cigarettes were bad for my health. And honestly, I didn't enjoy them all that much, so even tho I smoked, it was a little bit on and a lot off. I stopped altogether in my 30s. Then later in life it just dawned on me to try a pipe and I never looked back.
For me, pipe smoking feels multiple needs, but mainly to be able to just sit and relax - without having to do anything in particular is the biggest reason. Oh, that and peer pressure!

Why the Pipe?

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Why not?

LMAO @ latbomber!
My grandfather, my dad, and my favorite uncle all smoked a pipe.
I can remember Grandpa puffing his favorite pipe, sipping home made chokecherry brandy, listening to classical music, while he looked at the mountains from the picture window of his log cabin.
I can recall Uncle Steve loading his pipe, his accessories all laid out, as we prepped for a day hike in the Rockies.
I can still picture my father balancing his favorite bulldog in his mouth as he manipulated his fly rod back and forth over a babbling mountain stream. The smell of the Half & Half that he smoked mixed with the smell of pines and fresh, mountain air.
So, of course all those peaceful memories of close family members who are now gone must have something to do with my attraction to pipe smoking.
However, as many have stated, the peace, introspection, and transcendental thoughts which the pipe seems to evoke, coupled with the ritual of packing it, keeping it lit, etc. is what makes me really look forward to my evening smoke. I need time to "slow down and smell the roses," and if I didn't have this hobby, I'm not so certain that I would pause to relax. It's good medicine for me.

Its generational here, but more so, to relax, to have some camaraderie.

+1pylorns

Hanging out at The Briary has been an awesome experience. I have made more friends and business contacts that way. Plus, having a friend drop by my shop to join me in a new tin of this or that to kill an hour or so in the afternoon is a much welcomed diversion. No one has ever dropped by to smoke a cigarette of a new brand they discovered, lol.

I got into cigars a couple of years ago. But that's a spendy thing and I don't have a whole lot of smoking budget. So I got a cheapie basket pipe, started reading about piping and realized that, in addition to being less expensive, it's a LOT more diverse and interesting than cigars.
Also, my granddad smoked a pipe (unfortunately his pipes are long lost) so it's a bit of a connection with memories of him.

I smoked cigars and every time it went to my local B+M I was drawn to the pipe section but always left with cigars. One day while on vacation I went to my usually spot to get my cigars and asked the guy behind the counter to hook me up with everything I needed to smoke a pipe. I got a crash course on my pipe, a handful of cherry tobacco a chez tool and some matches and off I went. I smoked like 4 bowls that night and had the worst case of tongue bite I think anyone has ever had. I found this site and read a couple books and magazines and gained some knowledge and here Iam today.

For me it's all about the tobacco. I simply love tobacco in all its glorious flavors and never stop discovering new flavor and aroma profiles I love. To me, tobacco is best experienced in a pipe. The nuances, subtleties, and complexities of flavor simply cannot be beat by any other form. That's not to say other forms are bad (I occasionally enjoy a cigar, a dip, or even a rollie), simply that the pipe represents the highest form of tobacco enjoyment IMHO.

The scent. I always loved the scent of pipe smoke. So I tried out the pipe when I was in college. I gave it a rest after accidentally flaming my then luxuriant long black hair while lighting up. Worst haircut ever.
But up to that point I had really enjoyed the experience. Flash forward a couple of decades and I decided to give it another go. By this time, the luxuriant long hair was gone. It had largely migrated to other places. So I bought a couple of inexpensive pipes and some Captain Black and fell in love all over again.
I enjoy everything about pipe smoking that I have so far experienced. I enjoy the ritual of packing and lighting up, the first wafts of smoke and the scent and taste. I enjoy the ritual of cleaning and maintaining my pipes. I enjoy sipping the smoke, breath smoking, watching as the smoke curls lazily up into the air, the subtle play of flavors as I taste the smoke.
I appreciate the beauty of wood grain and the intricacies of a fine blast. I enjoy the beauty of line, form, and composition that goes into carving and shaping a pipe. And I appreciate and enjoy all of the history surrounding the hobby.
That pretty much sums it up

Another thing I like about pipe smoking is how it makes my "man den" smell. That "pipe shop" smell of tobacco/wood is intoxicating/welcoming to me.

Anybody else get that?

If you told me three years ago I'd be a pipe smoker I'd of laughed in your face

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Likewise.
I call myself a reformed anti-smoker. I was raised by teetotalers who didn't smoke, and who disliked smoking (and drinking) intensely. I got over my own bias against alcohol in college (thanks to Belgian beer, specifically Chimay Red), but retained my dislike of tobacco smoke even as I finally met a couple of responsible cigarette smokers (who actually stripped their butts and didn't smell like smoke all the time) and as I met folks who smoked cigars occasionally (still don't much care for the smell of either).
But I'd have to say it was exposure to pipe smoke that finally did the trick. Initially it was like coffee, for me - I enjoy the smell, but can't stand the taste. I was unsure about pipe tobacco, but the stuff that a friend of mine picked up on a whim smelled really good, even while it was burning. I did some homework (including joining this site), and eventually picked up an inexpensive but good quality briar and what turned out to be some 1Q - and surprise! I enjoyed the taste as well as the smell.
It was all downhill from there. :P