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Val

Starting to Get Obsessed
Sep 18, 2019
228
470
No more pipes. I'm just RYO and Kodiak now.
You’re one of my favorites on here, why did you decide this? I don’t mean to pry into the personal, just wondering. I truly enjoy what you bring to this forum.
 

anotherbob

Lifer
Mar 30, 2019
18,429
33,519
47
Central PA a.k.a. State College
I believe it refers to the buzz or feeling of the effect of the nicotine. Some tobaccos are very mild in nicotine and some very strong. Some smoke for effect, some, just for the tobacco flavor but you get nicotine from all tobacco.
You do.
I find this amusing especially on a pipe forum🙃
Me too. I love when people say they aren't addicted to nicotine they just use it from waking up to going to bed. I mean they could be right but if you're on a pipe forum you're probably hooked in someway. My favorite was on the Snuffhouse forum. The I am not hooked I just love snuff so much I stuff it in my face all day is semi common there. One guy wrote a post about leaving his snuff behind when going on a weekend trip and realizing he is addicted to snuff and it's not as desperate as when he smoked cigarettes but he's an addict.
 

anotherbob

Lifer
Mar 30, 2019
18,429
33,519
47
Central PA a.k.a. State College
It certainly is possible to become nicotine addicted smoking a pipe, though it depends how you smoke a pipe.

Plenty of people smoke an occasional cigar and have no addiction to nicotine in the same way a lot of people can enjoy a glass of wine or a beer or two without being or becoming an alcoholic.

Smoke 3-4 bowls a day, you stand a good chance of developing an addiction to nicotine. Once every other day? Possibly if you have a genetic predisposition to addiction, but far less likely to develop an addiction. Though some people act as if you must be addicted to nicotine and inherently will be just on one bowl a week and that anyone that ever uses or enjoys nicotine in any amount is inherently addicted and in denial.
I have friends that smoke like a chimney under certain circumstances. Some students dip 24 none stop when it's time to study for and take finals. Who any other time have zero interest in nicotine. It's interesting to read the deeper studies on nicotine and it's effects on people.
"Nicotine hit" is deceptive. Some people that smoke cigarettes and want to switch to a pipe "for health reasons"—not open to debating about this, yes a pipe is unhealthy, yes in some ways it is less unhealthy than cigarettes, regardless, some people do switch for that stated reason regardless of how much less harmful pipe actually is, it's a thing people do and that's what this is about—will be looking for a "nic hit" and be disappointed.
So true. And the nic hit can be different with different blends or how you smoke too. Pipes are vastly safer then cigs. My family doctor told me cigs will kill you. Tobacco might do that probably won't and if it does it will take it's time. But not being hooked on something is probably always better.
A pipe "nic hit" is vastly different than one from a cigarette. So, you have to pay attention when people talk about a nic hit with pipe tobacco if you're coming from the perspective of cigarettes. Pipe nic hits are more like, they creep up on you or they can come on suddenly, but it's less like a cigarette "ah" sharp punch or scratching an itch and more like a "wah-wah" whippit hit or something, like "ok, let me sit down a minute". You'll feel it and you'll know if you experience one, and whether you do or not depends on your tolerance and what you're having... no tolerance and smoke rustica like you would any other and you could skip over having a nic hit and it can creep up like a silent freight train and lay you out.
 

DeaconPiper

Starting to Get Obsessed
Jun 13, 2023
206
963
Pacific Northwest
I prefer a pipe once or twice a day, and take nasal snuff a couple times those days. I'll definitely never go a day without one or the other...although I have taken off on a four-day retreat and didn't miss it.
 
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Richmond B. Funkenhouser

Plebeian Supertaster
Dec 6, 2019
6,061
26,929
Dixieland
Yes there are tobacco blends, given the right circumstances, that will make me green around the gills.

I'm a straight up nicotine addict, junky, or whatever word you can think of.

But... I can stop whenever I'd like. This Idea that because you lean on a substance, you must be totally incapable of breaking that habit, is recent and bogus.

Willpower is a real thing. A person with a sound mind has self control.
 

Olkofri

Lifer
Sep 9, 2017
8,340
15,351
The Arm of Orion
I consider a "nic hit" as a poisoning: a sick feeling resulting from a nicotine intake that is higher than the body can handle—always unpleasant.

The "nic buzz" would be the pleasant sensation induced by the nicotine intake being at its sweet spot.

Whilst I've had several, nasty instances of the one, I've never experienced the other.

We all react differently to substances—individual idiosyncrasy it's called in medical terms.
 
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Waning Embers

Captain of the Black Frigate
Nov 12, 2014
47,718
129,007
Oh my gosh..... CE do you mean to say that you got rid of those beautiful huge Meer skulls, etc.???

Say it ain't so....
Hopefully the magnum was kept too. :cry:
All gone but a couple of Falcons and the Savinelli 904 that my daughter picked out for me that my dad smoked before he passed. No future intention of smoking them, just keeping them as keepsakes.
 

Sigmund

Lifer
Sep 17, 2023
4,398
45,693
France
Im probably addicted to nicotine but I dont feel it. I also dont jones for it when I miss a pipe. Maybe its becuase I often use a AC filter. Its really difficult to nail down. My normal habit is 2 bowls a day, sometimes just one.

Given that nicotine has a half life of a couple of hours Im gonna say that if Im addicted its mildly so. Im more addicted to PAD. I usually go 18 hours between smokes since my last smoke is normally around 3 in the afternoon. The next one is a 10 in the morning and sometimes later.
 
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Pypkė

Part of the Furniture Now
Aug 3, 2024
871
2,278
East of Cleveland, Ohio. USA
But... I can stop whenever I'd like. This Idea that because you lean on a substance, you must be totally incapable of breaking that habit, is recent and bogus.

Willpower is a real thing. A person with a sound mind has self control.
Nicotine addiction is not well understood. I dipped for 30 years until I abruptly quit, i.e. went cold turkey. It was difficult but I had the willpower to push through. But I know very well how the withdrawal can feel insurmountable for those who can't do it. I don't fault people for trying and failing.

I found a lot of garbage opinions on how to quit the nicotine habit on the internet - stupid advice like saying "the physical withdrawal lasts only three days, and then it's just psychological." Like ultimately it's a moral or lack of willpower problem. It isn't. The profound pang of loss stuck with me for nine years after I quit. It lost its edge, but I still had it right up until I picked up the pipe.

Now everything feels as right as rain. I won't smoke cigarettes though.
 

newbroom

Lifer
Jul 11, 2014
6,535
12,540
North Central Florida
Nicotine brought me to the pipe. Enjoying smoking tobacco rather than needing it to soothe addiction became possible, but I realize that the addiction plays its part. If only I could have learned about the pipe years before I did, I think my life would have been richer for it.
I get the occasional nic hit and when I do, it's not enjoyable. Typically, it involves hiccups. I know that some actually hurl, but that hasn't happened to me, yet.
I know when I am threatened by nicotine overdose at the first sign of a hiccup. I stop smoking for awhile.
Big 'n Burley and Picayune are two blends that I have to be cautious with. There have been others and I suppose too, it can depend on your stomach contents, time of day, and cadence to name a few variables.
 
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