2015 Box Pass Thread

[woodsroad]

Welcome to the 2015 Box Pass thread.
After 27 pages on the old thread, we decided to start fresh with a clean slate for the new year. Nothing else has changed. The same rules and participant rotation list remain in place. We've just reached the system capacity for thread length, and this seemed like a good time to make a break.
What is The Box Pass? It’s a Traveling Pipe Club, a Brotherhood of the Leaf, a year-round Secret Santa, a chance to share the pipe tobaccos that you love and to try those that remain a mystery to you. It's a USPS Large Flat Rate Box that participants contribute to, sample from, then mail off to the next person on the list to enjoy.
Now in it’s third year, the Box Pass has survived some trying times. It has not been all flowers and kumbaya, my Lord. There have been dark days when The Box took a wrong turn down a dark alley, never to be seen again. When it was launched into a storm and disappeared from radar. But there have always been some exceptional folks here who refused to let it die. Generous souls who refilled a new box on their own dime and bravely sent it off into the wilderness to do good and lift spirits. It’s one hell of a story, and you can read it all right here.
In fact, if you would like to join The Box Pass, you will start by reading that entire link. All 27 pages of it. Why? Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it. Oft said, seldom heeded.
So light up a bowl of your favorite blend, sit back and enjoy the tale. Then read The Box Pass Rules. Do not contact me about joining The Box Pass until you have done these two things.
In the meantime, we’ll continue with where we left off...

 

[woodsroad]

The Current Box Pass List
yazamitaz

werebear

mrgunnar177

Wyfbane

ae1pt

derfargin

shaintiques

freakiefrog

lordnoble
On Hold: ericthered, pending his return

 

[freakiefrog]

HOLY SMOKES.. I'm 5 +/- weeks away give or take.. If I were a teen age girl I'd squeal. I may anyway when that brick of a tobacco samplers paradise shows up. I plan to take a couple of days off of work to just sit and go through the goods and really taste everything. Plus I've got some really good local stuff that I'm really excited to let others try and weigh in on.

 

[shaintiques]

I hope to have the Revelation rehydrated by the time it gets to me. Gotta go get some sponges. Gotta give the box some intellectual enlightenment.
And a good point by Lordnoble, don't forget to favorite this thread.

 

[woodsroad]

Let's say that again:



Don't forget to favorite this thread.

 

[wyfbane]

I saw closed and was like, "HOW!? Gunner posted the confirmation #! It's on its way to meeeee!!!"
Then I read we just need to start a new one. Whew. Prolly for the best we do a new one every year, since we are chatty on here anyway.
I promise I did not even THINK about keeping the inbound box once I saw the "Closed" on the thread!
:wink:

 

[shaintiques]

Ahh the page is so hard to find now without the trail of page numbers, but at least we may avoid the cross posters for awhile. I smoked Shortcut to Mushrooms in my Charatan Dublin

 

[woodsroad]

There you go, Dave. Now it feels like home again.

 

[freakiefrog]

I'd love to see the list of what all is in the box currently. It's really more just to satisfy my own OCD.

 

[woodsroad]

The last time that it passed my way, I was going to inventory the box. But why start a contents db? It was going to change pretty quickly, and I couldn't ask recipients to spend time revising it, that would be silly. Besides, as Monty Python said: "I wouldn't like that. It would take all the mystery out of life"

 

[freakiefrog]

woodsroad - I'm that guy that will order something and watch every youtube video on it before it shows up. I totally agree now that I think about it I'd much rather spend my time smoking it than I had changing an inventory.

 

[lucky695]

Good Grief. was this one of those Y2K scares? If Kim Kardashian didn't break the internet... how could we?

 

[cobguy]

Heyyyyy ... nice new thread you got here! :mrgreen:
I would like to join you again this year if that's OK.
Dan ... do you need my info again or do you still have it?
Thanks!

 

[daimyo]

Read all applicable source material and pm'ed. Ordering more Mixture 79 so as to be ready.

 

[bigjohn]

I had better start posting instead of just reading so I can get in on this for 2015!

 

[woodsroad]

Thanks for the endorsements, folks.
I consider this to be a collective effort. It works because you make it work. I just ride herd.

 

[wyfbane]

Actually, I was going to put out a list of what all is in there. It will give folks kind of a heads up for planning what they want to contribute.
Also, I sort of view this as an opportunity to try out a bunch of different tobaccos. I won't be taking all of any one thing if I can help it. I will hopefully tread lightly on the box.
I do intend to take it to the Tacoma Tinderbox and let the staff look it over and try some stuff they have been looking for and maybe get a donation or two. =)
Also, by pure luck, the box will be with me for the January meeting of the Seattle Pipe Club. I intend to take it there to plug this forum and hopefully get a couple more active members in my area. =)
It is sort of hard for me to find tacoma area smokers since I am a single dad and I have to ration out my sitter time for other events (like Seahawks games... woo hoo!)

 

[derfargin]

Yay new thread. The other one was leaving the webpage.

 

[tarheel1]

Unfortunately I have not been around for 4 months as of yet. Maybe if there is one later this year I can join in. I have done cigar box passes on stogiechat as well as sent out bombs. They are so much fun.

 

[woodsroad]

Please heed my concerns on sharing the Box Pass with others:
This box is intended for you.
It is not intended for other people. If your acquaintances want to join in, you can inform them as to how they should go about joining this forum and then meeting the Box Pass requirements. That said, I am not opposed to the Box making an appearance at a pipe club or tobacconist, provided the responsible party keeps close supervision on the box and there isn't a net loss to the box in terms of quantity or quality.
I personally have taken The Box to the Lehigh Valley Pipe Club (a collection of the most erudite and benevolent pipers as there ever is to be found) and left with contributions from several members, including Russ Oullette, that far outweighed their deductions.
The key here is to remember that you have a responsibility to the next person down the line to pass on a box that is at least as good as the one that you received. The history of this box is rife with people who did not accept this responsibility, but it is also replete with folks who received a depleted box and dug deep into their cellars and pocketbooks to make it right for the next guy.
Of late, there has been an embarrassment of riches, and as long as we can still close the lid, that is OK with me. If the box gets too full, we can throttle it back some, as we've tried to do recently, but an emaciated Box Pass is to be avoided at all costs. The Box Pass is about giving and sharing. If you can make that happen with a few friends, more power to you, but your primary allegiance is to the folks on down the line, here on the forum.