A Few Questions for "Old Timer" All Day Pipe Smokers

[bearwolf56]

To give you a little background I started smoking a pipe about three years ago when I stopped smoking cigarettes. I needed something to go with my morning coffee instead of the usual cigarette and smoking a pipe worked great. I tried various tobaccos but settled on mainly OTC's, Half and Half, Prince Albert, Carter Hall etc. During the day I dip Skoal or use bandits at work. I want to stop using the Skoal and Bandits all together and would rather smoke a pipe all day. With that in mind I wanted to start thinking of myself as just a pipe smoker instead of a "dipper" who smoked a bowl or two a day.
With that in mind I was wondering if you guys out there who smoke a pipe all day not only for the pleasure of smoking a pipe but also for the nicotine could tell me what a typical day for you and your pipe is like. For example when do you have your first bowl? Do you smoke one after another? What do you usually smoke and do you smoke more than one blend in a day? Do you use the same pipe all day? Or anything else you can say that describes what a typical day is for you and your pipe. Growing up I didn't have any pipe smokers to emulate and so I'm sort of looking for a mentor to help me in my journey to becoming a full time pipe smoker. Any and all replies would be greatly appreciated.

 

[matchstickman]

Back when I was working 12 hour days, I would take a couple of corn cobs to work in my pipe travel pouch. Mine holds 5 pipes along with essential accessories like cleaners and a tamper. Id load a cob and sneak out to smoke for 5 or 10 minutes where I could. A bigger cob would last me most of a shift, smaller cobs would last me about half the day. Id smoke something aromatic, generally something like a drugstore tobacco or Butternut Burley since I have so damn much of it. Id finish a cob then give it a rudimentary swab with a couple of cleaners, then set it back in the pouch, then load up another cob if the need arose. I dont do that much anymore, but cobs would help ensure that a nice pipe wouldnt get lost or broken, and if something happened to your cob you're only out a few bucks. You should probably take this advice with a grain of salt since I dont really NEED the nicotine, it was just a stress relief measure so that I didn't kill the idiots I work with. If you don't like cobs, I would suggest finding a couple of cheaper estates that can serve as "beater" pipes, something that you wont be too heartbroken if you lose it or break it. As far as multiple bowls in a day in a briar? My theory is as long as you keep it clean, you'd be all right to smoke multiple bowls out of the same pipe in a day so long as you allow it to cool and clean it between uses, then let it dry adequately before you use it again. A lot of guys like to follow the rule that however many bowls you smoke out of it in a day, let the pipe rest for that same number of days. Smoke 3 bowls in the same pipe? Let it rest for at least 3 days. Good luck and let us know how you fair in your endeavor.

 

[kashmir]

My typical workday starts out at dawn, around 5am, before the wife and kids get up. I'll let the dog out, and have a bowl of Prince Albert, Carter Hall, or EMP, with strong black coffee. Then the shower, shave, teeth, etc. By this time the house is up, and I'll be on my third cup of coffee, with another bowl of the same in a second briar. Then off to work, 45 min. commute, I'll be smoking London Mixture, Nightcap, Star of the East, Pirate Kake, Engine 99, Odessa, Red Odessa, Charing Cross, Blackhouse, Campfire - those are my main smokes throughout the day and evening. At work I can't smoke. But that's OK because I figure they PAY me NOT to smoke. If I need a smoke I can always pop into my portable smoking lounge, my truck, and take a 30+ min. break. I get home around 6pm, another pipe with the commute, and then its time with the wife and kids. If the weather is decent that means the covered deck where I can smoke. We hang out there even in the snow. Having a large dog means we're outside folk, unless its raining or butt ass freezing. Then I'm out there alone. Or in my man cave, the garage. I don't smoke in the house. Wife's rules. I'll go through 5 to 8 to 10 bowls on most days, using four to five pipes, cleaning between each smoke. On the weekends, all hell breaks loose. LOL. Forgot to say I teach at a local college, and they have a half mile track there. I try to put in 10 laps around that track every other day. Five miles full on power walking. I can do 12.5 min. mile walking. Keeps the grim reaper at bay. I can out walk my 20 yr. old students easy, any day. That's what balances out my smoking, and what shuts up the Antis.

 

[mso489]

I'm no all-day smoker, so my account is strictly second hand. My dad chain smoked his pipe from about age

12 to 65, when he quit cold turkey for good. There were stretches when he smoked cigars only, but he went

back to his pipe. He said the idea of his first bowl of tobacco got him up in the morning. He always had a

big breakfast, and he lit his first pipe on his walk to the commuter train on the old Chicago and Northwestern

line. In those days, the office culture in Chicago accommodated smoking at his desk. Except for lunchtime,

he'd smoke pretty much all day, and after supper. He had no pipe rotation at all. He'd smoke one pipe all day,

every day, until it was burnt out. He had several burnt-out pipes as back-ups, but basically smoked one at a

time. His only tobacco was Granger, the classic Burley blend. He died at 89 licensed to drive without glasses.

As near as I know, none of his ailments related to his extensive smoking history. His dates were 1917 to

2006. He was a minesweeper officer, eventually a skipper, during WWII in the Pacific theater around the

Philippines.

 

[judcole]

Do you smoke one after another?

I can speak to that, even though a big day for me is 4 bowls. If you are gonna smoke constantly, make sure you have at least two pipes, so you can let one cool down. That is, of course, unless you intend to just smoke crap pipes and let them burn out, which they will.

 

[thesmokindragon]

I'm only a 2-bowl per day Mon-Fri , Sat-Sun about 3-4 bowls a day

I also like my Vita-N, I have a good strong flake (Peterson IF, UF,

SG Bracken or 1792) in the AM w/side of Turkish coffee and usually

go to a full English (C&D's Bow-legged bear) in the evening.
Also, if you are always on the go , I find a nice military mount style

stem on a briar works wonders for quick break-down and cleaning right after

your smoke. You can also snag a nice Meer (perhaps with a military

mount as well/My PAD is telling me that will be my next one as well)

 

[bearwolf56]

Great insight and great advice guys. Thank you for your input. I'm getting a better idea of what the future has in store for me as an all day smoker. As rothnh said we're all different, but at the same time we're all a combination of our own experiences and what we've learned from others. Thanks again guys.

 

[shutterbug]

As an ex-cigarette smoker of 20 years, I can say that I am now an all day pipe-smoker. It also helps that I don't have a traditional 'office' and that I can smoke at home ALL DAY. Nowadays, it is completely reliant on how your social day is scheduled that will dictate when and how much you smoke. In other words, if your daily life allows for smoking all day, chances are you will lean towards becoming an all day smoker. If work prevents you from smoking, or you are physically doing too much work that will prevent you from smoking the way you want, then that will be your smoking schedule. I have about 6-8 bowls a day, stopping only when my wife says I smoke too much...(then I just go to the basement)

Shutterbug

 

[cortezattic]

At home (almost always) I smoke a wide variety of blends in separate pipes -- according to my whims.

If I'm out and about all day I use one pipe and smoke Anni Kake continuously. :wink:

 

[andrew]

Get some meershaums, they're made to smoke a lot in without any troubles.

 

[foggymountain]

If you are interested in the boring details, here they are. My first few smokes are with a Dunhill Root Briar, either Bombay Court of McConnels Scottish Cake. Usually a few hours apart. Later in the day It is a Savinelli Giubileo D'Oro with Frog Cellar or whatever tobacco I feel like smoking, but nothing too heavy. In the evening it is most often a Dunhill Bruyere or Chestnut or a Peterson, sometimes a meer. The tobacco is a little heavier, such as Syrian 3Oaks, Nightcap, Frog regular or Cellar, MacBarens Vintage Syrian or Blackhouse. A good mid evening smoke is the 3 part recipe I posted which The Old Cajun calls Foggy Banana Split. Bottom 1/3 Frog Cellar, middle Nightcap, top Old Dark Fired. I smoke 6-10 bowls a day, never one after another. My blood pressure gets too high otherwise.

 

[neverknowsbest]

I smoke about 3 bowls a day at work. I also do snuff, cigarettes, and occasionally cigars, so I don't really notice the nicotine from pipe tobacco. I keep a rotation of pipes, but usually I'll stick to one type of tobacco blend on any given day (for example, one day I might favor Virginia and another day English or Burley, etc.).

 

[coolsiggy]

I'm a all day smoker, 2 pipes alternating and replaced each day from a rack of 20. I also use a 9mm carbon filter and light up each pipe about 5 times each day.

 

[ciderguy]

I smoke anywhere from 3 to 10 bowls a day. My first pipe of the day is often an intriguing aromatic local blend called Grandfather's Own from Steven Brooks at House of Calabash with a cup of strong coffee or black tea. If I don't want an aromatic then its GLP Cairo (VaPerO). After that I'll normally have a few bowls of Carter Hall. During a work day I normally settle into a straight VA like McClelland 5100 after lunch through the end of the day. I'm frequently too busy to smoke in the evening, but when I do I either have some Squadron Leader, more Carter Hall, or something sweet like Dan's Da Vinci depending on my mood.
My all day companion is normally a MM cob for the Carter Hall and aromatics. I have another cob devoted the Squadron Leader, and two briars and a Rupp cherrywood that I rotate for use for Cairo and the 5100. My cobs only rest while I'm sleeping and I find they taste better once they've colored to a nice yellow color. I plan on picking up a few more pipes soon so that I can devote a few to Cairo and a few to the 5100. I'm looking for a good deal on a clay and currently bidding on a few estates.

 

[cigrmaster]

I smoke pretty much all day and get in 4-5 bowls. I never use the same pipe for more than one bowl a day unless I am going out. I prefer my pipes to smoke as dry as possible which to me leads to a more flavorful smoke so my pipe will get a couple days or more rest before I use it again. I start the day with my morning coffee and usually a lighter Virginia flake such as Dunhill Flake or Wessex Gold Virginia Flake or Rotary Navy Cut and a few others. I then move up to darker Va flake with more oomph and from there either a Virginia/perique Flake or a Virginia/Burley Flake which is a bit stronger. After that it can be a full strength flake or maybe if I am having a sweet tooth University Flake. I generally start smoking around 11-12 and finish around 10-11 pm. if you are going to smoke all day I think a rotation of 16-20 pipes should be good. If you are looking for higher nicotine blends I would recommend Peterson Irish Flake, Peterson 3P's, Samuel Gawith Full Virginia Flake, Solani Silver Flake, Mac Baren Old Dark Fired, GL Pease JackKnife Plug, to name a few.