Accosting a Pipe Smoker In The Wild

[odobenus]

pipe-smoking etiquette
Myth.

Solid point, Duane! My own personal pipe-smoking etiquette involves a heavy fug of Turkish and Latakia that clings to my clothing and hair, small pieces of shag stuck between my teeth, ashes on my pants and shirt, black tamper-shaped smudges on everything I own, and matchsticks falling out of my pockets. It is undoubtedly off-putting to all but few. Or at least that's how I intend it.

You actually sent a six year old after a total stranger for nothing more than a tobacco inquiry?

He is like a good heeler. Send him after the stray calves to nip and set them running, then recall him.

 

[blues4goose]

I've been told enough times that I'm doing it 'wrong' because my pipe is polished and clean and my tobacco costs more than $15/lb, that I just don't want to approach smokers in the wild anymore. I've never met any kind of smoker in the wild other than a codger, and me being young and looking even younger doesn't help. I even try to offer samples of what I'm smoking and I've always been met with an upturned nose.

 

[frankrem]

Yea finding a pipe smoker is a bit like finding a four leaf clover around here. I have heard rumor of them but never really seen one out in the wild yet. Can I interest anyone in a bit of snipe hunting?

 

[odobenus]

Sidenote: I honestly thought snipes were fictional until about 6 years ago, and I am 40. Now I am surrounded by them.

 

[jpmcwjr]

I see a pipe smoker every month or so where I live. But I spend a lot of time on the golf course, where it appears I am the only one who partakes.

 

[timelord]

I've met a few ex-pipe smokers when I've been sitting in the park smoking. They usually come over and say they used to smoke pipes and ask what I'm smoking and we've had a pleasant little chat although one fella pointedly told me he had stopped and couldn't stand the smell of pipes anymore. Whilst I was trying to think of suitable - and non antagonistic - response he walked off. I've had a few other non-smokers talk to me about the pipe but only ever in a friendly way.
Leaving church after the Christmas vigil mass (aka midnight mass) one of the readers came over as I was lighting up and said he'd been a pipe smoker for many years and missed it and he was glad to see that there were some still about - his wife didn't appear so keen though!
Oh, and I've had the strange person who starts the mock coughing when I am standing downwind and the pipe isn't even lit...
...but seeing someone else actually smoking a pipe; very rare.

 

[Chasing Embers]

black tamper-shaped smudges on everything

:rofl:
I've got one pair of jeans that those never wash out of! :rofl:

 

[husky]

Can I interest anyone in a bit of snipe hunting?

I honestly thought snipes were fictional until about 6 years ago, and I am 40. Now I am surrounded by them.

Does snipe mean something other than a small bird here?

 

[odobenus]

Nah, just the bird. And a non-stop chorus, certain times of year, of their tail-feather winnowing/drumming, which I love.

 

[autumnfog]

In my town, I've seen three or four pipe smokers in five years.

 

[Chasing Embers]

Does snipe mean something other than a small bird here?

A wild snipe hunt is a prank where you ask someone if they want to go snipe hunting, take them into the woods, tell them to hold a bag open so that you can chase a snipe into it, and leave them there overnight.

 

[frankrem]

Yea its just a prank you pull on friends. Basically having someone out looking for something they are never going to find while you and your buddies laugh at their expense.

 

[alaskanpiper]

their tail-feather winnowing/drumming, which I love

This is such a unique noise, I love hearing it as well.

 

[husky]

Yea its just a prank you pull on friends. Basically having someone out looking for something they are never going to find while you and your buddies laugh at their expense.

Ok. I only know about snipe because they are the origin of the term "sniper", a person who is good at shooting snipe and therefore a very good marksman.

 

[5star]

I saw one pipe smoker in the wild during the last 3 years. I was driving past him and he was about to head into a store. If I had been near him & on foot I would’ve said Hello.

On the other hand, I often see vapers out there. The first time I saw one, I wondered what the heck kind of cigar he was smoking. The cloud of smoke was prodigious.

 

[cshubhra]

I had a scary encounter with a ‘Pipe Smoker in the wild” last year. I was taking an UBER to office and on I-78 towards Holland Tunnel, a car wildly swerved into our lane. Somehow the UBER lady avoided hitting him. Later on when we passed him, he was lighting a pipe.

 

[szconrad]

I've yet to really smoke in public. I've tried smoking at a local park, but since I'm not quite sure what the community rules are involving pipe smoking and smoking in general, I tend to feel more comfortable to smoke at home. I did see a pipe smoker a few weeks back in downtown Savannah. He moved with purpose and was wearing a flat cap. I appreciated seeing him out in public like that, but I also didn't feel the need to accost him in any way.

 

[tulsagentleman]

My wife and I were on a cruise last spring along with around 5000 other passengers. One of the designated smoking areas was outside next to the rooftop swimming pool and I wandered up there several times each day to smoke a pipe. Only once all week did I see another pipe smoker. He was an older gentleman puffing on a clenched half-bent pipe while he read a paperback book. I was so pleased to find another pipe smoker in the den of cigarette fiends that I went over and sat down across from him. I waited until he looked up at me and told him it was nice to see a fellow pipe smoker. He scowled at me and muttered something unintelligible then went back to his book. After a moment I left him alone. We pipers are a solitary lot it seems.

 

[hugodrax]

Yeah, honestly better not to try. It is the equivalent of walking up to another guy and pointing out you're both wearing the same shoes. Not really the deep connection you might think it to be.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

Not really the deep connection you might think it to be.

BINGO!!!

That, and most questions people ask me while I am smoking are usually stupid as shit.

Questions that I have gotten by other pipesmokers while minding my own business smoking my pipe...

"What kind of pipes do you smoke?" ~This was the most moronic thing I had ever heard from someone who claimed to have been a pipesmoker.

"Have you tried (insert a tobacco brand name tobacco here)?" ~Why would a stranger care what another stranger has tried?

"Have you ever tried breathsmoking? ~as I set there breathsmoking. I just assume they've watched one of the dumbass videos on Youtube, and they have no clue about anything.

"Do you want to try my blend?" ~Egads!! Dear Lord, NO!! Please go away. I don't trust some stranger wanting to put their shit in my pipe, and... go away from me.
"Have you ever been to the Briary?" ~Finally a smart question, but I lie, because I don't want some beginning pipe smoker asking me a bunch of questions.
Most of the time, they are really neophytes wanting to learn something, but I am not a teacher of these things. There are already too many pipesmokers in my area, especially my town.

But, sometimes it is just some jerk that wants to test whether he knows more about something than me. Life is too short for these types of morons. I usually just send these types to this website. ::
And, I can tell the guys who just want to make friends, because they may walk up with their own pipes, but keep the conversation on other things.
But, most of the time when I hear that they are a pipesmoker too, it is like hearing, "I have the same haircut." Who cares?
You guys who live in places where there aren't other pipe smokers to bother you with this inane bullshit... I'm jealous. ::