Are You a Pipe or Tobacco Person?

[damnyak]

With what I feel is more and more pipe carvers coming forth each year, as well as new, fantastic blends being released for us folks I ask:
Do you consider yourself to be a pipe or tobacco person? What to you is more important?
Myself, while I do have a pretty big Canadian made Brigham Collection, as well as building my Artisan collection,in total about 60+ pipes I find myself more interested in the art of blending tobacco. I love being able to try new blends to search for flavors, room-notes, tin-notes etc. On many days I find myself bored with pipe shapes, as they all start to seem the same after you have seen so many say while looking on eBay. However the notes of all the blends I have are like a scent party in mason jars each one ready to be explored in different ways, again through room note, taste and tin note. In the end I could smoke a $0.50 MM cob for the rest of my life and be just as happy as long as I could still explore all my blends.
It's great to see Pipes move from your codger OTC to almost coffee, wine, whisky, and say cigar levels of hobby participation and demand for quality in both Pipes and Tobacco, Also that being said, its fantastic that the Dr. G and OTC blends still have a place and are not going anywhere, and are still being enjoyed even by so called "Connoisseurs".
So what are you? Whats more important to you? a fancy hand carved and engineered pipe with the every type of "pipe bling" available? grain, stain, rare material accents etc, or a large rotation of pipes.
Or is it Fancy, exquisitely blended tobacco to enjoying and searching for deep notes?
I am not sure if this is a repeat thread, If it is...my apologies.

 

[necron99]

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[mrenglish]

I like to think I am tobacco oriented based on my stash and was happy with my Peterson collection of pipes until Premal at Smokers Haven got me into indie carvers...

 

[cmdrmcbragg]

Tobacco for sure. My taste in pipes is pretty limited, you could call my picky. I am coming up on a full year doing this pipe thing, have owned 18 pipes and currently have 12.
I'm more prone to TAD than PAD.

 

[mso489]

Probably pipes, though I work at tobacco. My local pipe shop owner asks me, as I look at his pipe

display, if I see anything I like, and I answer, that I am looking for something I don't like. But I have

reigned myself in sufficiently to only have accumulated about 60 pipes, some that were bought new

nearly 40 years old. But I distract myself from the pipes by looking at, and learning about tobacco,

and I try mixing various tobaccos, to get a feel for rudimentary blending, and I enjoying trying and

comparing different blends.

 

[agnosticpipe]

I guess I'm more into pipes than tobacco, but only slightly. I say this because I really enjoy restoring old pipes, and learning about different pipe's history. I like reading about history of all sorts, and pipes seem to have a rich and fairly long history. I enjoy smoking and trying different tobaccos too, but because I seem to be quite nicotine sensitive, that limits some of the tobaccos I feel I can really enjoy smoking. A little sad about that.

 

[northernneil]

I would say I am drawn to tobacco slightly more at the present moment. That being said, the more I learn about different pipe manufacturers, the more pipes I want to buy. I could see the tables turning in the near future to a more pipe oriented approach.

 

[metarzan]

Tobacco for me, but I gotta have the right pipe for certain blends so it may appear equal. I could streamline down to 5-7 pipes easier than I could to 5-7 tobaccos.

 

[easygoer]

Tobacco guy. I don't have the disposable income for pipes but I'm fine with a handful I really like.

 

[damnyak]

Some solid replies going on here!
Again with me owning 60 pipes, I find myself going back to say 3-4 only on a regular basis. So much so I was starting to "feel Bad" about Owning so many but never using them. So I retired my Brigham's to a "collection" status, While I still have a few I smoke I feel since they are not made in Canada anymore, it's best to just put them away

 

[macabra11]

I've only got a couple pipes and nearly a couple dozen varieties of tobacco, so I guess that makes me a baccy brother!
But seriously, the pipe is a tool to experience the flavors and ambiance of the tobacco. I love trying new things and experimenting with different flavors and combinations. I am, however, fully aware that smoking a certain tobacco in different pipes will produce different results. I just haven't had much of an opportunity or experience in pipe smoking to appreciate that facet yet. Some day.
The other thing is price. It is a LOT cheaper to try 20 different tobaccos than it is to try 20 different pipes!
Just the thoughts of a rookie pipe smoker!

 

[derfargin]

This another question that pops up on the forums from time to time. Thus far I've seen it 3 times and each time my answer is the same.
No question about it, I'm a tobacco person. I can get by the remainder of my life with about 12 or so pipes, mostly because I need the quantity for rotation.
I can't get enough of the tobacco blends right now, and in light of the new FDA regs coming in, I'm going to start ramping up my stockpiling of tobacco over the next 12 months.

 

[owen]

Can I make a third choice of smoking? Having tried a mass of tobaccos and now smoked a number of pipes it has become a case of focusing more, which for me will be two or three tobaccos and enough pipes for sensible rotation. It is all about the puffing.

 

[krizzose]

Definitely tobacco for me.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

For a while I was telling myself that amassing as much tobacco as possible was the most important thing, and then I talk with a pipemaker, and end up buying new pipes, or making a few more for myself. I grow tobacco, and I play with blending, but I also jar it up and stow it away. I then end up buying more at the B&M as new blends come out, and then almost always come home with a new pipe also. I think it's an equal draw for me. I enjoy learning the intricacies of smoking a new pipe, and exploring new tastes, blends, strengths...

I'd have to freely admit to having a double problem with TAD and PAD, but as long as I never buy on credit... it's manageable.

 

[damnyak]

@macabra11 In regards to your comment

The other thing is price. It is a LOT cheaper to try 20 different tobaccos than it is to try 20 different pipes!

I have to disagree, as many of my pipes cost no more then a Tin off Tobacco usually for a estate at a Antique market you can find some great smokers for $5-$20

 

[derfatdutchman]

A few years ago I would have said pipes, but today I have to say tobacco.

 

[meerqueer]

Coming from cancer sticks, I'll say tobacco, especially now the smoke tastes soooo good compared to before. But having started a small collection of 7-8 pipes, I have to say I'm thankful that I'm granted this added bonus of staring/touching/kissing art pieces everyday when I smoke.

 

[zekest]

Tobacco comes first, the burner is second.
My bossy brain says: Umm, lets do a Va/Per, then my brain selects the pipe best suited.

 

[davidintexas]

I'd have to say that probably depends on where you're at in your own personal journey in piping. Right now it would probably be tobacco for me as I have several pipes to keep me currently contented. But, most of my pipes were estate pipes found at antique stores, but don't necessarily smoke all that well, depending. So, at some point I may change to being more pipe oriented as I have quite a lot of blends, but would like to have a few really good smokers, and will be concentrating on acquiring those few good smokers over the months ahead.