Biggest Lessons Learned On Pipe Smoking

[rknoblauch]

Just looking for a few of your biggest and best lessons and experiences you have learned to smoke better pipe!!!

This is for every new smoker to learn from not just myself.

Share away fellow pipeatiers!

 

[captainprophesy]

when clenching a rather large Peterson meer lined Canadian while driving and getting out, be aware of the length before shutting the door.

 

[rknoblauch]

when clenching a rather large Peterson meer lined Canadian while driving and getting out, be aware of the length before shutting the door.

Oh no I imagine it is now un smokeable.

 

[deathmetal]

1. Start with a cob, some Carter Hall and Five Brothers until you get the hang of things.
2. Smoking is a form of meditative breathing.
3. Most "conventional wisdom" is just people trying to control your mind; look toward is traditional (i.e. has worked for generations).
4. There are no "right" tobaccos, only right reasons for liking blends.
5. Always stock up on Royal Yacht and Old Joe Krantz.

 

[aldecaker]

Don't disregard OTC's just because they're OTC's. You haven't tried them 'till you've tried them, and you may be pleasantly surprised by some of them.

 

[papipeguy]

Patience and tempo.

 

[mothernaturewilleatusallforbreakfast]

1. You can tell yourself that you have plenty of pipes and tobacco, but yourself will tell yourself back that you are lying and that there is always room for more of both.
2. Things change.
3. Tobacco will never be cheaper than it is now.

 

[deathmetal]

Nothing will be cheaper than it is right now. Prices always go up as entropy seizes a society.

 

[janosh]

Do not live in Europe. Especially in Hungary. :evil:

 

[rknoblauch]

Canadians pay way to much. Order online. A 50g tin costs $80 here

 

[captainprophesy]

Oh no I imagine it is now un smokeable.

The outer pipe is fine, a couple of small dings I took out... but the Meer inside the bowl shattered

 

[litup]

I think the best thing you can do to improve your smoking experience as a new smoker is learning how to pack your pipe. I prefer the "Frank Method".
Frank Method Video

 

[warren]

Experimenting and finding what works for you with regard to loading, blends and cadences. As opposed to some, I view the pipe as a tool primarily for delivering nicotine, nothing mystical or arcane. It's an inanimate piece of dead wood, have fun with it and enjoy. I learned long ago that smoking a pipe is a personal matter, not a competition and the only hard and fast rules are that you like the pipe, and possess tobacco and a source of ignition. Other than that, it's pretty simple. How far you take the experience is your choice.

 

[ctron]

Relights are nothing to be ashamed of, dry your tobacco, and smoke what you enjoy because life is too short to waste time on a blend other people on the internet seem to like.

 

[sablebrush52]

!. Practice patience - While smoking a pipe isn't rocket science, practice and experimentation can improve your smoking experience.
2. Few blends smoke to the bottom of the bowl, leaving a wine white ash, with only one light. Most of those claims are baloney.
3.Relighting a pipe is not an indicator of ineptitude.
4. Too moist tobacco and too fast smoking contribute to tongue bite.
5. Properly dried tobacco delivers more flavor that tobacco that is too moist or too dry. Most tobacco is too moist out of the tin or pouch and benefits from drying time. The length required varies on the specific blend. Practice and experience will help you find out how to prepare your favorite blends. Relax and discover.
6. Packing is also critical. Look at the different methods, try them out, see what works best for the blends you like. No one method is all encompassing.
7. Puff to get the tobacco burning at the beginning. Sip to savor the flavors and keep it going. Tobaccos deliver the most flavor when they simmer next to the portion burning.
8 Keep your pipes clean between days of use.

 

[jpmcwjr]

What SB said. Others, too, but he pretty well covers everything, and what is covered is done very well.

 

[jmatt]

Slow........down.......
I'm a high-stress person by nature. I'm a litigating attorney by day, and until recently raced a 2,400hp dragster for fun. I NEVER relax.
The pipe provides my quiet relaxation that I've not found elsewhere. So it taught me to slow down and relax.

 

[tennsmoker]

Slow and patient. Pipe smoking is not a race. It is a meditative exercise. Think of it as a zen experience and not a foot race to the finish line.

 

[shutterbugg]

Something I learned early on applies across the board to pretty much every task in life, including the pipe:
Experience and repetition are not synonymous. I can't even recall how many people I interviewed for jobs who claimed they had x-number of years experience, when in fact what they really had was x-1 years of repeating the same mistakes they made in year one. If something isn't working, analyze it and change one thing at a time until your results start to improve. Then when the results plateau, change one other thing, and so on. That's the straight road to getting good at anything.

 

[ssavarimuthu]

Stay open to trying new blends. Go out on a limb.