Breaking a Rut?

[tinsel]

I've found myself falling into a pretty nasty rut over the last 6 months or so. I have forsaken my cellar and find myself just smoking the same 2 blends day in, day out.
I've always had an "all day" blend for work, but in the evenings I generally switched things up a lot. Lately I find myself reaching for the same 2 blends all the time. When I do go over to the shelf with all my tobacco tins and jars, nothing sounds good. Nothing appeals to me. I just wind up smoking those same 2 blends.
And, really, it's mostly just 1 blend. The 2nd blend is maybe 1-2 bowls a day (out of an average of around 8-10 bowls a day).
Anyone else fallen into a similar rut? How do you break it? Is it even a "problem"?
For the record, my #1 blend is Orlik Golden Sliced. #2 is Red Cake 5100.

 

[didimauw]

This is not a problem, this is indeed Simple Perfection my friend. You are growing wiser! :clap:
I smoke Carter Hall mixed with Butternut Burley all day every day.

 

[josephcross]

I dont see the problem. You know what you like. In a way I think that is awesome, because sometimes it aggravates the heck out of me trying to decide what Im going to smoke. Or figuring out what Im going to buy next.

In my humble opinion, those two blends are delicious!

this is indeed Simple Perfection

^this

 

[bluegrassbrian]

I can understand the blends.. both are great values.

You're smoking twice as many bowls a day as I do, and I sometimes feel like I'm in a rut!

 

[pagan]

No problem hear, I like the codger blends but have about 6 other blends that I go through on a regular basis, I do try new blends but when the tin is empty I go back to my regular blends, Im a creature of habit

 

[aimlesswanderer]

Only in the online pipe smoking world could this be viewed as a problem :roll:
If I could find just two blends that I'd be happy sticking with, and enjoy with every bowl, I'd be over the moon not concerned about it. Since when has contentment been "a rut"? A rut is when you're stuck with two blends you don't even like.

 

[seagullplayer]

Winter.....

 

[thesmokindragon]

Smoke what you like Brother, always good to seek out new blends and over time your tastes will change - I find myself smoking more Lat heavy blends in winter and lighter straight Vs and VaPers in the warmer months

 

[cosmicfolklore]

I tend to get so busy in the summertime that I can't even stop to think about tobaccos. I generally tend to just smoke 5100 or PS LTF every day, with some of Hearth and Home's Freight Train at night before bed.

I wouldn't call it a rut, but it is smoking just for smoking sake. It's not very cognoscente or connoisseur-ish of me, but sometimes you just have to do what you have to do.

 

[tinsel]

Thanks for the moral support, guys.
aimlesswanderer, I think you are right. It's probably only because of time spent reading the forums that I feel like I'm doing something wrong by not smoking a million different blends.
I'm just going to embrace it. OGS and red cake 5100 for me, thanks!

 

[gmjabsky]

Reading this as I fire up a bowl of OGS...I've got nothing for you

 

[aldecaker]

Variety is the spice of my pipe smoking life, but I will go through periods where I primarily smoke one blend, day in, day out. I keyed in on a phrase Cosmic used- smoking just for smoking's sake. I think more of us than would care to admit are smokers first, connoisseurs second. After all, if we didn't enjoy smoking to begin with, we would not ever "progress" to the fancy-pants smoking.
(Be wary, Tinsel. You don't want to be suckered into becoming a "pipe hobbyist"!) :wink:

 

[tinsel]

I think more of us than would care to admit are smokers first, connoisseurs second

I'll readily admit it. I smoked cigarettes from age 14 to age 29. 2 packs a day through most of that time span, along with an occasional pipe just for fun. When I tossed the cigs and started smoking my pipe full time, it was mostly for the monetary savings that came with it. 2 packs a day at $5 a pack (in Ky) comes out to about $300 a month. I couldn't smoke $300 worth of OGS in a month if I smoked non stop every waking hour!
I'm a smoker first, connoisseur second for sure. I enjoyed most of the blends I tried, but somewhere along the way I guess I just settled into a couple that really ring the bell for me.
I'm just gonna keep on smoking those 2 blends, maybe with the occasional bowl of dunhill flake and not worry about it. At least, that is, until the 6 tins of Christmas Cheer I bought last fall come of age in a few years :D

 

[mortonbriar]

Sounds more like a comfortable groove than a rut.

I have had similiar tendencies, and I am only on one bowl a day.

 

[aimlesswanderer]

Being a smoker first is what stops me pretending I'm going to be a connoisseur, and keeps me sticking to low numbers of cheap pipes, and limited tobacco exposure.
It's not because my primary motives are a thirst for nicotine, it's because after 25 years of being a slave to cigarettes and having to yield to their command 30 times a day, I refuse to "progress" to being controlled by the pipe. No hoarding, no collecting, no succumbing to group think, no addictive tendencies of any kind, and an upper limit of 50g of pipe tobacco smoked per month. I will not become a slave to the leaf again. I'm in command now.

 

[jpmcwjr]

I hope this thread helps the OP! Good luck! FWIW*, I am in a rut and it has little or nothing to do with my pipes or tobacco....
* That and five bucks will get you a cup of coffee- in most places..... Remember when it was a quarter or fifty cents??