Dilemma of Piping Decisions: Tobacco vs Pipe

[dog_park_piper]

Would you rather:

Would you rather live the rest of your life with:

Sub-par tobaccos in exceptional pipes

OR

sub-par pipes smoking exceptional tobacco.


My answer:

Sub-par pipes with exceptional tobacco, but it's damn close!


*I ask because when I smoke a pipe once more to see if I want to keep it longer or let it go, I realize that when I smoke great tobacco in it it usually means the pipe stays in my rotation, but the tobacco totally influenced that judgment.....

 

[DanWil84]

Tobacco is the goal, pipe is the tool.

 

[cigrmaster]

I would rather have the tobacco as you can always fix a messed up pipe with a little ingenuity .

 

[Morrison Jeremiah]

Tobacco every time.
As long as the substandard pipe was a briar, I'd be perfectly happy.

 

[OzPiper]

Neither.

I don't see the point in having anything that is sub-par, tobacco and pipes included.

 

[anotherbob]

depends on how sub par. I think if sub par in the pipe department is a functional pipe that looks blah I'll take the sub par pipe and live with one of those Danish Freehand artisan pipes (have to tease), if sub par pipe means a poorly functioning pipe that fights a good smoke I'll take the sub par tobacco. I seriously have run across a very limited scope of tobaccos I couldn't enjoy. The blends I smoke aren't the blends I enjoy they're the ones I enjoy the most.
Aesthetics of the pipe are secondary and not really picky about tobacco. (when I smoked cigars I'd enjoy expensive cigars and 1 dollar Amish stick. The only cigars I didn't enjoy have paper for a wrapper.

 

[Sweet Home Alabama]

My tobacco is sourced locally and my pipe vintage briar and cob. I don’t see that I’m compromising either.

 

[mso489]

I'd rather have a tobacco I really enjoy in a low cost unpretentious pipe that functions well than a fine quality high functioning pipe to smoke tobacco I don't enjoy at all. I don't equate sub-par with price, just enjoyability. If a pipe is not functioning, no smoking will get done. Then I guess I'd have to make a pipe.

 

[OzPiper]

I don't equate sub-par with price, just enjoyability.

@mso489 put it much more succinctly than I did

What I meant to say earlier, but which probably came across as a smart-arsed comment.

 

[Grangerous]

I’d happily smoke a baskets or cobs so long as I can enjoy my favorite Tobacco.

 

[augiebd]

Going to agree with @anotherbob, what does subpar mean? That said, for the purpose of the exercise I would pick tobacco. A pipe can be rather basic and smoke well or you can make adjustments to improve it. If the tobacco is subpar to your preferences there isn’t much you can do about it.

 

[Es0teric]

Most definitely, sub-par pipes while smoking exceptional tobacco...

 

[karam]

I don’t own any fancy pipe, but do own many which smoke great, and a few that are very pleasing to the eye. Without good tobacco the whole experience is meaningless though, and the best pipe in the world would be an expensive paper weight.

 

[sablebrush52]

A sub par pipe can be altered to be less sub par, but crappy tobacco will always be crappy tobacco, so I'll take the sub par pipe. Besides, what would be the point of having a great pipe just to enjoy crappy tobacco in it?

 

[kcghost]

Tobacco every time.

 

[MidnightPuff]

Tobacco all the way.

 

[Talon]

The best tobacco will always be pleasurable in a crappy pipe but the same cannot be said if the coin were to flipped !

 

[solideogloria86]

A sub par pipe can be altered to be less sub par, but crappy tobacco will always be crappy tobacco, so I'll take the sub par pipe. Besides, what would be the point of having a great pipe just to enjoy crappy tobacco in it?

This exactly.

 

[fireground_piper]

An interesting inference here that a subpar just means not fancy.

If that’s the case there are plenty of non fancy tobaccos that are enjoyable and I’d take the exceptional pipe to enjoy them in.

 

[dog_park_piper]

An interesting inference here that a subpar just means not fancy.

If that’s the case there are plenty of non fancy tobaccos that are enjoyable and I’d take the exceptional pipe to enjoy them in.

interesting! I have to agree with you on that.

For the longest time, it seems, tobacco was a background player. OTC tobacco does what it needs to do. I guess we can call and OTC sub-par in that it's not what people describe poetically.

A solidly made pipe with Half and Half or Carter Hall for years would suit me just fine...