Down Time in the Field

[mrslaughter]

Greetings everyone! I just wanted to stop in and wish everyone a good day. Hopefully you are all enjoying this fine Monday! I’m stuck in the field training at the moment, but given this little bit of down time I figured I would check in with everyone and wish you all a fair day. So, what are you ladies and gentlemen smoking on today? Here I have my MM Diplomat paired with some Orlik Golden Sliced. This combination is proving to be a very well deserved treat, if I do say so myself!

 

[mrslaughter]

It would appear that I still don’t understand how to properly post an image to this forum...Go easy on me, please! Haha!

 

[husky]

Hi soldier!

I am trying my first bowl of Dunhill Royal Yacht mixture in a Savinelli bulldog.

Which unit do you belong to and what do you do (consider opsec)?
Mathias ex. Swedish army

 

[shanez]

 

[shanez]

I right click on the image and then choose "View Image". After the image comes up I then right click on it again and then choose "Copy Image Location".
Hope this helps.

 

[didimauw]

Love the cob . I been puffin on mine all day today in this nice weather.

 

[mrslaughter]

Thank you all for the comments! Firstly, Mathias, I am a Marine, not a soldier. Now then, I’m a 0621, meaning I am a Field Radio Operator. In short, my job consists of setting up, operating, and maintaining communications equipment in order to enable my Battalion Commander to have command and control of the battlefield whenever he needs it. I’m part of 1st Battalion 6th Marines stationed in Camp Lejeune, NC. What is it that you did by trade when you served? It is always nice to meet other members of the armed forces.
Shanez, I appreciate the tip! I’ll give it a try in my future posts. Didimauw, what kind of cob do you own, and what blend have you been puffing? I’m quite curious about the Cobbit line of cobs, as I’d love to try an inexpensive churchwarden, due mostly to my admiration of the Lord of the Rings (similar to many others, it would appear).

 

[alaskanpiper]

Shanez, I appreciate the tip! I’ll give it a try in my future posts. Didimauw, what kind of cob do you own, and what blend have you beef puffing? I’m quite curious about the Cobbit line of cobs, as I’d love to try an inexpensive churchwarden, due mostly to my admiration of the Lord of the Rings (similar to many others, it would appear).

First of all, thank you for your service! I just picked up one of the Cobbits myself, and will be giving it a go soon. More of a "demichurchwarden" in length at 7 and change or whatever they are, but it sure feels good in the hand. Also recently picked up my first Old Dominion cob. It is their "Richmond" model. I got it because it has the widest chamber I've ever seen on a cob, which I like for English blends and flakes. Little wood stems are awkward to clench, but their rustic simplicity and the story behind the company is so cool, especially with their clay pipes (one of which I also nabbed for shag cuts and will be loading with some penny farthing soon).
Also, if you want an inexpensive briar churchwarden of more LOTR length, check out peterson and savinelli. They have many great smokers in the $70-80 range that run 10 inches, you may even find an estate one from time to time on Smokingpipes for even less. Keep an eye on chamber size though, as some of their bowls are quite small.
But if you want the real deal, you gotta pony up for one of the Vauen Auenlands. Great pipes, and Hobbity as hell, but super expensive. They smoke amazingly well and the wooden stem is lined with acrylic making cleaning a breeze. I only load mine with straight virginia's, to honor Tolkein's affinity for Capstan. My Cobbit's first bowl will be PS 24 Nougat, since I've heard that's what they smoked on the film set (or at least that blend renamed something else by a pipe shop).

No smoking for me today unfortunately, but up next I'll probably be giving my first dunhill (a 1973 redbark prince) a go with an english blend of one kind or another. Likely either margate or red rapparree. God knows when. My 3 month old is in charge and she hasn't given me a break yet.

 

[mso489]

You have an excellent pipe and a fine leaf. Welcome aboard. Thanks for your hard work on our behalf. I was a swabby myself during one of the ancient conflicts.

 

[mrslaughter]

Congratulations on the child! I am a father myself, of a 15 month old daughter. I missed the early months due to deployment but I’ve seen her grow so much in what feels like such a short period of time and it truly fascinates me. Please do keep me posted whenever you get around to trying out your recent purchase of the cobbit. A churchwarden seems like the right choice of pipe for evening bowls and books, and I have recently started reading The Hobbit.

 

[didimauw]

This is my oldest cob. Its an original legend, but this one has the hardwood plug in the bottom, which I'm told they don't make, by the service department. So I think it's kinda rare. It's been repaired a few times via fishnbanjos wood putty method. It's 7 years old now.
My favorite blend these days is Briar Fox by Cornell and Diehl. Been smoking lots of it lately. Gotta buy it by the pound just to keep up.
I was going to retire the cob, but I missed smoking it so much, I busted it back out.

And a close up of the huge crack that I repaired a few times.

 

[alaskanpiper]

It's been repaired a few times via fishnbanjos wood putty method.

You can't just throw that out there without some kind of link or explanation!!! What is this wood putty repair method banjo gave you?

 

[dmcmtk]

mr s, that's a great picture!

 

[didimauw]

fishnbanjo cob repair method
Scroll to bottom to see the process

 

[alaskanpiper]

Congratulations on the child! I am a father myself, of a 15 month old daughter. I missed the early months due to deployment but I’ve seen her grow so much in what feels like such a short period of time and it truly fascinates me. Please do keep me posted whenever you get around to trying out your recent purchase of the cobbit. A churchwarden seems like the right choice of pipe for evening bowls and books, and I have recently started reading The Hobbit.

Thanks and congrats on yours! It is already amazing how fast it is going by. Little chicken has already doubled in size and is smiling and giggling now. I can hardly stand it.
I'll PM you after I give the Cobbit a go, hopefully in the next week or so. I'm sure if you post a thread on that topic though, many folks here can give you a good appraisal of it's performance instantly. Yeah, i really like churchwardens, I have probably 7 or 8 of them. Mostly in the evening for long, slow smokes when I don't want any smoke in my face. I also use them alot when smoking with/around other people, since I don't like to clench during conversation, and the length allows me to enjoy it without having to keep bringing my hand up to my face.

 

[alaskanpiper]

@didi thanks!

 

[mrslaughter]

Thank you all again for your kind comments. I must say that this forum has got me hooked! There are a lot of kind gentlemen here and I appreciate the fact that you all seem to be willing to teach newcomers like myself, since I don’t know of any pipers in my area just yet. I almost feel as if I’m sitting in a lounge having conversations with each of you (though I’ve never experienced smoking at a lounge, haha).

 

[didimauw]

In my time, I haven't personally met any pipe smokers. I have however converted 2 people, (one of which was a complete NONsmoker) since they found out I'm a pipe smoker, and I brought an old pipe smoker back into the game.
So mentioning the fact that your a pipe smoker, sometimes opens people's eyes. And many even though they have interest, won't go out and just buy stuff. I've noticed it helps to give gifts.

 

[alaskanpiper]

since I don’t know of any pipers in my area just yet.

Unfortunately, you likely never will. We don't actually exist in the real world. You are being catfished.

 

[mrslaughter]

I’m trying to convert my friend to pipe smoking and he is willing, but I just need to get him a pipe. I’m trying to get him a basic little bundle from the Free Pipe Project, since I found an interesting thread about that recently. I think I may have some luck with that, and I’m hoping to get him set all up before our next deployment! I’ve got plenty of time before then.
Also it is quite sad that pipers are rare out in the real world. I’m curious as to why? Is it a generational thing or some sort of social stigma, I wonder?