Embarrasing B&M visit

[bobby46]

I recently made a whimsical pipe from a split fireplace-log; bark left on. (black walnut) It is broken-in, so no burning-wood aroma. It's very, very large, and performs surprisingly well. It is kinda ugly.
After many hours of back-porch enjoyment, it will eventually meet its fate, briefly warming my home. The cost, of course = zero. Another strike against those eliteists!
Oh, but I do also own yard-sale name-brand pipes.

 

[tslex]

Want to shut down a wine snob?
Next time he is describing something as the perfect superlative of the vintners art, let him prose on about hints of plum and leather, and humidity on the leeward slopes of the vineyard, and the balance of tannins, and how the grapes aren't crushed but gently persuaded to give up their juice in an act of ritual suicide.
Then take a big gulp, smack your lips together and say: "Yum! Good and grape-y." (Yes, I have actually done this.)
Smoke what you like out of the pipe that you have. Try everything you get the chance to try, then try it again a year later to see if your tastes have changed. It is fun to become educated and learn the nuances, nifty to be able to tell what year that Dunhill came from, and so on. But the minute you use that knowledge to put down anyone -- yourself included -- you're a snob and not fit for good company. [And "Chicks Dig It" is a great name for a tobacco.]

 

[pipeinhand]

Counselor, no kidding, I busted a gut reading yours. :rofl:
So after 40 years of trying everything I could, I still pick up a pack of Captain Black white. It has been said, smoke what you like.

 

[shawn]

Smoke what you like and like what you smoke. I have real nails too.

 

[bobby46]

To tslex on the wine snob:

I believe I met that guy's father back in 1970. All those seemingly rehearsed superlatives were recited to me back then; preceeded by the ritual glass-swirl, the gargle and bowl-spit. I quit wine that same year.

 

[maineyachtie]

I have to admit, I am a bit of a pipe snob. I'm proud of smoking strictly English blends.
I have evolved from corn cobs and OTC blends to hand carved and hand blended accoutrements. Pipe smoking can be an art and those who practice the art of pipe smoking will develop their technique and taste over time. What's wrong with being a little bit proud of your development?
@Cyndi: Instating a 'no snobs' rule to the forum would be exactly the kind of behavior which you are decrying.
I appreciate that the members of this forum are so welcoming and inclusive. Even of someone like me, a bit of a snob.

 

[maineyachtie]

By the way, Simnettpratt is right on. He enjoys what he enjoys, but I think he has a he healthy desire to appreciate what more seasoned pipe smokers enjoy. It's all a matter of being objective, trying new things, and taste developing over time.

 

[simnettpratt]

There's so many great quotes on this thread I don't know what to do.
@cyndi: yachtie has a point, and he's definitely welcome here. He says he's a bit of a snob, so maybe your No Snobs rule should be: Snobs and Riff-Raff Welcome!
@tslex: QUOTE: "It is fun to become educated and learn the nuances...but the minute you use that knowledge to put down anyone -- yourself included -- you're a snob and not fit for good company." Yeah, proper education is wisdom, and a good thing. Your not-fit-for-good-company snob puts people down, and is unwelcome, yachtie-snob doesn't put people down, so he's welcome. There's nothing inherently wrong with being educated, or understanding the nuances of things, you can learn from those folks, just as you can learn the nuances of things from the uneducated, but streetwise.
@wildcat: I am also 47. We're old codgers?! Actually, I think real old codgers would laugh at us for saying that.

 

[baronsamedi]

You bunch of deodorant snobs !

:rofl:

 

[baronsamedi]

You bunch of deodorant snobs !

:rofl:
Funny thing is AXE was originally planned to sell to 30-somethings, but it failed miserably. They couldn't give that stuff away. Then they pumped up the marketing for teens and made a killing. I think the stuff would gag a maggot.
I like English but two of my favorite aros are Altadis blends, which a lot of people criticize. What can I say? Some days it's 15 year old Scotch, some days it's Thunderbird! Anyone who's read my books know what I think about snobs.

 

[brian64]

Gotta strike a balance. Distinction between snobbery and taste. Don't condescend, but don't put a premium on ignorance. Quality and price are not always the same, but quality should be sought and appreciated...you can usually find quality and rip-offs at all price levels.
As a rule, acquired tastes are worth the effort in the end. The attitude is what makes the snob, not the knowledge. Don't throw out the baby with the bath water.

 

[cyndi]

Y'all have a point. We'll definitely discuss it in the next pipe club meeting on Sunday, but I do think there's a distinction between gaining education, finding what you like, trying new things, and snobbery. What I see quite a bit is people who enjoy 1Q and drugstore pipes feeling excluded. That's the intent of my proposed rule - that no one feel unwelcome whether they are knowledgeable and know what they like or a newcomer who is still evolving in his or her tastes. The goal is acceptance.

 

[baronsamedi]

lifeon2- Gun snobs are the worst! I have carried a Springfield 1911 MILSPEC that I paid $498 for since 2003 or so. It has no custom anything, except grips, which I bought because one of the stock ones cracked. I did a little slicking up with some 1000 grit sandpaper on the feed ramp and slide and it feeds ammo like the proverbial poo through a goose.
I swear, on gun forums I would get mess from guys who wouldn't admit you could stop anything with a pistol that cost less than $4000, but then you would see dozens of posts from guys who bought Kimbers and customed them all out and now had absurd failure rates and accuracy problems, while my little

 

[thebadkitty]

I think 1Q and Half and Half are delicious...and there's also a LOT of other good stuff I have yet to try out there. I didn't know the Q was snubbed by snobs...that's funny. More for us.

My daughters keep trying to get me to use Axe, but it doesn't go well with the pine sap on my flannel.

 

[lifeon2]

Baron you have to finish the thought I hate cliff hangers... As an aside I do more work on custom guns than anything a proper 1911 should have the tiniest bit of rattle and still run even if you encase it in concrete and still hit a man size target at 25 yards.

 

[baronsamedi]

My bad, lifeon2. Totally didn't even catch that. My laptop sometimes spontaneously deletes entire lines of text.
What I was after is my little bone-stock 1911 just keeps plunking away. The most reliable handgun I ever had was my Glock 21, but the grip is too fat to conceal. The 1911's slim profile allows me to carry the full size .45 without discomfort or printing.

a proper 1911 should have the tiniest bit of rattle and still run even if you encase it in concrete and still hit a man size target at 25 yards.

Exactly!

 

[dhizzy]

I get in where I fit in....I own 2 Lucienne pipes @ $18.25 each. Two cobs each @ around $5, a Brog pear wood @19.99, an...oh no...shall I say it, a Carey Magic Inch (gasp) @ 29.99 but hey it came with 4 oz of tobacco to boot! A Sport which my little girls got me for Christmas which was $20 and two estates at $12.95 a piece. I tend to enjoy what I'm smoking out of them because, well, I don't know any different. The most expensive tobacco I have to date is W.O Larsen Old Fashioned which was at a B & M price of about 19 bucks. I break out my monocle when I smoke that one. :nana:
Maybe one day when I graduate from flea market budget to Wal Mart budget, I'll get a Pete or a Sav.

 

[lordnoble]

Why graduate at all? Stick with cheap and good. It means you can have more of what works for you. That said, I have a lot (for me anyway) of tobacco. The most I've spent on a single tin is $36, and that's only because it was an 8 oz. tin. But I buy a fair amount and smoke little. If I get out to smoke twice a week (in the winter), it's a good week. But at the rate I smoke, I'll never run out of blends before I die. I like that. You'd think I'd stop buy though. Nope. Not gonna happen.
-Jason

 

[simnettpratt]

@cyndi: The Pipe Babe gets it.
@justabouteveryoneelse: Pipe smokers are one of the most friendly and accepting slices of society I've seen. What works for you works for me. I have gravitated from Boone's Farm Country Kwencher, to German whites, to Cabernet reds, but if I go on a picnic first date with a casual wine drinker, I'm going to bring a chilled bottle of Black Tower liebfraumilch.
@baron: I PMd lifeon that I beat everyone at sporting clays with my $98 single shot NEF Pardner 20ga MOD. While I'd die to own a proper straight-stocked British side-by-side, in 16 or 28, I can outshoot you with my little hardwood 20.
Pipesmagazine.com: Snobs, Riff-Raff, Millionaires, Hillbillies and French people welcome C'mon in and sit a spell; I'll share a bowl of mine!

 

[lifeon2]

You know if you are budget minded (see dictionary: cheap ass) you'd be surprised what can happen. To date I have spent about $300 on pipes. Now some of them went down the road in trades and I sold a couple but I have 93 pipes, I posted 83 earlier because I forgot about the pipes en route to me. Now the pipes I sold I turned the money around and bought more but hey not to bad I could go out and drop 3 bills on one pipe I like 93 better. O course all this reminds me that I have more pipes to get sold of course thats what I get for buying lots rather than singles :D At any rate I think I'm rambling a bit here what I meant to say was that if I had snobberied I would have one or two pipes instead I have 93. Oh and I dont keep any that I dont smoke well so no matter which pipe I grab I know it will be a good smoke. So down with snobs but not that far down because we like you guys too.