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fishmansf

Can't Leave
Oct 29, 2022
447
1,473
PNW
Some of you may remember a post a made a while back about using a pipe to quit snus. Update: doesn't work. Honestly I still love snus but there's nothing magical to it like pipe smoking; its just easy, habitual and requires no skill. It seems that snus has also messed with my palate and my ability to enjoy pipe tobacco so I am deciding to quit to pursue pipe smoking full time again. On top of that, I really have come to realize how I don't like being dependent on a substance like snus. A pipe is addictive in a sense, mostly to those smoking 4+ bowls a day, but for 1 bowl a day pipe smokers, it hardly has a grip. I will not be quitting cold turkey however and will be using nicotine patches to achieve this all while continuing to smoke my pipe, going from step one to step three and then ultimately getting off the patches with a pipe still in hand. I don't believe that this is advised but this is something I want to document and experiment for myself and for others who are interested/trying to quit cigs/dip/snus/etc. in place of the pipe so they can see if, in the long run, this is viable option for you. I am not sure everyone will be interested in following along but I plan to document bi-weekly on how I am feeling, how its going, and then once I am done, how it all went and if it is indeed recommended. I'm ready to kick the snus and give my pipe a big ol' wet kiss again!
 
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bullet08

Lifer
Nov 26, 2018
10,340
41,823
RTP, NC. USA
What's the point? You are still using nicotine one way or the other. Pipe doesn't deliver solid nic punch like a cig, but you are smoking a bowl for an hour or more. That's constant exposure to nicotine through mucus membrane in your mouth and nasal passage. So you quit snus. But what's the end point? I'm just not sure what you are getting at.
 

BingBong

Lifer
Apr 26, 2024
1,474
6,343
London UK
As I posted elsewhere (and I've not tested it), smoking a cigarette, then a pipe, then another cigarette will wean you off cigarettes - according to the late British Prime Minister Harold Wilson. Whether this works for sinus or chew, he didn't say.
 

fishmansf

Can't Leave
Oct 29, 2022
447
1,473
PNW
What's the point? You are still using nicotine one way or the other. Pipe doesn't deliver solid nic punch like a cig, but you are smoking a bowl for an hour or more. That's constant exposure to nicotine through mucus membrane in your mouth and nasal passage. So you quit snus. But what's the end point? I'm just not sure what you are getting at.
Nicotine from pipe smoke is absorbed through the oral and nasal mucosa at a much less efficient rate than snus. I could smoke a whole bowl of a group 5 pipe and still not get as much bioavailable nicotine as you would from snus. While technically there would be more nicotine in that bowl than there would be in snus or a cigarette, you’re body isn’t utilizing anywhere close to the amount of nicotine you’d get from say a 8-10mg snus portion applied directly to the gums. My goal isn’t to quit nicotine but rather to greatly reduce my overall dosage/usage of it so I can enjoy a pipe and not need 80mg of nicotine a day to stay satiated. The end goal as stated in the post is to quit snus which is far, far, far more addictive than a pipe. I can happily put down the pipe for days and not even think about it whereas I can’t go two hours without thinking about snus. So again, my purpose isn’t to quit nicotine but rather to taper off my tolerance/need of if with patches and enjoy a pipe which really doesn’t have a lot of bioavailable nicotine.
 
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HawkeyeLinus

Lifer
Oct 16, 2020
5,857
42,243
Iowa
Some of you may remember a post a made a while back about using a pipe to quit snus. Update: doesn't work. Honestly I still love snus but there's nothing magical to it like pipe smoking; its just easy, habitual and requires no skill. It seems that snus has also messed with my palate and my ability to enjoy pipe tobacco so I am deciding to quit to pursue pipe smoking full time again. On top of that, I really have come to realize how I don't like being dependent on a substance like snus. A pipe is addictive in a sense, mostly to those smoking 4+ bowls a day, but for 1 bowl a day pipe smokers, it hardly has a grip. I will not be quitting cold turkey however and will be using nicotine patches to achieve this all while continuing to smoke my pipe, going from step one to step three and then ultimately getting off the patches with a pipe still in hand. I don't believe that this is advised but this is something I want to document and experiment for myself and for others who are interested/trying to quit cigs/dip/snus/etc. in place of the pipe so they can see if, in the long run, this is viable option for you. I am not sure everyone will be interested in following along but I plan to document bi-weekly on how I am feeling, how its going, and then once I am done, how it all went and if it is indeed recommended. I'm ready to kick the snus and give my pipe a big ol' wet kiss again!

You've quit before, do whatever that was again. Don't understand the continual musing about it. Pipes are now "magical" but you've gone on in the past about how you can take them or leave them and on and on and what is or isn't healthy, this or that medical concern about anything nicotine delivery related. There is definitely some issue related to nicotine or the thought of it and wanting to talk about it - if you are serious, see a professional and get to the bottom of it all, but none of this really has much to do with pipe smoking. Seems like nicotine needs to be in your rear mirror for you to enjoy life more - maybe put the foot on the gas. Too much in life to enjoy, get there.
 

fishmansf

Can't Leave
Oct 29, 2022
447
1,473
PNW
You've quit before, do whatever that was again. Don't understand the continual musing about it. Pipes are now "magical" but you've gone on in the past about how you can take them or leave them and on and on and what is or isn't healthy, this or that medical concern about anything nicotine delivery related. There is definitely some issue related to nicotine or the thought of it and wanting to talk about it - if you are serious, see a professional and get to the bottom of it all, but none of this really has much to do with pipe smoking. Seems like nicotine needs to be in your rear mirror for you to enjoy life more - maybe put the foot on the gas. Too much in life to enjoy, get there.
The pipe has become a chore but that was a year ago. The long gap I’ve had between made me realize how magical they are. It’s called reflection sir.
 

Pipke

Can't Leave
Aug 3, 2024
419
1,324
East of Cleveland, Ohio. USA
I'd just quit the dip cold turkey and tough it out. Use a product like Jakes Mint Chew. I did that 9 years ago. I was still using Jakes Mint Chew after all that time. A few months ago I just said, eff it, and I'm happily smoking tobacoo out of a pipe.
 
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sardonicus87

Lifer
Jun 28, 2022
1,394
14,194
37
Lower Alabama
You're discovering what I told other people about cigarettes... that you can't quit cigarettes with a pipe, that the act of quitting cigarettes and the act of smoking a pipe are two separate things, for the same reasons.

It's also not just about bioavailability, it's also about absorption rate. Nicotine has different effects based on rate of dosage—dump nicotine in quickly and it acts like a stimulant, dump it slowly and it acts like a depressant. Of course, how readily it's absorbed affects the dosage rate. Patches and gums and other stop-smoking aids are slower, that's why they don't really kill cravings, they just "take the edge off" a little.

Try dry, fine cut shag burley, that'll be the closest you can get to the same punch. If you have a pipe that normally lasts 50 minutes to an hour, Tabac Manil/Tabac de la Semois "Le Petite Robin" might last 30-40 min in the same pipe and will get you a faster hit.

Also, pipes don't have to be a chore, mine aren't. Maintenance doesn't have to be anywhere near as deep as many people make it.
 

HawkeyeLinus

Lifer
Oct 16, 2020
5,857
42,243
Iowa
The pipe has become a chore but that was a year ago. The long gap I’ve had between made me realize how magical they are. It’s called reflection sir.
I think it's more deflection than reflection. It's been off and on not interested any more, lost interest in tobacco, tobacco provides no nicotine, tobacco is causing this or that health concern, started again but don't enjoy it and so on for a long time. It was a chore within the past few weeks.

The quitting snus? And you claim to have figured out a way to quit before . . .



In all sorts of ways you definitely have issues related to nicotine - get some real help if you want to truly figure out and solve the issues. I hope you succeed.
 

makhorkasmoker

Part of the Furniture Now
Aug 17, 2021
761
1,986
Central Florida
When I find I’m smoking more than usual, and especially smoking what I feel is too much, it usually means there’s some imbalance in my life —too much stress, not enough sleep or exercise, need of a new goal, among many other things. So I try to correct the imbalance—not always with success—and I find I smoke less again
 
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PipeIT

Lifer
Nov 14, 2020
5,218
30,814
Hawaii
But, if you want more nicotine from pipe tobacco and ween off like this, then get these blends, these are strong, higher nicotine.



 

Sig

Part of the Furniture Now
Jul 18, 2023
514
2,422
Western NY
Dang, I've got a dip in most of the day. I quit nicotene, caffine and alcohol nearly a decade ago. This last Spring I realized what a loser I was so I started back with the nicotene.
With my lifestyle, nicotene is one of the more healthful things I do. :)
Ever try to pull a chunk of barrbed wire from the groin area of a 2700 pound bull? I did last week.
Right after shoeing a young stallion for his first time.
Week before that, I got bit by a feral cat. :)
 

Sobrbiker

Lifer
Jan 7, 2023
4,181
54,762
Casa Grande, AZ
I can happily put down the pipe for days and not even think about it whereas I can’t go two hours without thinking about snus.
I’ll bet if you quit snus for a week, you won’t be going days without a pipe.

As a long term nicotine addict, it’s my experience up to this point in time that if I quit one delivery system for another the slack will be taken up somewhere. The only time I’ve had success quitting one modality was to cold turkey nicotine altogether-any dabbling got me back to square one in short order.
 

BingBong

Lifer
Apr 26, 2024
1,474
6,343
London UK
As a long term nicotine addict,The only time I’ve had success quitting one modality was to cold turkey nicotine altogether-any dabbling got me back to square one in short order.
Yeah, I deliberately stopped for about 3 weeks once, cold turkey. Then I thought, I've got this under control, I can have one cigarette a day... Ohhhh that's nice. Then 3 a day. Then 10. Then 20+

I'd quit on 15, ohnoes. These are the terrible consequences of listening to do-gooders, aye.
 
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