Former Cig Smokers and Pipes

[Jef]

Cigarettes are a curse. I am still addicted to them. But I am working so hard to just stick to the pipe. As mentioned earlier, the convenience is what gets me. I work 12 hr shifts with only 3 15 min breaks and no lunch time. The pipe just isn't practical. However, I have cut my cig consumption by more than half by using the pipe. I think you would be fine if you just stick to your pipe. Cigs are a high dose quick shot of nicotine. Plus all of the additives that are in cigarettes are no good either. I don't feel that pipe tobacco is as bad. Even when I inhale a pipe I don't get the nicotine satisfaction that I do with a cig. So IMO, as long as you just stay with your pipe you should be fine.
Jef

 

[UncleRasta]

I started with pipe smoking not really expecting it to diminish my cig desire, but it has. After a few months, I only reach for the Ryo cigs now when the pipe is inconvenient. I find that they are two distinct ways of enjoying tobacco, and I had already long ceased enjoying cigs anyway. It was 90% habit. These days I smoke as many cigs in a day (2 or 3) as I used to smoke before breakfast. If I have a day of leisure and all-day access to my pipe, I may not roll a cig at all.

 

[kurtbob]

Was a SERIOUS nic hound for 40 yrs. Cigs, dip and cigars. Added pipes about 5 yrs ago and slowly use of all the others just dropped off. Only been straight up pipe smoking for the last year and don’t really feel the need for the others anymore so.......yay me

 

[lawdawg]

I smoked about half a pack of cigarettes per day on average starting in my late teens until I was around 30 years old. I started smoking a pipe in my late 20's and just gradually phased out cigarettes without really intending to at first, though it later became deliberate.

I'll still smoke a cigarette on rare occasion, but I just don't enjoy them like I used to. I much prefer pipes (or cigars), and I don't worry that even the occasional cigarette once every few months or so will lead me back to my old cig habit. In fact, when I accept a cigarette from a friend, it's usually only because I'm in a situation where it would be very inconvenient to smoke a pipe, and the cigarette is just a substitute for my pipe which I would prefer over the cigarette. Your miles may vary of course.

 

[gervais]

I smoked cigarettes from age 16 - 30, roughly half pack/day. I quit when I started to be more health-conscious and they were becoming very expensive on top of that, about $10/pack when I quit. They are now $17/pack I believe. I started pipe smoking, looking for an excuse for more relax/reflection time. That, and I love collecting things, so pipes and pipe tobacco fit the bill perfectly. I have 2 young kids and very little time to myself, so I realistically smoke only 1-2 bowls/week on average. It is now winter, so I find myself not going out as much as when it was warmer. I'm not going to lie, and this is going to sound strange, but I've "thought" about cigarettes since taking up the pipe. Not necessarily thought about ever buying a pack or smoking them again, but just thinking of them in general. Maybe just the fear of someday wanting to smoke them again after quitting for 5 years. But I honestly believe that if you really really do not want yourself to do something, with any amount of willpower, you won't do it. I will never smoke a cigarette ever again.

 

[danimalia]

In terms of the convenience factor, you might be better off getting a different source of nicotine when you can't have a pipe. For example, Swedish snus has been shown to have a much lower risk of oral cancer than American style smokeless tobacco. That's what I use in a pinch most of the time. Or you could try nicotine lozenges, gum, even the Zyn tobacco-free nicotine pouches.

 

[TinCup]

This is just day 102 of being cigaretteless for me and it was my intention to finally cut them out of my life after 30+ years at a pack a day and take up pipe smoking instead (so I had the pipe to look forward to as my 'reward' as it were)

Even though I had a couple of cheap pipes and tobacco lying around the house I didn’t use a pipe for the first month or so believing if I did I’d be on half a dozen bowls a day in no time which is not what I wanted to do. It looks a bit weird but I did ‘smoke’ a pipe with no tobacco in it (and still do if I’m sitting in the office and can’t get outside) but I know that’s just to help combat the craving for cigs rather than craving a pipe

So far a bowl or two a day seems adequate and I’d like that to be the limit

 

[achtman]

I became addicted to cigarettes 60 years ago, when I was 15, and was a chain smoker for most of the time since then. At the age of 27, I tried to stop and switched to a pipe. I smoked pipes only for 6 months and enjoyed it. But one cigarette and I was hooked again. I fought against it for 4 1/2 years while also smoking a pipe and lost the fight. So I gave up pipes and became a chain smoker again. About that time I switched to RYO and started enjoying smoking even more. 15 years ago work regulations prevented me from smoking at work unless I went outside. 13 years ago I stopped smoking indoors totally, including at home. My consumption dropped in the process to 10-15 cigs a day.

Four years ago I developed mild COPD, with a continuous wet cough and shortness of breath. I decided to stop smoking cigs and did so by promising myself I could buy myself any pipe I wanted to as long as I never smoked another cigarette. It has worked. I haven't smoked a cigarette since. It took 6 months to stop craving cigarettes and a couple of years to stop thinking about them. I have no desire to smoke cigs anymore even if somebody smokes in my vicinity.

I smoke a pipe a day, mornings. Occasionally 2 pipes a day. If I travel I don't smoke at all, and it is unproblematical to stop for a few days. I am a collector, and now I collect pipes, mostly old or antique pipes. I also have a large stash of different tobaccos. The COPD is not getting much worse and I enjoy the morning ritual of smoking a pipe outdoors. And I no longer need the mental kick of a cigarette to stimulate my brain when I am writing something.

Mark

 

[danimalia]

That's wonderful, Mark. Watching my father struggle with COPD was a big reason I decided to try to get rid of the cigarettes.

 

[anotherbob]

In terms of the convenience factor, you might be better off getting a different source of nicotine when you can't have a pipe. For example, Swedish snus has been shown to have a much lower risk of oral cancer than American style smokeless tobacco. That's what I use in a pinch most of the time. Or you could try nicotine lozenges, gum, even the Zyn tobacco-free nicotine pouches.

after the first time I tried los snus I thought why have I ever smoked cigarettes this is more convenient and more enjoyable as well.

 

[Lyle b]

I was a 25 yr pack a day smoker. I got off the cigs 3 years ago. I am looking at pipe smoking because I like the idea of the ritual and the pause that it forces you to take during the day. I'm thinking, evening smokes on the porch or stopping during a grouse hunt to smoke a bowl and brew a coffee etc. I'm terrified of going back to cigs. I'm wondering if any former cig smokers can advise if the differences are big enough that it doesnt become a slippery slope back to smoking cigs?

EDIT: Fixed Capitalization in Title - Bob

I was a 25 yr pack a day smoker. I got off the cigs 3 years ago. I am looking at pipe smoking because I like the idea of the ritual and the pause that it forces you to take during the day. I'm thinking, evening smokes on the porch or stopping during a grouse hunt to smoke a bowl and brew a coffee etc. I'm terrified of going back to cigs. I'm wondering if any former cig smokers can advise if the differences are big enough that it doesnt become a slippery slope back to smoking cigs?

EDIT: Fixed Capitalization in Title - Bob

Hey Verno , get yaself a sample pack and a cob pipe . You will never look back .

 

[bullet08]

there are days cigarettes are very tempting. and some times, i buy a pack. but as long as i keep my stress under control, a bowl of pipe satisfy my need and want. last time i had cigarette was dropping off my friend at his parents when he had a break down.

 

[charf]

Never smoked cigarettes but have smoked a pipe for a year now. Love it. Usually one bowl in the evening. The thought of inhaling smoke or vaping just doesn’t seem right to me but being 49 I have been well hammered by health officials over the years.

I have just left home for a 3 day business trip and did not bother bringing any pipes with me. Do I miss them, yes, but I don’t feel a burning desire to have nicotine even though I smoke strong blends. Maybe that will change with time. I guess that’s the risk with tobacco.

However the thing that really drives me up the wall is working out which blend to smoke when you have 18 different ones open!

Best of luck with your decision and good health.

 

[SaviSmoker]

I thought the pipe would help me steer away from the cigs but now I smoke both. I smoke a pipe for the flavor but follow it up with a cig for the nicotine.

 

[tokerpipes]

I switch back and forth a bit still. Nails are convenient when I drive big rigs. But, always come back to a pipe when I get home.

 

[indoeuro]

I was a 1-2 pack a day smoker for 15 years, smoked a pipe and cigars, and chewed tobacco 2-3 times a week through that. Haven't touched a cigarette in 10 years, but I do smoke a pipe every day. The habit of inhaling and the actions that form the habit of smoking are the hardest parts of quitting cigs, and you're well past that. You'll be picking up the actions of smoking again, just minus the inhaling. If that makes you too nervous, then bail on the idea.
BUT... Even if you try to inhale, your throat and lungs really won't like it after three years' recuperation. Plus, I trust that you remember how bad cigarettes made you feel, how awful they make everything smell, and what an expensive drag (haha) feeding that habit is. Pipes aren't like that. I say go for it.

 

[TyeIkard]

If I’m being honest I have been concerned about this as well. I received a pipe for Christmas as I mentioned in my introduction post but I have zero interest in returning to cigarette smoking. I think it is absolutely individual. For me, I definitely intend to use for flavor and conversation rather than to inhale.

 

[dcicero]

I am working on dropping cigs in favor of the pipe as well. I go 1 day on 1 day off usually right now. I haven't been able to kick it completely yet. But for me the problem is that pipes are not designed to give you a prescription of nicotine. When a cig is done, I've gotten my prescription and can now go about my day until the next time to take the med. With a pipe, I'm not clear on when I've had enough so I find it in my hand constantly through the day. Also, if I get stressed out and want nic, it's not very efficient to grab the pipe when a cig can calm me down in 1 sec. I'd love to just have a bowl in the am and a bowl in the PM, no cigs, and have pipe smoking take up no more than 3 hrs of my day. But right now whatever the cigs have in them, in that exact amount, just has me. I think I'm making progress though.

 

[Sitka]

I smoked cigs for 20+ years, then quit using a vape but never stopped with nicotine in the vape. Did that for two years made my own juice and vaped with the same frequency I smoked cigs. Right aroud the time those people started getting sick and dying from the vitamin E in the counterfit vapes I quit vaping and started with the pipe. I smoke at the most three pipes a day and have not wanted to go back to cigarettes at all. I don't crave nicotine like I did with the cigs or even the vape. Everyone is different though. I believe a lot has to do with habit and dealing with stress.

 

[blackpowderpiper]

I am working on dropping cigs in favor of the pipe as well. I go 1 day on 1 day off usually right now. I haven't been able to kick it completely yet. But for me the problem is that pipes are not designed to give you a prescription of nicotine. When a cig is done, I've gotten my prescription and can now go about my day until the next time to take the med. With a pipe, I'm not clear on when I've had enough so I find it in my hand constantly through the day. Also, if I get stressed out and want nic, it's not very efficient to grab the pipe when a cig can calm me down in 1 sec. I'd love to just have a bowl in the am and a bowl in the PM, no cigs, and have pipe smoking take up no more than 3 hrs of my day. But right now whatever the cigs have in them, in that exact amount, just has me. I think I'm making progress though.

Good-Bye Cigarettes, Hello Pipe - Pipedia - https://pipedia.org/wiki/Good-Bye_Cigarettes,_Hello_Pipe

I'm not sure if I'm allowed to post this link but it does contain some very good information in regards to transitioning from cigarettes to a pipe. I too struggled with cigarettes and the best I can tell you is that it is a process. Cigarettes are not only super addictive, they are super convenient. It really takes a strong will to give them up. I would suggest getting your hands on some blends that have a higher nicotine content. The stronger blends will help you satiate your need for nicotine. Start slow and don't beat yourself up when you reach for a cigarette. Try to find a time during the day when you can sit down and really enjoy your pipe and learn it's nuances. The nic hit is a bit slower with a pipe but it is definitely there. Quitting cigarettes is a battle and you have to approach it as such. This means planning your day and having a pipe ready for those times when you know your going to need some nicotine. Trust me, it can be done and eventually you will begin to appreciate the fine tobaccos that you put in your pipe versus the garbage tobacco they put in cigarettes. Good luck in your quest.