Greetings and a Few Questions

[kendodan]

Greetings all! First off, I would like to say thank you for such an amazing site and friendly members. You all have been very helpful.
My name is Daniel. I grew up in Ohio but I am currently an English teacher in Japan. I've been here over 2 years and plan to live here much longer. I am new to pipe smoking but have always been drawn to it. I hate cigarettes. Dislike Cigars. Hookah was missing something. I believe I found my spot with pipes.
I ordered a Dr. Grabow Duke, Lane 1-Q, Frog Morton on the Town from 4noggins. I hope the tobacco is good! Unfortunately, it hasn't arrived here yet and I couldn't wait so I went hunting around my town and found a nice looking pipe at this real small shop.

I can't place what kind of pipe it is. The shop had a Peterson and some Tsuge pipes as well but they were a bit expensive. So I went with this. Any information on it would be great!
That shop didn't have any pipe tobacco so I had to go searching for that as well. The selection wasn't great but this is what I bought. The Momoyama II is pretty good and smells like raisins or figs I suppose. The smoke isn't too bad either. Silk Road is... I am not sure. It's not bad but I have only smoked it once and I used about 15 matches! So I am still trying to get used to it. Today I smoked the Momoyama again and did much better. Used only about 10 matches and got it all the way to the bottom of the bowl as well. I was surprised!

Well enough rambling. Any info on the pipe and tobacco would be greatly appreciated. Also, any advice for a newcomer. I have read a lot of the forums and watched a bunch of videos but any advice is always welcome!
Happy sipping!

 

[numbersix]

Welcome kendodan to the forums. I cannot comment on the pipe (cannot see details) or tobacco - but it looks like a fine first step.
BTW: my niece taught English in Japan for a few years and she hopes to move back there some day. I hope you'll continue letting us know how you progress. I am very curious to learn what it's like to be a pipe smoker in Japan.
As for advice, keep reading the forums and don't hesitate to ask questions! ::

 

[namuna]

Hello kendodan,
Nice choice on the pipe, I'm also a big fan of the full-bent billiard, Oom Paul like shape. I'd love to visit Japan someday (though I'd likely bankrupt myself from buying all the cool toys!).
Welcome to the forums!

 

[piperl12]

Welcome!

 

[bentmike]

Welcome kendodan. Greetings from Ohio. The Autumn leaves are beautiful here now. Crisp, cool days of fall are my favorite days for pipe smoking. I'm wondering if Japan has an Autumn season with coloring tree foliage?

 

[irish]

Welcome to the forums and good luck in Japan.

 

[tarak]

Can't help on that pipe. Pics are pretty small. But, welcome and enjoy!

 

[kendodan]

Yikes! Sorry about the small pictures guys! I will have to fix that somehow! Thanks for the warm welcome though! The Fall foliage here is amazing. Just google Kyoto fall foliage and you will be amazed. It's absolutely gorgeous. But I get the feeling I am going to be a pretty lonely pipe smoker here. I haven't seen or heard about anyone smoking a pipe in my area. Looks like I'll have to start recruiting!
I'll work on the pictures though. I am quite curious about the pipe. The stamps on the sides say, "Made in France 1307" (That doesnt seem to be a year :? ) On the other side it said, "MAYFLOWER." Then, as you can see on the stem there is a white star. I'll try to figure out how to upload bigger pictures though.

 

[wilson]

Welcome. I think you chose well for your first order from 4Noggins. Lane 1Q is the common answer, here, when folks ask for an aromatic recommendation. And Frog Morton is often recommended for one's first foray into latakia blends.

 

[petes03]

Welcome to the forum! My name is Daniel as well, but I live in exotic East Tennessee! You've ordered two great tobaccos, the Frog is an excellent Latakia blend, and 1Q is about the best aromatic out there! As for using so many matches, make sure you gently tamp your tobacco every few minutes while smoking, this will help tremendously! Also, let your tobacco dry about 20min before you load it in your pipe, this should help as well. Keep in mind that relights are normal, but shouldn't be excessive.

 

[kendodan]

MADE IN FRANCE 1307

MAYFLOWER

FILTER

Ok, it seems I figured out how to insert bigger pictures. I hope this helps! Any ideas?

The tobacco I ordered seemed to be everyones recommendation on this site so that's what I went with. Thanks again!

 

[sablebrush52]

Welcome to the forum! The only info I could on a Mayflower pipe is one made by the National Briar Pipe Company, which was a US company. Given that it says "Made In France", which to the best of my knowledge is English, it might be one of theirs.

A couple of good sites for learning about pipes are:

http://www.pipephil.eu/logos/en/index-en.html

http://pipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page

About the closest I've gotten to Japan is sushi. Maybe one of these days...

 

[kendodan]

So I went back to the shop and asked to see the tag that came with the pipe. All it said was "BC　メイフラワー" The Japanese just means, "Mayflower." I am guessing BC means Butz Choquin. The star on the stem also fits as well as it being made in France but..... I still can't find this particular model... Anyone know anything about Butz Choquin?

 

[sablebrush52]

Here's some info for you.
http://pipedia.org/wiki/Butz-Choquin

http://www.pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-butzchoquin.html

 

[kendodan]

Yeah I read those and they helped. Thanks a lot. Still can't find my actual model though. Just going to email BC and see if they can help. Thank you everyone for the warm welcome though. If you ever come to Japan let me know!

 

[stbruno70]

Welcome to the forums.
How interesting it must be to live in Japan.
The best advice I could give a new smoker is to puff slowly and keep the pipes clean.
Enjoy.