I think you should delete that post @rav, that is a line begging to be used in an anti-smoking ad. It could fall into the wrong hands. Loose lips sink ships.
Hardest part when starting to smoke
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I guess one of my hardest thoughts to get over is finding the taste. Sure, I taste the smoke. But getting to taste the "flavors" like cherry and vanilla. I smell the tobacco and it smells amazing. Trying to get over that mental hype of how it should taste is my trouble. My father says it is when you have the smoke in your mouth, rolling around.
Also, learning to "sip" and packing the pipe.
I guess I just need to enjoy the smoke and keep it all simple.
Also, learning to "sip" and packing the pipe.
I guess I just need to enjoy the smoke and keep it all simple.
Disconnect from the real world....when piper+bacci are ONE :worship:
but.....Radice is helping me
but.....Radice is helping me
Hands down for me is tongue bite. Albeit the cause was(sometimes still is) all the above mentioned issues. ...Except eBaying while drinking.(That was a good one!)
I suffer from TAD enough sober!
I suffer from TAD enough sober!
Cadence or rhythm was probably the hardest for me. I smoked cigars, and cigs as well (no cigs for many years!) and finding the proper cadence for the pipe, which is quite different than a cig or a cigar, has always been a bit of a struggle. Even now, I sometimes puff too hard and need to remind myself to slow down.
I might add that pipe smoking, and all that goes along with it has chilled me out to the extent that, when something does not go right with respect to, say.. bowl loading, cadence, or otherwise as mentioned above, I start to laugh, or at least give a chuckle. It's all learning, and it all still brings a smile to my face, even in the presence of failure. What other hobby/habit/sport can do that for the soul? I Love Pipes.
The hardest part for me was going back to it after scorching the hell out of my tongue constantly with CBW in a DrG without a filter. Poorly packed as well.
I think the hardest part is the immense and bewildering choice on offer these days. A scan through smokingpipes.com can make your head spin. I can well imagine a beginner shouting "I just want a decent smoke!" at his screen. :P
Knowing what you like is also a bit misleading, as you can have a perfectly acceptable rotation down, try a new tobacco and suddenly you're at square one again. Similarly with pipes. There is a lot of advice on technique online now, but learning what is right for you is a never-ending journey. I wouldn't be too surprised if in the last month of my life I thought "Ah, so I should have been smoking this all my life."
Knowing what you like is also a bit misleading, as you can have a perfectly acceptable rotation down, try a new tobacco and suddenly you're at square one again. Similarly with pipes. There is a lot of advice on technique online now, but learning what is right for you is a never-ending journey. I wouldn't be too surprised if in the last month of my life I thought "Ah, so I should have been smoking this all my life."
Wow, this stuff just gives me the shits. I guess that I'll ever understand all this to do about fretting over the perfect pack and light and cadence. It is what it is and even more, it is what you make it. Again its not painting a master piece or restoration of the Sistine chapel, its supposedly relaxation. Chill out put some tobacco in the big hole light it with some kind of small fire and puff at your leisure.
Necron wrote:
"I guess that I'll ever understand all this to do about fretting over the perfect pack and light and cadence. It is what it is and even more, it is what you make it."
Agreed. I've said before, though, that I think the drawback of forums like this one -- wonderful as it is -- is that they tend to encourage over-thinking and over-worrying about minutia. Instead of just smoking our pipes and discovering things for ourselves, we come here for "answers" to make sure we're lighting our tobacco correctly, discovering all of the arcane nuances of our favorites blends, liking the blends we're supposed to like, and getting validation that we did, indeed, purchase the right pipe.
I think this is just a natural outcome of an online community devoted to a lesser-known hobby. But I think it can help sometimes to just step back and try to discover things for ourselves first. For instance, how many times have folks asked what something tastes like? I always want to say: Smoke it for yourself! Our tastes differ. Our likes/dislikes differ. The only way you'll know how it tastes for you is to try it. After all, all of us who started smoking pipes before, say, 1995 usually didn't have anything other than tin copy to drive our trial-and-error smoking experiences. It was okay if you didn't like every tin you bought; you had the experience of trying a new blend and you learned something about tobacco and your personal preferences. If you only want to do the "right" thing, you'll miss out on the "error" part of the equation -- which is half the journey.
Stepping down from my soapbox. . .
Bob
"I guess that I'll ever understand all this to do about fretting over the perfect pack and light and cadence. It is what it is and even more, it is what you make it."
Agreed. I've said before, though, that I think the drawback of forums like this one -- wonderful as it is -- is that they tend to encourage over-thinking and over-worrying about minutia. Instead of just smoking our pipes and discovering things for ourselves, we come here for "answers" to make sure we're lighting our tobacco correctly, discovering all of the arcane nuances of our favorites blends, liking the blends we're supposed to like, and getting validation that we did, indeed, purchase the right pipe.
I think this is just a natural outcome of an online community devoted to a lesser-known hobby. But I think it can help sometimes to just step back and try to discover things for ourselves first. For instance, how many times have folks asked what something tastes like? I always want to say: Smoke it for yourself! Our tastes differ. Our likes/dislikes differ. The only way you'll know how it tastes for you is to try it. After all, all of us who started smoking pipes before, say, 1995 usually didn't have anything other than tin copy to drive our trial-and-error smoking experiences. It was okay if you didn't like every tin you bought; you had the experience of trying a new blend and you learned something about tobacco and your personal preferences. If you only want to do the "right" thing, you'll miss out on the "error" part of the equation -- which is half the journey.
Stepping down from my soapbox. . .
Bob
Probably discovering tastes of different tobaccos is the hardest for me. What is nice about this forum is that I can find things to try that might make a pipe more enjoyable. I agree that there are too many variables, including ones personal tastes, but face it - these days there are not pipe smokers all around that can offer tips and suggestions. Take them or leave them, try them or don't; but at least they're here. Good thread!
I think the most difficult for me was learning to pack properly and to use the tamper at right times and right pressure to keep lit. It took a few weeks to get the "feel" for it, after which it has just been a matter of deciding which blends I like best and in which pipes.
The other problem was in spending far too much money but that's water under the bridge now.
If I had it to do over, I would buy 2 cobs (and forever stems), 2 briars (higher quality estate pipes) and 2 meers (I'm loving the meers!) and then try just a few blends at a time.
The other problem was in spending far too much money but that's water under the bridge now.
If I had it to do over, I would buy 2 cobs (and forever stems), 2 briars (higher quality estate pipes) and 2 meers (I'm loving the meers!) and then try just a few blends at a time.
it probably doesn't matter how you smoke a pipe, except i read on another thread here that overheating it could shorten its life. if this is true, then hot boxing an expensive pipe is a problem. i could heat up a cheap pipe but that might make it harder for me to not heat up my good ones. and even at this early stage of my pipe smoking life, with the exception of my first one, all my pipes are good ones.
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