Hello from Indiana

[Meerly John]

My name is John, and I'm excited to join you all here. I smoked cigarettes for many years, and dipped for a few years during that time. I have been pipe only for about 6 months and I'm never looking back.

I started with aromatics, but have since moved on to VaPers mostly. I prefer the spice of perique to the spice of latakia, but I have only just recently tried an English blend with a little age, and I love the way the latakia turns smooth and fruity.

My daily driver is PS Luxury Bullseye Flake, or Luxury Navy Flake if that's sold out. I alternate between two Dr. Grabows, but I plan to have a Savinelli or a meerschaum by the end of the month.

Thank you all for having me, and thank you in advance for all of the valuable knowledge I'm sure I will gain from you.

 

[STP]

Welcome, John

 

[Tar Wheel]

Welcome from Winston-Salem, N.C.

 

[FurCoat]

Welcome from North Carolina

 

[Jim Sobie]

Welcome from Detroit!

Give cobs a go too. Cheap, smoke great and if something happens to it ya say Aw crap and get another one. I smoke cobs exclusively now...

 

[Meerly John]

Welcome from Detroit!

Give cobs a go too. Cheap, smoke great and if something happens to it ya say Aw crap and get another one. I smoke cobs exclusively now...

Smoked a couple $5 cobs in the very beginning. I'm looking now on smoking pipes and a little more money goes a long way! I may have to get a Cobbit...

 

[Jim Sobie]

Smoked a couple $5 cobs in the very beginning. I'm looking now on smoking pipes and a little more money goes a long way! I may have to get a Cobbit...

I will admit an interest in churchwardens, but promised myself I would invest in tobaccos first and then maybe get a little crazy with pipes later. LOL

 

[AKinser79]

Welcome from FL.

I smoke mostly cobs and it is my opinion that they give the truest flavor of the tobacco (once broken in--which is a lot less work than for a briar--the only way to get a purer taste would be to use a new clay pipe). Also their price range means that with cobs I can dedicate pipes to different tobacco types also. Some tobaccos impart a particular taste to a pipe that can come through in subsequent bowls, in my experience.

Also I can be a bit hard on my pipes too--they go with me in my pocket and I work a physical job so I have to be able to withstand the loss of a pipe should the worst happen.

 

[AKinser79]

I will admit an interest in churchwardens, but promised myself I would invest in tobaccos first and then maybe get a little crazy with pipes later. LOL

I'm with you there, man. My pipe/tobacco budget is more geared toward trying tobaccos than buying pipes also. To me, a pipe is a tool used to enjoy tobacco. And having had both cheap and expensive pipes I can say that in my opinion there is no appreciable difference other than the aesthetics of the tool employed.

Unless of course one is talking about the differences between the materials used to make the pipe. Cobs smoke differently from briar which smokes differently from meerschaum, which smokes differently from clay.

 

[Jim Sobie]

I'm with you there, man. My pipe/tobacco budget is more geared toward trying tobaccos than buying pipes also. To me, a pipe is a tool used to enjoy tobacco. And having had both cheap and expensive pipes I can say that in my opinion there is no appreciable difference other than the aesthetics of the tool employed.

Unless of course one is talking about the differences between the materials used to make the pipe. Cobs smoke differently from briar which smokes differently from meerschaum, which smokes differently from clay.

Righto! At base it's a hole you shove dried leaves into and another hole to suck the smoke out of.

Okay yes I know it's more detailed than that, and sure I occasionally look at beautiful Petersons and Savinellis, but at my core I'm a base-model driving, black coffee drinking, cob and burley utilitarian. If the tool from Hobo Freight works and the $7.99 cob smokes the leaf, ship it. ?

 

[philobeddoe]

Welcome to the forum John, from a fellow Hoosier.

 

[Dudditz]

Welcome to the forums John!

 

[AKinser79]

Righto! At base it's a hole you shove dried leaves into and another hole to suck the smoke out of.

Okay yes I know it's more detailed than that, and sure I occasionally look at beautiful Petersons and Savinellis, but at my core I'm a base-model driving, black coffee drinking, cob and burley utilitarian. If the tool from Hobo Freight works and the $7.99 cob smokes the leaf, ship it. ?

From a utilitarian standpoint: spot on.

As I said previously I have had both cheap and expensive pipes. So I'm not completely utilitarian--is anyone really. I often simply cannot justify to myself the purchase of 150 dollar pipe when I know it doesn't really smoke any better than a 30 dollar pipe; assuming all other things about the pipe being relatively equal. Silver bands and gold ornamentation or even having a name stamped on the shank doesn't really do much for me.

Having said this, I am also of the opinion that every pipe smoker needs one pipe (at least) of the following materials: Corncob, Briar, Meerschaum, and Clay.

Those are the big four as far as pipe materials go, and each has pros and cons and quirks. Each also will put the same tobacco on display differently.

 

[Servant King]

Welcome to the forum, from Southern California. Yep, PS LNF is certainly one of my favorites, especially at this time of year.

 

[Charlie718]

Welcome from New York.

 

[MARC52]

Welcome from North Carolina.

 

[kg.legat0]

Welcome from PA! Just had a visit out to Indiana ...endless corn, very pretty this time of year!

 

[lelik]

Welcome.

 

[markus]

Welcome, I'm also from Indiana!

 

[buzkirk]

Welcome from West Tennessee