Oh, figured I would also add a picture of myself. Certainly more humanizing than my avatar. 5th bowl in this pipe and she's starting to smoke pretty good now.
Hello, my name is Kyle. To help keep the post clean, I'm going to wrap some sections in spoiler tags so you can skip them more easily to get to the relevant meat.
A little relevant background here:
Currently 35 years old. I was introduced to pipe smoking 15 years ago (age 20) in college by a former lawyer who was changing careers (we were both attending the same funeral college in Atlanta). At the time, I rolled my own cigarettes (using McClintock menthol in filter tubes), and I was getting my stuff online but the tobacconist who ran the site where I was getting it actually was in Atlanta. After school, I would go hang out with him and smoke with his pipes and he taught me a lot at that time. I pretty quickly picked up on it and became an intermediate level smoker by the end. But after leaving school (was an accelerated program that was complete in 1.5 years), I meant to get into pipe smoking then, but never got around to it.
Flash forward 15 years, I never ended up working in funeral service—long story short, disabled (schizophrenia and delayed sleep phase disorder, among other things). I had mentioned to my wife over the past year or so that I had an interest in getting back into pipe smoking as a hobby (as a person, I'm pretty austere, introverted, reserved, etc, more on that later). Well a few days ago, another guy I know who is a few years younger than me sent me an invitation on Facebook to like a local tobacconist that's new. This further renewed my desire to get back into pipe smoking.
So I went and checked them out. They've presently been in business for three years. When I walked in, I was just intending to look around because I didn't expect much as where I live is pretty uncultured and I went in with the presumption it would be predominantly focused as a humidor and on cigar smoking. But as small as they are, I was pleasantly surprised by their decent selection of pipes and pipe tobacco, much more than I anticipated. I ended up walking out with my very first pipe of my own and some tobacco that day. They also have a nice smoking lounge area where they only allow pipes and cigars, which is fantastic as I mentioned to my wife that I desired such a place as well (as in a quiet, relaxing lounge type place I could go when I wanted out of the house).
Four days and four bowls later, I've got my sea legs back. Much like riding a bicycle, was able to quickly re-learn what I previously knew.
A little about me and ancillary interests:
Personality:
As previously mentioned, I am somewhat reserved and austere as a person. According to the MBTI, I fall under the INTJ personality type. I'm hesitant to mention that as I feel people often misunderstand personality typology and what various aspects of it means, elevating their personality type to the level of astrological signs.
I'm a bit of a misanthropist (actually, very much a misanthropist). But, I am still nice and respectful to people, I keep it locked internally. And should anyone read this particular part and find it odd or a contradiction for a self-professed misanthrope to be joining a forum, I would say you have a generally poor sense of what misanthropy is or means.
That said, I am still somewhat an open book. I tend to communicate very directly and purposefully. I have a very prominent disdain for dogmatism of any kind, and I typically don't fit in with other people with whom I share common interests (for example, I don't fit in with the stereotypical "biker" crowd and all that machismo culture surrounding it). I'm not a big group kind of person, I like small, quiet and relaxed.
As previously mentioned, I suffer from schizophrenia (treatment resistant, but high functioning). I also have severe delayed sleep phase disorder. These two things render me incapable of holding a job as no jobs have a low enough stress level and are unable to be flexible enough. I would really prefer not to hear any suggestions on what I could do for a job, I've already heard them all. It doesn't need to be "fixed" and I am fine with not working. But, I am not a "bum" either. My wife is the breadwinner and I am the "homemaker", and that works for us.
Unrelated Interests:
Some of my other hobbies and interests include: philosophy, psychology, sociology, poetry, motorcycling (riding and wrenching, I own a 1997 Harley Davidson Softail Custom, which is actually how I know the guy that turned me on to the local tobacconist as he is also a rider), music (mostly extreme metal, some classical and some blues and some jazz, and only a few things beyond that like David Bowie, Tom Waits, Billy Joel, The Doors), guitar, barbecuing (in the proper sense of slowly smoking meats, not grilling chicken wings and slapping some bbq sauce on them), gardening, botanical gardens, coffee, and collecting unicorn stuff.
I also LOVE dogs. We have four presently.
At the moment, I just have just the one pipe (a Lorenzetti smooth cut, straight billiard style Julius Ceasar). I plan to slowly build my collection. My preference for pipes are straight or only slightly bent, with billiard and apple shapes being my favorite for bowls, preferably smooth cut and polished. I prefer the look of saddle stems and my bit preference is standard/fishtail.
With regard to tobaccos, I prefer aromatics, Cavendish, English blends, Danish blends, and Oriental blends. I don't dislike straight Virginia blends, but they aren't my favorite either. It really depends on my mood. I have no preferences with regard to cut (I like flake and ready rubbed cuts just as much as ribbon and shag, though I've yet to try plug or crumble cake).
Presently breaking in the first pipe I have ever owned. I have a few tobaccos on hand at the moment: some Danish Export blend (not sure who makes it), Lane Limited "very cherry", an apple blend (also unsure who makes it), and a tin of Cornell & Diehl "House Reserve". Thus far I have had the apple blend and House Reserve once each, and the Danish Export blend twice (I actually just finished a bowl of the Danish export).
I also placed an order yesterday for two different mentholated nasal snuffs (Hedges L260 and McChrystal's O&G), which I used to like to mix in with a Danish blend as a "make your own" mentholated pipe tobacco. I also have no fear of blending my own tobaccos together, though I am holding off on that for now until my pipe is broken in and I have additional tobaccos to play around with.
I'm an intermediate-level pipe smoker. I definitely have a firm grasp of technique and pacing. I typically smoke using a basic breathing technique and mix in retrohaling (both oof which I have a firm grasp of). It usually takes me about 30-35 minutes to go through a full, standard/average sized bowl. I typically don't try to pair my pipe smoking with anything, though I do prefer to have a black coffee if I am smoking a Virginia blend, otherwise I just drink water.
I did discover that the apple I have is Sutliff. A lot of people online in reviews seem to dislike it and often mention it's no replacement for Middleton. I never had Middleton before, but I don't personally dislike the Sutliff apple. In fact, that the apple is so subtle is why I like it, whereas others seem to hate that the apple is subtle.
I'm not big on strong aromatics though. I feel most aromatics I will have to cut with something like the PS Danish Export to tame them for me.
