Hello all!!! I was a long time member of PSF before it disappeared into the ether& see some familiar names here and I figure this is where everyone went? At any rate, I have been smoking a pipe since 2002, at which time I had just made E-4 in the navy. I was a submariner for 5 years and a naval expeditionary assault boat engineer for 6. 3 deployments, and my pipes followed me for 2 of them. While in Kuwait, I had a Kuwait Navy fella walk up to me and ask me what was in my cob. It was a VA/burley/perique splashed w rum blend I made before deploying. I told him if he could get something to put some tobacco in, I’d give him some. I gave him about an ounce. 2 weeks later, I see him again, he asked if I had any more of my blend and I was out- but I had some carter Hall in a tub to spare. A week before I flew back to the states, he found me again in the smoke pad, having a pipe and he brought me wrapped in cloth a bunch of cured beef, a jar of olives, some flat bread, and jasmine tea that he brewed. Man, we just sat there and ate, drank, had a smoke- we barely understood each other but we understood enough. Even in a shit hole, you can still enjoy the simple pleasures in life with someone you don’t know from a culture you’re not sure you want to understand. With the right universals in place, we got a taste of the others culture. Sharing food and tobacco makes a better ambassador / diplomat than hoarding it & not sharing. Hospitality begets hospitality & increases the chance a moment of quiet and enjoyment will happen again. Funny what you learn / realize in a war zone.
All stories aside, my pipes are as follows:
Briers:
Nording bent freehand
Karl Erik bent freehand
Winslow Crown bent freehand
GBD bent Rhodesian
Chacom Mozart bent egg
Bjarne bent apple
Parker “Bark” bent tomato (1st pipe as a basket pipe)
Comoy Tradition straight pot
Cobs:
MM bent Mark Twain
MM country gentleman
MM Washington
MM bent spool (x2)
MM Legend
MM walnut
Meerschaum:
CAO Meerschaum bent Topkapi
What’s in my unopened tobacco cellar?:
C&D Oak Alley; 2014
G.L. Pease Union Square (x2); 2014
C&D Ten Russians (x2); 2014
8oz. Esoterica Pembroke; ?
McClelland Christmas Cheer; 2014, 2016
McClelland 40th Anniversary blend; 2017
McClelland 3 Oaks Syrian: 2014
Orlik Golden Mixture; 2014
Dunhill Flake; 2016
MacBaren Navy Flake; 2012
McClelland St James Woods; 2011
Bell’s Three Nuns (x2); 2013
Rattray’s Black Mallory; post-2010
I also love good scotch, bourbon, & I have a modest wine cellar 3 cases in size. I sound like an aristocrat but I’m only a college educated navy veteran that builds cars at a BMW factory that enjoys the simple pleasures in life. My wife was raised in a poor family in Indiana and didn’t even have a dining room table. She can now distinguish between a Riesling & Sauvignon Blanc based on ability to pair with goat cheese, and can distinguish between a merlot and a Bordeaux. She’s a teacher, I’m a production worker- & we are happy as clams and enjoy the “good life”. I told her when we were being married, “we may never be wealthy, but I will make sure you feel wealthy”. Cheers all, happy smokes, & GO TIGERS!!!
All stories aside, my pipes are as follows:
Briers:
Nording bent freehand
Karl Erik bent freehand
Winslow Crown bent freehand
GBD bent Rhodesian
Chacom Mozart bent egg
Bjarne bent apple
Parker “Bark” bent tomato (1st pipe as a basket pipe)
Comoy Tradition straight pot
Cobs:
MM bent Mark Twain
MM country gentleman
MM Washington
MM bent spool (x2)
MM Legend
MM walnut
Meerschaum:
CAO Meerschaum bent Topkapi
What’s in my unopened tobacco cellar?:
C&D Oak Alley; 2014
G.L. Pease Union Square (x2); 2014
C&D Ten Russians (x2); 2014
8oz. Esoterica Pembroke; ?
McClelland Christmas Cheer; 2014, 2016
McClelland 40th Anniversary blend; 2017
McClelland 3 Oaks Syrian: 2014
Orlik Golden Mixture; 2014
Dunhill Flake; 2016
MacBaren Navy Flake; 2012
McClelland St James Woods; 2011
Bell’s Three Nuns (x2); 2013
Rattray’s Black Mallory; post-2010
I also love good scotch, bourbon, & I have a modest wine cellar 3 cases in size. I sound like an aristocrat but I’m only a college educated navy veteran that builds cars at a BMW factory that enjoys the simple pleasures in life. My wife was raised in a poor family in Indiana and didn’t even have a dining room table. She can now distinguish between a Riesling & Sauvignon Blanc based on ability to pair with goat cheese, and can distinguish between a merlot and a Bordeaux. She’s a teacher, I’m a production worker- & we are happy as clams and enjoy the “good life”. I told her when we were being married, “we may never be wealthy, but I will make sure you feel wealthy”. Cheers all, happy smokes, & GO TIGERS!!!
] Howdy to exit 60. I wasn't here when you were before. I'm a fan of Danish freehands myself. Glad to have you back aboard. 
