How Cold is "Too Cold?"

[Servant King]

As a strictly outdoor pipe smoker living in the California mountains, once October rolls around, the battle to find (and take advantage of) acceptable conditions begins. Growing up in the San Fernando Valley region of Los Angeles, you'd think I'd be reaching for the long underwear once the thermometer dropped below 70F. However, this would be an erroneous assumption; I've found myself fairly comfortable outside as low as the upper 40s. Below that? It'd have to be a quarter bowl, and even then, I'd be sitting inside my warm living room, eyeing my jar of Balkan Sasieni or the like, and probably give up before I even got my coat out. So for me, once it gets below about 45ish, my desire is on the wane, and nonexistent below 40. Yes, I can hear you guys in Alaska or upstate NY cackling inside about what a wuss you think I am. You're correct, of course, but that's a discussion unto itself. Maybe it's just me, but I find it difficult to enjoy the nuances of any blend when my testicles are up in my neck. If that makes me peculiar, so be it.

So what's your limit? What's comfortable, what's iffy, and what's 100% a no-go for you?

(I know there are folks here from all over the world, but please...Farenheit only. Centigrade just makes my brain melt into a frothy goo. Sorry!)

 

[anotherbob]

under zero. But only if there is wind. A still zero or negative is great for smoking. It's the darn wind that ruins it.

 

[DanWil84]

I'm a cold weather guy, so if I can dress for it and still be comfortable I can be outside for hours on end. Point is what does cold do with your smoking experience in a whole? It's never colder than about 25 degrees (-5 celcius for the people who know true metrics ?) outside during the day, a jumper and my skiing jacket with a scarf, fingerless gloves and a beanie is enough for me.

 

[dctune]

I absolutely despise being cold & cold weather. And the older I get, the less tolerant I am becoming of it. The perfect conditions for me are 90°+, sunny, and humid. Not even joking. I love summer and outdoor heat. In the summers, unless we’re having that grotesque amusement called company, I keep the AC on 78. My wife complains, but it’s offset by her wearing less around the house. ?

Once the weather starts heating up, I smoke outdoors about 90% of the time. Once it drops below 65 or 60, I pack it inside & stink up the house. Good thing about pipe tobacco smoke is, it doesn’t “stick” to everything the way cigarette smoke does.

 

[Michigan_Bill]

I discovered that I have a foam knee pad for gardening (the kind of pad you kneel on while pulling weeds) which is very useful now. I find that if I put it on our lawn swing, or on a chair, it insulates my backsides while smoking outside. Makes an amazing difference! ?

 

[bullet08]

I remember comfortably smoking cigarettes out in 10s. Now if it's below 50, it's too uncomfortable for any length of smoke.

 

[warren]

I was just out exercising the dawg, it's two below. I've smoked outside at -20 on the slope but, usually sat in the truck when smoking and warming.

it doesn’t “stick” to everything the way cigarette smoke does.

That has not been my experience. Blends reek, same as cigars and cigarettes. Ask any landlord who allows smokers. The gotta change out carpets, drapes, and paint. I sure as hell won't rent to a smoker.

 

[dctune]

I was just out exercising the dawg, it's two below. I've smoked outside at -20 on the slope but, usually sat in the truck when smoking and warming.


That has not been my experience. Blends reek, same as cigars and cigarettes. Ask any landlord who allows smokers. The gotta change out carpets, drapes, and paint. I sure as hell won't rent to a smoker.

There’s a solid chance everybody thinks I smell bad, but I’m just too lovable so they don’t want to tell me

 

[ray47]

I don't smoke outside regardless of the weather. I have an air filter next to my desk in the den and that handles the smoke just fine.

 

[STP]

Typically anything below 30 I move inside and crack the slider ?

 

[mso489]

I can walk in the cold and smoke a pipe, although it isn't my favorite way to enjoy a blend, but standing still in the cold is somewhat miserable. I grew up in the Chicago area when the climate was colder than it is now, and I wintered over in Milwaukee which was incremental colder. I remember asking a policeman what the temperature was, and he said forty below. I said, you mean that's the wind-chill? And he said, no, that's the temperature. If I kept moving, I was good; if I stopped, like waiting for a bus, it got uncomfortable. Once I walked from the train station in Chicago to the then university campus on Navy Pier at night at nine below. None of this was Alaska in February, but it was cold.

 

[Chasing Embers]

Unless I'm doing yard work or driving I don't smoke outside. Anything under 80°F and the long sleeves come out of the wardrobe.

 

[warren]

Chicago, wind off the lake, damp air, beats Anchorage hands down for miserable. Thank goodness Chicago isn't always like that. My mother-in-law lived a bit North of Chicago, Northbrook? Oak Park? and they usually got a snow storm later in the Spring than we did. But, the "lake effect" can make for truly snarky weather at times.

 

[AcesAndEights]

As long as there’s no wind, I’m good to go. I’m kind of an outdoorsy guy anyway, and when I’m backpacking, fishing, etc., the saying is “there’s no bad weather, just bad gear.” So I just bundle up and head out!

 

[MidnightPuff]

No wind no problem.

 

[Talon]

I'm a Canadian so a large portion of my year is spent in the cold and I'll enjoy a nice smoke as long as there isn't a lot of wind. I find that strong winds or persistent gusts totally blow the wind out of my sails and the tobacco from my bowl! With that being said I think around -4.0 Fahrenheit is where I call it quits for an outdoor smoke. Unless I'm in an especially calm and windless hollow with the sun beaming down on me.

 

[fireground_piper]

I don’t mind cold weather at all but only if I’m doing something. I’m not sitting outside stationary once it’s not longer shorts and tshirt temps.

Thankfully I can smoke inside otherwise I wouldn’t bother for at least half the year.

 

[Morrison Jeremiah]

75 to 80 is optimum for me.
Don't mind as low as 50 if there's no wind.
Tobacco tastes better to me in the higher temperatures. and humidity about 50.

 

[jpmcwjr]

Daytime temp here seldom drops below 50º so I have forgotten how to handle real dips in temp. First 30 years of my life, yeah, smoked in anything with a wind chill above- higher than- 30º

 

[woodsroad]

It’s 35 here is SE PA and I’m on the deck, enjoying a very good (and very inexpensive) cigar.

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