How Did You Get Started Smoking A Pipe???

[doctorthoss]

Pretty much all the men I grew up around smoked, and many of them also smoked pipes/cigars. I picked up cigs as a teeenager, and on my 19th birthday (1990) my father gave me my first briar and some cheap aromatics as a gift. He wanted me to quit the cigarettes, and even quit himself and went full-time to the pipe in order to encourage me. At first I didn't care for it, but I recalled a B&M called the Gatlin-Burllier I'd been in a few times in order to buy cigarettes while visiting my grandmother in Gatlinburg. I went in there one day and tried a bunch of their blends, including two English blends. I was hooked from that point. I still occasionally relapse onto the cigs, but I've loved pipe smoking ever since then.

 

[logandow]

I got an estate when I was in the 3rd grade and decided that I would try it when I got old enough. Then my elder brother Collin started smoking and that re-sparked my interest. few months later I found myself in Germany smoking at a cafe in Heidelberg.

 

[anachronislad]

Just about everyone in my family smokes and had smoked since I was a little kid. So I've always been around it. But they all smoke cigarettes which I despise. The smell is terrible and everyone who smokes cigarettes wants to quit . I always said I would never smoke, but when I turned 18 I was in my basement and found my dads church warden that my mom had gotten for him as a gift but that he only ever smoked once or twice. He had some tobacco in there with it that smelled amazing but had been in there presumably for years untouched. I was curious about what everyone saw in smoking so I decided to give it a try. I got some nasty tongue bite but loved the flavor and especially how relaxed it made me feel. After I finally got some good fresh tobacco I was hooked. Every time someone says I'm a hypocrite for smoking when I said I wouldn't, I tell them "hey, I'm not smoking cigarettes". He'll everyone who smokes a pipe really enjoys it, and hey you sure as hell look a lot more classy than smoking a cigarette.

 

[msandoval858]

I got an early start with cigs back as a teen and gravitated over to dip and chew as a lot of my buddies were big in to that form of tobacco. I didn't truly get addicted to the nicotine until the chewing started which I would probably still use to this day if it wasn't so unpopular with the females, lol
When I decided to stop the chew, I walked in to the local cigar shop one day out of pure curiosity. The small town B&M had been there for almost 40 years, was throughly cluttered as the old guy that owned it was some kind of horder, but the smell of pipe tobacco made it feel like heaven. I guess that aroma got me interested in pipes but I went the route of cigars and really got to enjoying them right off the bat. I quickly started reading forums, Cigar Aficionado, etc and got hooked big time. When the store closed and new owners refurbished the spot and opened a new business I managed to score a job there and it became my second home during college. I basically worked to buy cigars but I was loving it.
One of the gents I met on the cigar forums, and became good friends with, had gotten in to pipes and was really enjoying them. He mentioned several times that I should try them out but it wasn't something I had priority on as I was such a cigar nut at the time. He and I did a great deal of trading which quickly became a game of trying to one up each other with blind trades etc. One day a package arrived with a brand new Peterson Flame Grain, a leather pipe bag, and a tin of C&D Cross Eyed Cricket. I was excited to try out pipe smoking and took a liking to it, pretty much as a change of pace to my regular cigars but not as a full time hobby. I collected a few more pipes and a range of tobaccos and started slowly learning more about blends, etc.
After I met my wife and moved away from home, I had pretty much hit the point that I was tired of cigars. I smoked everything out there, including Cubans, to the point that nothing stood out anymore. I was also in an entry level point in my career and now had a woman to be accountable to with my purchases so the budget for cigars came to screeching halt. I smoked pipes pretty exclusively for about two or so years, sticking to a core group of blends I enjoyed without the PAD or TAD thing kicking in. I also downsized to one desktop humidor of about 50 or so cigars to enjoy from time to time. I'm still not sure how I accomplished this feat :crazy:
I slowly gravitated back to cigars, trying new things here and there but sticking to old favorites and that went on up until about 6 months ago. My pipe racks had kind of become more of a shelf decor in the study and one day I thought to myself I really should clean them all up and start enjoying them again, especially given how nice a quality some of my briars were. So I spent a few days getting my bowls and stems thoroughly cleaned up, put in an order for a few tins of old favorites and went at it. Needless to say, I didn't realize what I had been missing out on. I've since added more pipes and an insane amount of tobacco to my cellar and pretty much not slowing down since. I found this place and found a new online home for my hobby as well. It's been enjoyable to interact with those who enjoy pipes without the forum drama from the past places I've been a member at. The experience definitely enhances my enjoyment of pipes quite a bit. Despite the number of years I've smoked and blends I tried, I still feel like I'm learning new stuff everyday.
My apologies I didn't mean for this to be so lengthy but it seemed like a good time to share my journey!

 

[foggymountain]

I found a crappy pipe and dried up 20 year old tobacco pouch in a family closet when I was 14 years old. I assumed it was my father's and that he didn't need it anymore, so I took it and smoked it when nobody was home. It was a bad smoke, so I soon replaced the pipe with a Wilke and the tobacco with Balkan Sobranie.

 

[lordofthepiperings]

If you couldn't tell from the screen name my intreset was piqued when the Lord of the Rings movies came out. Last one came out in '03 when I turned 18, so I hit a B&M and picked up a Churchwarden and some black cherry house blend. I was pretty off and on with it, going for a few months and then not touching it for nearly a year. It wasn't until about three years ago I picked it up again and have kept with it ever since. I got back into it seriously because, I had been dating my girl for a year and one night she headed over after work finding me on the patio having an early evening bowl. She said "I never knew you smoked a pipe. That smells great and is kinda sexy.". Ofcourse, the rest is history. Now I'm usually smoking a bowl and a half to three bowls a day.

 

[JimInks]

My high school buddy Steve Parsons is to blame for my addiction. He started smoking a pipe when he was 12 and a half, and tried for some time to get me to try it. We liked virtually all the same things, and he wanted someone to smoke a pipe with. He nagged me every day for two months in the summer of '74, and finally said, "Try it. If you don't like it, I won't bother you about it any more." So, to shut him up, I got my dad's Willard Canadian that he had once smoked, and some Borkum Riff Cherry (I didn't know better then). I tried it and loved it, and was hooked from then on. A few years after high school graduation, I ran into Steve and he told me he quit smoking. Dirty, rotten so-and-so!!!

 

[ghost]

He started smoking a pipe when he was 12 and a half

Whoa, hardcore!

 

[rlunderhill]

Pipes are so relaxing. I gave up Cigarettes 30+ years ago. I started smoked my pipes when I was in Viet Nam. It stuck with me ever sense.

 

[JimInks]

Ghost: I was 13 when I started pipe smoking. Steve was a few months older than me, and had started before we became friends. What was really amazing to me was that his mother found out when he was 14 or maybe 15, and never gave him a hard time about it. I guess she figured as long as it wasn't dope or cigarettes, it was okay. I never had the nerve to ask. My parents found out when I was 15 and never said anything to me about it either. I do remember at 17 asking my dad if I could smoke in front of him. He didn't say anything for a couple of moments, before saying, "Okay." That surprised me, too.

 

[ghost]

Different era I guess. Neat.

 

[ronin61]

Never smoked at all as a kid. As an adult, I've smoked cigars on special occasions for years, but started to seriously get into them after my divorce 3 years ago. I got my best friend into them also. Well, he returned the favor. He bought a pipe a few months ago. We were talking about it one day and I became curious, so about a month ago, i bought a basket pipe from a smoke shop. Now I have 4 pipes and just bought another today. I think I have PAD.

 

[johnnyxpipe]

I was not a smoker prior to pipe smoking. I was in college and I searched hobbies on Google, found pipe smoking and decided to try it. Went down to the local shop picked up a corn cob pipe and some Peter Stokkebye Black Cavendish. That was 4 years ago and I have loved it from the start.

 

[deleon]

Always been curious about smoking a pipe that my fiance decided to buy me a cheap starting pipe. After that I was hooked and have improved on my collection and haven't looked back. I think smoking a pipe is much like riding a motorcycle. Everyone ask why do you ride, I just say it's the freedom of it and you just have to ride. I think it's the same for pipe smoking.

 

[shawn622]

A lot of cool stories that make for good reading material ::

I still smoke that Willard BTW.

I got my dad's Willard Canadian

I have a little Willard bent billiard that is ugly as hell, but it is one of my favorite pipes.

Now I have 4 pipes and just bought another today. I think I have PAD.

Sounds like you do have a little PAD. Weezel says it is a sickness. I have to agree!!!

 

[foggymountain]

Deleon: You make me wish I were headed up to New England today on a BMW motorcycle. I haven't had a driver's license in many years, and after several cross country trips, thought I was over it, but you are right. You never get over it.