How Often Do Threads At PipesMagazine.Com/Forums Influence Your Smoking Habits?

[deathmetal]

So... last night, a thread about My Mixture 965.
I woke up early as usual -- trucks removing flood debris still, since about a quarter of the city essentially abandoned their homes -- and put away the shotgun, then went to load a bowl.
As usual, my fingers play their little skipping dance over the jars, and they stop on... well. If it isn't my old friend 965, which I thoroughly enjoy anyway, along with two other Dunhill standouts, Nightcap and Royal Yacht, in addition of course to many great blends from other houses.
I recall in the past having read the "What Is Your Ego Smoking Today?" thread and having noticed what some of the posters that I read regularly are smoking, then finding that somehow that one needed to find its way into my pipe as well.
Is that one of the purposes of a forum? Basically a shopping list for our own closets and clandestine mail orders?

 

[tschiraldi]

This forum influences me very often in several ways! I have tried different packing and smoking techniques, pipe repair and maintenance techniques, different pipe brands, and several new tobacco blends based on these threads. You guys have had a huge influence on my love for the Briar! Example; I write this as I load a wad of Cosmic Twist into a Regina Scarlatta!

 

[sumusfumus]

Smoked pipes, on and off, since I was 16 yrs. old (1968)....but never seriously....and my pipes have laid comatose in a drawer for the last 20 years. Then, in July, I came upon this forum and the idea of smoking my pipes once again hit me. But now, I actually took the time to learn HOW to smoke my pipes, thanks to the suggestions, postings, and some You-Tube videos found on this forum.
I also "learned" how to choose better, higher quality tobacco mixtures/blends. The only tobaccos that I smoked when I was a kid, and through the years, were the usual OTC choices. I was almost always disappointed by the tongue burn, and lack of any flavor.
Now, I read thru forum posting that I think might be interesting....sometimes they are, sometimes they aren't, and I especially enjoy the tobacco reviews and discussions. This forum substitutes for a morning newspaper. It's a newspaper that covers only one subject....pipes.
Yes, forum postings have influenced the way I now approach smoking my pipes, and tobacco selection. I'm more aware of what I'm doing. Wish I had a forum to go to for advice back when I was a kid. Computers did not exist back then, and I had no one to ask if I was pipe-smoking correctly or not. Also, had no way to to learn about different tobaccos and different blends. It's a whole new world today compared to to years ago. Just a simple "click" and all kinds of information appears on a screen. You can pick, chose, and order anything, from anywhere! You millennials have no idea how lucky you are!
Thanks for all the postings, past, present, and future.

 

[cortezattic]

You're all a bunch of shameless enablers! :lol:

 

[briarblues]

100% Cortez !!! I hate you guys. Yesterday I read the Coins thread. Off to smokingpipes and an order is headed my way for 3 blends I had not tried! Every time I think I'm out, you guys pull me back in!!!!!
Regards

Michael J. Glukler

 

[prairiedruid]

Early on in my pipe smoking adventure the forum was invaluable for learning the techniques of how to smoke and guiding me toward blends I would like. Lately it's pipe porn and camaraderie that keeps me checking in a couple of times a day. Plus when threads go off the rails you never know where you'll wake up.

 

[Chasing Embers]

Was smoking a pipe several years before the internet. Had a cellar building and was having pipes commissioned long before even knowing forums for pipe smokers existed. I would not, however, have known about the FDA deeming were it not for forum discussions.

 

[jaytex1969]

You bastards! You've ruined my life!
I get plenty of influence from here, thank you.

 

[warren]

Not very often. I was a long time pipe smoker, set in my ways, before discovering this site. A Jim Inks review, now and then, might pique my interest in a new blend to try.

 

[mackeson]

This Forum has really broadened my tobacco selection. I was stuck in a rut of Haddo's Delight, Westminster, Irish Flake, University Flake, Orient 996, McC 27, 1792 and Nightcap before joining. All great tobaccos I enjoy BTW, but limited to just that handful and an occasional few others. I've really enjoyed branching out a bit more. Jim's reviews and posts by others have really brought back the TAD... you bastards :lol:

 

[jayski]

This forum has shaped my habits considerably. New to piping and always looking for information this forum is my go to source. It has exposed many blends that may have taken me forever to find on my own. I will say that after spending a few minutes here I tend to leave and smoke. Reading and talking about it can only be worth while if it leads to a pipe!

 

[daveinlax]

Not much at all. I was pretty much a one trick pony long before Pipesmagazine.com came on line. 8O

 

[sablebrush52]

Is that one of the purposes of a forum? Basically a shopping list for our own closets and clandestine mail orders?

Absolutely! We're a market to be delivered to the site's sponsors. Not like it's any kind of secret.
Being on this forum has broadened my knowledge of blends, so my holdings have broadened accordingly, and the site's sponsors have prospered accordingly.

 

[jpmcwjr]

All power to site sponsors!
I've learned of new blends, and more about some long time blends. I've learned some shape names, and more about construction, who the best resellers are, and where's the next pipe show.
I've learned how opinionated we are, and how resistant to change or new ideas are we all. I had confirmed that our group encompasses all walks of life, education and location.

 

[mso489]

Now and then I may have a monkey-see-monkey-do moment, when a blend sounds irresistible or someone sends me to a pipe sale. I often log in when I light up, not habitually but often. Usually the influence is subtle. I will act in the contrary. Show me a six hundred dollar artisanal pipe, which I admire and appreciate, and I'll get out my Dr. Grabow Royalton. Sometimes a post will remind me of a blend I have on hand and I'll smoke it in response. I especially appreciate reminders of the constituent tobaccos in various blends, since if you have two dozen blends in rotation, and sample others, you can lose track. So Forums definitely influences me, but in ways direct and indirect.

 

[thomasw]

Reviews here or on TR.com perk my interest in blends that I haven't tried. If there is a discussion of a certain blend or type of tobacco happening in a thread, I have felt inclined to reach for it after reading or discussing it. Also I have learned a few helpful hints and tweaks about pipe cleaning and routine maintenance through this forum. But I have been a pipe smoker since 1994, and so many of my ways were learned and habituated through my earlier piping experiences, especially with my father and grandfather. Yet this place is where my tobacco enabler dwells, and he does help to flame my love of the leaf ::

 

[olkofri]

Well, the thread on Auenland and chasingembers's pics of tins of it made me place an order.

 

[cigrmaster]

I began smoking a pipe back in 1997 way before I joined here in 2012. I remember the old alt.pipes news groups and learned some back then. Some of us began one of those Yahoo chatrooms( around 2000) for pipe smokers, that is where I met my good buddy pipestud. We had fun enabling each other back then. I also used TR back then to find different blends that I might like. It was a great resource and still is.
I had begun collecting way back when but it was this site that turned things around for the better for me.

I finally learned why some blends felt like acid on my tongue where others were perfectly fine. My learning about red virginia's and their effect on me was an epiphany. If not for this site I would still be trying blends that were just not good for me. I found all kinds of blends with no reds and began cellaring big time in 2012.
I also learned about No American artisan pipe makers from a guy here named Big Van. He was instrumental in my finding Rad Davis and others of that ilk. My collection completely changed as did my criteria for buying pipes.I also recently began buying Pre Transition Barlings because of Jesse. I would have never tried them but his insistence that they were awesome smokers made me want to try them, and I am glad I did. I definitely have this site to thank for where my cellar and collection are.

 

[mikethompson]

I certainly have got 99% of all my pipe and tobacco knowledge from this forum and the patient and knowledgeable folks on it. When I'm looking at new blends to try I always look around here first and then tobaccoreviews.com because I don't know enough on my own.
I guess it's different for those who have been piping forever, but for new guys like me this place is an invaluable tool.

 

[cigrmaster]

mike,

I guess it's different for those who have been piping forever, but for new guys like me this place is an invaluable tool.

I don't care how long someone has been "piping", anyone can learn new stuff all the time if they keep their eyes and ears open. I still learn new stuff on this site all the time.