I am a pipe-smoker

[huntertrw]

Apatim:
Given my fancy of pipes, wooden kitchen matches, split-cane fly-rods, printed books, old pick-up trucks, the dip-pen, mechanical watches, corded telephones, and the eschewing of television, one of my older brothers refers to me as the family Luddite. It's not that I am against technology per se; rather, it's just that I agree with the poet Wordsworth who wrote that "the world is too much with us."

 

[apatim]

Hunter, my mentor was a piper. I didn't think much of it at the time (some 35 years ago) but about 8 months ago I became nostalgic and couldn't get him off my mind. I took up the pipe at that time and felt one with him. The pipe has now become a conduit to a calm and introspective place for me. Not only do I thoroughly enjoy the flavor but the entire process is a therapeutic exercise in itself. I've always been a laid back guy but the pipe has provided a different dimension... A time, place and exercise for self examination as well as meditation and focus on the needs of those around me. It's kind of strange... I feel as if I ha have more of a connection with life, nature and others.
I guess I'm rambling..it's just a good place for me at this time in life at age of 58. I just feel so very content.

 

[huntertrw]

Apatim:
You may call it "rambling," but I call it, "Well said, Sir!"

 

[woopigsooie]

You guys have taken it to a higher level than I with your writing instruments. I'm a shop teacher so I'll have to stick with my space pen and wooden pencil (you can write on just about anything with that combo).

 

[natibo]

I too am a pipe smoker. I've never hunted and have no desire to do so. I don't like fishing. I shave with the latest version Gillette is selling. I love technology and can't wait to get a direct neural connection to the internet via a chip in my brain. My idea of camping is having to stay in a motel instead of a hotel and I don't like it.
However, I will also not cut yu off or flip you off in traffic, am not a Type-A schemer seeking to take your wife and/or your job, and don't require prescription mood-stabilizers, I would agree that all of the pipe-smokers that I know are similar. We are just not all into that other stuff like hunting and fishing. I do love the outdoors and will get to a beach or scuba dive any chance I get.
My 2 cents.

 

[ravkesef]

So, as a result of my having mentioned fountain pens, a forum member sent me a PM asking how he could get started. I gave him a bit of starter info, and lo and behold, we're going to have another fountain pen writer in the crowd. By the way, Hunter, there is a marvelous book out there for improving your penmanship. It's called "Write Now," and it's available for under $20. It's the book I used when I realized that my handwriting was so illegible that not only could others not read it, but I was no longer able to either. At the end of the first two hour session my handwriting had improved immeasurably, and others comment on how nice my script is. I recommend it most highly to anyone who is wishing to improve his/her handwriting, because it's quick, easy, and truly – if I could master it, anyone can. By the way, if anyone reading this is interested in getting started with that, not only is there a plethora of decent to excellent pens available at virtually any price, but the variety of inks is truly amazing! Fountain pens make writing truly fun.

 

[hawke]

I have a theory that pipe smoking creates a calmer person in me and maybe all. One must cultivate patience. Nicotine has a numbing effect on my ADD enhanced brain which aids in the "slow down and smell the roses" attitude. The personality Hunter describes is one that fits perfectly with "I am a pipe smoker". Often what humans think a pipe smoker is like from the outside looking in.

 

[huntertrw]

Ravkesef:
My thanks to you for the tip on the book "Write Now." It sounds like just the thing I need to improve my pitifully poor penmanship! There is an undeniable romance to writing with a pen and ink that mirrors that of smoking a pipe. Both activities take the "write" equipment (sorry, I couldn't resist the pun) and an investment of time in order to master them. Further, the amount of time invested is directly correlated to the degree of pleasure derived: more time = greater pleasure, a simple truth which sadly is too often lost in today's world of instant gratification.

 

[frozenchurchwarden]

After a lifetime of frustration with ball point pens, a few years ago I finally tried a fountain pen and never went back.

My primary pen is a Pelikan but I love everything that Nathan Tardiff does (owner/operator of Noodler's Ink).

Soon after I fell down that rabbit hole I spent a little time at the IAMPETH website to develop my script, it's mostly Copperplate with a few simplified characters. I do get asked to write things out occasionally.

 

[ravkesef]

Now that Frozen has brought up IAMPETH, I need to add my own disclaimer here. IAMPETH provides free online instruction in various artistic and workaday but beautiful scripts, while "Write Now" focuses on developing a readable and highly attractive italic form of printing, and then migrating into the cursive derived therefrom. I find that the cursive script that I developed from this book is quite attractive, though certainly not as ornate as Spencerian or any of the other fine calligraphic scripts. The good news about it is that it is particularly easy to master, and within two hours my hand writing had changed forever.

Now as to inks, Frozen also mentioned Noodlers, one of the fine ink companies out there. They also sell some nice fountain pens for 20 bucks and under. One caution about Noodlers – when they advertise an ink. as "Bulletproof," that means it will withstand every currently known means to eradicate it once it has been applied. That means don't make a mistake and get it on your sleeve, your wife's best linen tablecloth, or what have you, because once it's there, it's there forever. Recently I have fallen in love with the Iroshizuki line of inks, and these run just under $30 a bottle, and while somewhat on the pricey side, they are particularly smooth writing, and this company has the most amazing color palette you have ever seen. Of course for the standard blue or black ink, I highly recommend Aurora, an Italian company that manufactures just these two colors, but they are classic blue and black, with the smoothest writing feel you will ever experience. See what I mean, before long, your collection of inks will become like your collection of tobaccos.

 

[whiteydoughton]

I love hunting upland game birds, fly fishing - along with sitting around tying a handful of my own flies and all the outdoorsy type stuff with friends or alone and writing giant run-on sentences! Now that I've started smoking a pipe again life seems even better.

 

[ravkesef]

I love hunting upland game birds, fly fishing - along with sitting around tying a handful of my own flies and all the outdoorsy type stuff with friends or alone and writing giant run-on sentences! Now that I've started smoking a pipe again life seems even better.

Ah,...but do you have a fountain pen?
(Cheapest way of getting a bump I know of. Hunter's posting is simply too good to see it drop off ).

 

[bphilli75]

...wonderful thread.

 

[geo3rge]

Would the above common items also share a theme with certain clothes? I like (could this be to do with being an Englishman?) tweeds, cotton shirts, cotton or wool socks and good old leather brogues. I don't spend a lot on these, but when I do buy I tend to get something that will last years and now, at my ripe old age of 58 (!) I'm thinking whatever I get from now on is probably going to last me out...I wonder if the simple pipe means a very physical, hands-on way of connecting with basics - wood, leaf, metal, fire, smoke, the elements? Or am I getting a bit too much nicotine from my last pipe here?! There is certainly something in the 'tactileness' of a pipe and all the above things we've mentioned. Back to nature? Perhaps not quite, but maybe back to the crafts and skills that seem somehow to be mightily overshadowed in our rather nebulous, abstract tech-dominated lifestyles. I enjoy technology for its ease of use and convenience of communication, but I also need something else that I can feel and sense and, for me, connects me with history, continuity and provenance. No quick fixes here, too much is at stake. Once again, thanks for this thought-provoking article.

 

[huntertrw]

Geo3rge:
I, too, favor classic clothing, shoes, and accessories, and garner a great deal of enjoyment in taking care of them, in much the same manner as my pipes and tobaccos. Accordingly, I think that you may be on to something in your observation!

 

[Perique]

I can plow a field all day long, I can catch catfish from dusk til dawn....
...I can skin a buck, I can run a trot line... and [fill in blank]
........That said, if there's anything that can bridge the gap between a city boy and a country boy, it's talking about pipes and tobacco.
(Now I'm just looking for someone to send me pictures of the broadway nights, so I can send him some homemade wine................)