I'm Doing It All Wrong!

[panamacharlie]

Reading this forum for the past year or so has convinced me that I have been doing it all wrong since I got my first pipe in 1960.

I have never used a match to light a pipe.

I never put my tobacco to dry before stuffing it in the bowl.

I never break up my flakes, just push them in.

I never intentionally rest a pipe. Sometimes I go out with just one, and smoke it 7 or 8 times during the day.

I have never used a salt and alcohol treatment.

I have never even heard about all the different methods of packing a pipe.

I don't have a ventilation system.

I don't even know how to sip, I just puff away.

I never tried retrohaling.

I don't have a pipe rack, they just seem to be laying around all over the house or car.

I never had a reamer.

I have never owned a "good" pipe, all mine cost less the $100

I use whatever is handy for a tamper.

I have never thought about "ghosting", I put whatever I want to smoke in the handiest pipe.

I don't particularly like cobs.

Of all my pipes, only a couple are straight.

I rather like P-lips.
Maybe studying this forum will straighten me out?

 

[mikethompson]

I never had a reamer.

you should try it sometime.

 

[jpmcwjr]

Do you enjoy each and every one of your bowls 100%? If yes:
Doubt you need "straigtening out".
If no, and you are open to trying different things, maybe you'll learn something.

 

[warren]

You are not paying attention to what you are reading here, I believe. While there are some pedantic smokers here, others simply enjoy their pipes as you do. I tamp with my fingers, smoke one pipe continuously during the day (eight to ten bowls, followed by a couple of meerschaums in the evening at home), have more P-lips than fish-tails, and I could go on. This forum is not representative of the general pipe smoking population I believe. There are some members who enjoy a bowl only once or twice a week. Some enjoy the machinations of elaborate rituals. Some spend their evenings (days?) exploring blends. I stick to a few tried and true and have never possessed more than thirty pipes at any given time. I have some moneys now and can afford to have pipes with sterling or gold fittings simply because I like such. But, I still smoke a cob when on the river. I don't own a straight pipe, all are bent to some degree.
What you learn here is, there are no rules set in stone, the diverse membership simply exposes the reader to the many ways there are to enjoy pipes and blends. And one learns that by reading the many members who opine that their way as the only way to smoke a pipe, clean a pipe, store a pipe, etc.

 

[3rdguy]

I am pretty close to you but I do like cobs!

 

[npod]

I guess that an instagram site with iPhone pics of your pipes is out then? :rofl:
But I here what you are saying. Personally, I enjoy the ramblings here, but each individual eventually develops his own style.

 

[saltedplug]

Do as you like. Don't take opinions or their agreement among members as anything other than a suggestion. On theater hand, it's good to try new ideas, but on the 3rd hand, you can always go back to your own way.

 

[anthonyrosenthal74]

I have never owned a "good" pipe, all mine cost less the $100

Nonsense. If it smokes well, it's a good pipe, regardless of price. ::

 

[bassbug]

No...
I think you're doing it perfectly right.
With the exception of never using matches and the fact that NONE of my pipes are straight, you could have been describing me.
You're doing it just right.

 

[Chasing Embers]

Sounds like you're enjoying it, so it seems you're doing it exactly right.

 

[dottiewarden]

I have never used a match to light a pipe.

I never put my tobacco to dry before stuffing it in the bowl.

I never break up my flakes, just push them in.

I never intentionally rest a pipe. Sometimes I go out with just one, and smoke it 7 or 8 times during the day.

I have never used a salt and alcohol treatment.

I have never even heard about all the different methods of packing a pipe.

I don't have a ventilation system.

I don't even know how to sip, I just puff away.

I never tried retrohaling.

I don't have a pipe rack, they just seem to be laying around all over the house or car.

I never had a reamer.

I have never owned a "good" pipe, all mine cost less the $100

I use whatever is handy for a tamper.

I have never thought about "ghosting", I put whatever I want to smoke in the handiest pipe.

I don't particularly like cobs.

Of all my pipes, only a couple are straight.

I rather like P-lips.

I see you have studied this forum extensively.
Great tongue-in-cheek humor!
We can surmise from the above responses, pipe smoking is an extremely subjective experience.
Great thread ::

 

[armonts]

( It is true that when I was a kid I always saw the old ones do like that, without asking any questions! )

 

[PaulTheScandinavian]

Armots,Vous avez raison,ole codger style

 

[cortezattic]

Panamacharlie, with posts like that you're gonna get your pipesmoker's card revoked! :lol:

 

[bassbug]

I've been smoking on a suspended pipe permit for years :nana:

 

[olkofri]

I'm also doing it all wrong: I prefer aromatics!

 

[seldom]

A good reminder that smoking a pipe is only as complicated and expensive as we chose to make it. I've also not spent more than $100 on a pipe but don't fault those who have. To each their own. I make rules for myself, not for other people.

 

[jaytex1969]

No one told the bumblebee that, based on laws of physics, it is incapable of flight.
Rock on, Amigo!

 

[bannyc9]

If you are having an enjoyable experience, who cares. It's a very personable experience.