I came out of a similar situation. I smoked a pipe for three years back in the early '70s when I was in undergrad school at UBC. I look back and in retrospect smoked pretty well, and enjoyed it thoroughly.
I stopped smoking a pipe after those three years, and when I came back, figured it would be a snap. NOPE. Everything has changed. Living in Vancouver at that time, i was paying about 85 cents for a pack of Borkum Riff Cherry Cavendish, smoked a mixture called Danish Fruit Cake that sold for a lofty $1.25, and my two Peterson pipes cost about $20 bucks each if I remember correctly.
Fast forward about 55 years, and i live in a veritable tobacco prison. 89 bucks taxes in for that same package of Cherry Cavendish, etc etc etc. I've not been able to source, nor have I even heard of Squadron Leader. We have only about two dozen types of tobacco available in our local store in the Mall in Prince George. The cheapest one is Backwood's Buttered Rum at $78 bucks taxes in. I know, because I bought a package last Saturday. I like it, and need to take a break from running the gauntlet. And, I've managed to build up a store over the past year.
But I think, given the circumstances, and being fairly resourceful, I adopted EXACTLY the policy you stated above in the excerpt I copied from your post, and would recommend all new (or returning pipe smokers) adopt that policy. It is wise.
I posted here (don't at this point have much to do but learn and don't feel quite ready to dispense advice) but I'd recommend in these times of insanity that a bit of prudence is in order for guys to assume that all this stuff is readily available. In large parts of this world, it is not. I think I'd recommend that we all exercise a bit of caution in this regard.
You sound like a wise man, and when you get your wings back, someone worth an ear. Salut.
