Is Pipe Smoking Fading Into History?

[tmcg81]

I dont know if it's dying, but we are definitely entering a post tobacco world. My wife works with teens and none of them smoke cigarettes, whereas when I was a teen (the 90s) you'd be hard pressed to find a kid that didn't at least try smoking.

I have a couple friends that will smoke cigars on special occasions, but none that really know anything about cigars. I've gotten two friends into smoking a pipe, but I don't know how much they do it.

There's also nowhere near me that will allow you to smoke a pipe indoors. I mean, there's a couple cigar shops and a "cigar bar" nearby, but I can't go to a normal pub and order a pint and smoke a cigarette, much less a pipe. The online pipe smoking community is the only place I truly socialize with other pipe smokers, and even that is mostly just hitting "like" on a post. So, I don't know if it's "dying," but it certainly isn't thriving in the wild. Mostly just in captivity.

 

[anotherbob]

I've never understood the need of some to see pipe smokers out and about. Misery loves company? Validation of one's choice of a vice? I simply can't wrap my head around this need. We are social animals, my and large, I suppose. But, I've not found the need to find other smokers. Well, other than this site which is full of humor and distractions other than pipes. Car buying, health concerns, and such can always be found here.

it's part of human nature to want to belong in some way or other. And I have noticed the more novel pipe smokers are in a person experience seems to be the biggest driver if seeing another pipe smoker matters or not. The people who have experienced it at some point in their life as not novel seem confused by the joy and near need to see others doing the same thing. You guys already know you're not the only one. But for the rest of us it's nice to see evidence that we're weird but not alone.
Oh and I saw a kid (college age) smoking a falcon today.

 

[mbmoehl]

Yeah, that's not universally true. My closest neighbor is over a mile away and I work a 12 hour 7 day shift alone, all by choice.

Agreed, it was a generalization.

 

[Sinzalot]

Well it's alive in Wales, saw an old timer the other day driving his car clenching his Falcon. Albeit I almost crashed mine trying to crane my neck around to double check as he drove past.
If it is fading into history so be it, at least I get to enjoy it now before it inevitably becomes illegal. Even then I think I like idea of being a pipe and tobacco runner around my neck of the woods.

 

[Chasing Embers]

I've never understood the need of some to see pipe smokers out and about. Misery loves company? Validation of one's choice of a vice? I simply can't wrap my head around this need.

In the same boat. The word hobby also perplexes me. I've often seen it used to cover shame, ie. an adult collector of toys will call it a "hobby" of collectibles.

 

[Chasing Embers]

it's part of human nature to want to belong in some way or other

It can also be seen as a symptom of low self esteem, anxiety, and dependence.

 

[HawkeyeLinus]

I'm pretty sure the last time I saw someone smoking a pipe in public place outdoors and took notice it was 4 years ago and across the pond while on vacation (and I wasn't enjoying pipes at that point and was more drawn to the symmetry between the owner and his dog - but the guy was cool and friendly). I probably would have thought pipe smoking was a "lost art" if I'd ever thought about it until . . . I stumbled upon this place.

 

[Sam Gamgee]

Regarding seeing someone out and about smoking a pipe...
I always enjoy it and make it a point to say something. I don't need any kind of validation (that's ridiculous) but it's fun bumping into the like-minded.

As far as pipe-smoking slowing down...
I think that's obvious, but now it's a subculture. I play guitar as a hobby and, while there aren't many people (in the grand scheme) who play guitar, there are more than enough to keep the big and small guitar-makers going. In fact, the small shop/boutique guitar market is bigger than ever. It seems like the same is true for pipe-makers.

Regarding hipsters...
Like @mbmoehl, I used to be really hard on them, but not anymore. Sure, pure reactionary behavior is immature and off-putting, but I find that people get over that stage of things fairly quickly, and then move into a place of truly trying to figure out who they are. I know I did.

​

 

[frozenchurchwarden]

I think vinyl coming back in the digital download/streaming era represents a "down-selection" of physical media, too. If one is trying to decide whether to listen to a song from their phone or Echo, or a physical object, I feel like they are much less likely to bother with a cassette or CD or 8-track in favor of just getting it digitally. Those media probably aren't going to come back, although some indie bands are trying with cassettes. Vinyl, maybe because it's much more involved than other media, has come to represent the consummate physical musical medium -- if you want the experience of playing music from an object, it gives you the most of that (for better or worse.)

I started coming to this realization when I found that Nine Inch Nails only sells music digitally or on vinyl. They sold a heck of a lot of cassettes and CDs back in the day, but the interest in supporting all of those formats simultaneously is not there anymore.

Vinyl might be the only form of music recording that is fully analog, no ADC anywhere.
Also a Vinyl doesn't go poof into dust like magnetic tape does, someday people are going to regret recording anything on VHS.

 

[EvertonFC]

I've talked to a few B&M tobacconists, who've told me they've seen a sizable rise in pipe smoking among college age kids. Obviously those conversations are completely anecdotal. Still, who foresaw the vodka boom of the 80s, the cigar boom of the 90s, or the current bourbon boom? I think there's at least a chance pipes could enjoy something akin to this.

 

[Navy Chief]

I've talked to a few B&M tobacconists, who've told me they've seen a sizable rise in pipe smoking among college age kids. Obviously those conversations are completely anecdotal. Still, who foresaw the vodka boom of the 80s, the cigar boom of the 90s, or the current bourbon boom? I think there's at least a chance pipes could enjoy something akin to this.

I have very mixed feelings about the possibility of a pipe smoking boom, it would drive the prices even higher and make a lot of things even harder to find....

 

[ThermionicScott]

Vinyl might be the only form of music recording that is fully analog, no ADC anywhere.
Also a Vinyl doesn't go poof into dust like magnetic tape does, someday people are going to regret recording anything on VHS.

Have you ever watched those "VHS generation loss" videos on YouTube? It's heartbreaking how there is degradation with any copy, no matter how careful you are.

 

[ThermionicScott]

I have very mixed feelings about the possibility of a pipe smoking boom, it would drive the prices even higher and make a lot of things even harder to find....

Yeah, Ernie Q has posted some eye-opening stuff on PSD about how a pipe-smoking "boom" is something we absolutely do not want. The whole supply chain from farmer to distributor does not have a lot of excess capacity at this point. Lots of crap would enter the supply chain to make up shortfalls, and anything decent would become unobtanium. The small companies would struggle to keep up, and then die after the boom goes bust.

But then, he also figures that the biggest threat to pipe-smoking is a lack of interest: fewer smokers and no new blenders to take the place of the vets. So the best outcome is probably somewhere in the middle.

 

[mso489]

I think pipe smoking used to be predominantly a social activity, something people, mostly men, did at the local pub or bar in conversation with other patrons many of whom also smoked pipes. Or men did it in the home surrounded by spouse, children, friends and pets.

I suspect that pipe smoking today is more often than not done alone over a book, out in the yard or field or walking, or at the computer screen (or on another digital device). People who can smoke at work usually work in a solitary situation.

 

[Navy Chief]

I think pipe smoking used to be predominantly a social activity, something people, mostly men, did at the local pub or bar in conversation with other patrons many of whom also smoked pipes. Or men did it in the home surrounded by spouse, children, friends and pets.

I suspect that pipe smoking today is more often than not done alone over a book, out in the yard or field or walking, or at the computer screen (or on another digital device). People who can smoke at work usually work in a solitary situation.

One of the perks of working full time from home is that I can smoke at work and nobody complains, the downside is I work alone all day with my only human interaction being through the chat program we use and zoom meetings.

 

[Chasing Embers]

I work alone all day with my only human interaction being through the chat program we use and zoom meetings.

I smoke at my job when not in flammable chemical areas on a 7/12 shift alone. The peace is beyond heavenly.

 

[Navy Chief]

I smoke at my job when not in flammable chemical areas on a 7/12 shift alone. The peace is beyond heavenly.

There are days where I miss the office conversations and interaction, but there are far more days where the quiet and solitude are bliss.

 

[Chasing Embers]

There are days where I miss the office conversations and interaction, but there are far more days where the quiet and solitude are bliss.

For me, number crunching beats office chatter for serenity.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

Most of the guys I knew growing up that smoked pipes, and weren't chronic clenchers, were guys who came home, flicked on the boob-tube, packed a pipe from the rack next to their "designated" lazyboy chairs, and smoked while relaxing at the end of the day.

 

[kcghost]

I see it but rarely in public. At the smoke shop I go to there are some people there but usually cigar smokers.