Is Pipe Smoking on the Rise?

[admin]

Is pipe smoking on the increase or decrease? It depends who you ask. We asked Doc Mike Garr. Here's what he said -

http://pipesmagazine.com/blog/pipe-smoking-lifestyle/age-and-pipe-smoking/

 

[mso489]

Totally surprised by the 18-25 year-old cohort. I would have expected a slight increase. Older folks may fade in pipe smoking for unrelated health reasons, but the drop surprised me too. One of my pipe friends who lives in NYC/Queens/Sunnyside and has a daughter in her twenties, commented in a recent phone call that pipe smoking has really become fashionable again, and since fashion is frequently a function of the young, I guess this refers to the 18 to 25 year-old cohort.

 

[jackswilling]

I read some Govt stats CDC or whatever that had pipe smoking on the increase. Not a huge increase, but the article is well written/documented. So along with the original 1 % ers you can add the pipe smokers as 1 % ers

 

[downinit]

Because it is hipster cool now and a bit steam punkish.

 

[pagan]

Im hoping for a comeback, a time honored tradition that has been lost over the years

 

[deathmetal]

It seems to me that it is gaining in popularity as people retreat from the overly-social public life that is now the norm. Pipe smoking is good as a solitary pursuit, and when your civilization is falling in ruins around you, being solitary is a good thing.

 

[ophiuchus]

Purely on a subjective, non-scientific observational level, if I went by what I've been seeing for the last 10-15 years here in bustling Chicago, I'd say it's been on a steady decline, contrary to "anecdotal information."
There. I said it. Back in 2000, pipe smoking wasn't exactly common here, but I'd see at least two or three other pipe smokers on the street per week. Now? Excluding visits to Iwan Ries, I maybe see a new pipe smoker once a month or so.
I have read a lot in the last few years about how pipe smoking is on the rise, but I'm just not seeing it.

 

[bigpond]

Take a peek at the staff photos at spc. I think it's a pretty good reflection of the greater pipe population. Reddit has a very active and all together different pipe community which is just as lively, just with slightly less ben gay.
If you live between the fawn and the fart generations it's an interesting time to be a pipe smoker.

 

[mso489]

My local independent pipe shop has a smoking table, which is right in the sales area with the pipes and pipe tobacco and around the corner from the cigar humidor. Admittedly, the clientele tends toward the over-50 crowd, but since the shop is near a large campus, it gets a steady stream of walk-by traffic of twenty-somethings. This seems to include many different types, from ROTC-groomed to hipster to computer science and engineering "nerds" and so forth. You cannot put these young folks in a box.

 

[deathmetal]

One thing to keep in mind is the decrease in public spaces where you can smoke. You are not going to see many pipe smokers on the street because they will have to put out the pipe in order to enter any establishment except a pipe shop at this point. You are not going to see them in cars because other people will complain about the smell. You will not see them in parks or even front porches for the same reason.
This is part of a general (massive) decline in public spaces. The smokers are home, ordering from the internet, and smoking in their backyard sheds, basements, attics, nuclear shelters and garages. At this point, to be in public is to be on camera and subject to crazy amounts of potential criticism from anyone offended by anything that you do, so the best response is to do nothing in public and save your pleasures for private life.

 

[pappymac]

I agree with deathmetal. Part of the decline in seeing pipe smokers is all the nanny state regulations about where you can smoke.
That being said, the story mentions the sample size of about 55,000. While that may be a larger sample size, it doesn't give you any indication of how random the sample is according to geographic location. If the preponderance of the sample are in large urban areas, the results are going to be skewed to the cultural norms of those areas. For example, there will be fewer pipe smokers in locations with more active anti-smoking laws, regulations and activists. That would also account for the big drop in the number of pipe smokers over 50 years of age. If the sampling was done in an area where there are fewer of the over 50 crowd then the numbers will reflect a decrease while the areas like towns with universities and colleges would possible show an increase in the number of younger pipe smokers.
Basically, I've long believed that surveys tell you exactly what the person who wrote the survey wants it to tell you.

 

[stickframer]

You are not going to see many pipe smokers on the street because they will have to put out the pipe in order to enter any establishment

I do the majority of pipe smoking while around the house. I will take a pipe along if I'm walking for pleasure, but if I'm running errands in the car or walking to a store I usually leave the pipe at home, because everything is a 10 minute walk away, or a 5 minute drive. It doesn't seem worthwhile to take a pipe on these short excursions and put it out each time I go into a store.
I think if there is an increase, the majority of it is happening at home.

 

[mihailo]

Being someone form the "on the rise" age group I tend to see both sides of this coin. I am the only pipe smoker that I know of within this and the next county, minus one or two of the forum members here. However being on college campus and only being able to lunt I am often seen with my pipe, of which I don't mind, I have even possibly planted the seeds of this hobby with some of my fellow students, and professors.

 

[crashthegrey]

I hope it continues to "be on a rise" and don't mind if the hipsters or anyone else is involved. Who am I to judge a new pipe smoker. I'm lucky to be welcome here as it is, ha. In all seriousness, there definitely seem to be some incredibly varied types interested in pipes these days. Not what you would normally expect.

 

[hextor]

I hope it comes back, I have been spreading the word around here, some of my friends now smoke pipes on occasions!!! and we are around 25 to 30 years old.

 

[ophiuchus]

One thing to keep in mind is the decrease in public spaces where you can smoke. You are not going to see many pipe smokers on the street because they will have to put out the pipe in order to enter any establishment except a pipe shop at this point. You are not going to see them in cars because other people will complain about the smell. You will not see them in parks or even front porches for the same reason.
This is part of a general (massive) decline in public spaces. The smokers are home, ordering from the internet, and smoking in their backyard sheds, basements, attics, nuclear shelters and garages. At this point, to be in public is to be on camera and subject to crazy amounts of potential criticism from anyone offended by anything that you do, so the best response is to do nothing in public and save your pleasures for private life.

I would like to think that this is the case. My worry is that in this same space of time, the last seven years of which has been in the shadow of Illinois State laws banning indoor smoking in public places, I've also observed little change in visibly evident cigarette smoking in parks and sidewalks here, and I've noticed an increase of the smoking of cheap fruity convenience store cigars. I would have expected decreases in both of these as well.
I think that there's a lot of truth in premium cigar and pipe smokers keeping their activities more at home. I also think that the cultural attitude towards smoking, and the diminishing availability of indoor spaces for premium cigar and pipe smokers to share this activity, has also effectively reduced the number of people who pick up premium cigars and pipes to begin with, and has also effectively scared less dedicated smokers away from the activity altogether.
To reiterate, this is little more than a guess; I'd be very happy to be incorrect here.

 

[cbaum02]

I can also say I around my college campus have notice a few new pipe smokers. Me being in my early early twenties find pipes an enjoyable pastime and hobby. I think that things are coming back, at least from my town, such as mullet hair cuts, muscle cars, suspenders, plaid suit coats ect... i think this past time is in the realm of coming back and coming back big. And boy do I hope it does!

 

[crashthegrey]

Speaking to the above, I think we all owe it to ourselves to get out and smoke more. I know we keep it at home more and more, but let's remember the camaraderie of smoking together and get out there more.

 

[deathmetal]

I also think that the cultural attitude towards smoking, and the diminishing availability of indoor spaces for premium cigar and pipe smokers to share this activity, has also effectively reduced the number of people who pick up premium cigars and pipes to begin with, and has also effectively scared less dedicated smokers away from the activity altogether.

Naturally. But add to that a lack of places to do it, and fear that you will get reported to your health care plan and have to pay an extra few thousand a year because they do not distinguish between cigarettes and pipes, and you have a whole lot of covert smoking going on.

 

[tuold]

I lost one pipe smoking friend to vaping. Evidently he was in it just for the nicotine. Very disappointing, but he likes being able smoke his e-pipe in the house.