Learning to Smoke?

[sparrowhawk]

How long did it take you to learn to smoke a pipe, where you have filling the chamber down just right, tamping it, lighting it and automatically breathe in the smoke in your own rhythm? Learning to smoke on my own, excepting the help I received here, took me an incredible three years.

 

[workman]

Not yet. 1 year, 4 months.

 

[jpmcwjr]

A few months, but that was on a re-load; I hadn't smoked a pipe in about 50 years, but I had a good base on which to build. The biggest was getting right on moisture levels.

 

[Chasing Embers]

Déjà vu

 

[timt]

Yeah, I'm still learning, its only been 10-11 months with a pipe for me. I'm still a baby but I know enough to really enjoy myself.

 

[pianopuffer]

I’m still figuring things out. Some days are better than others, but I feel like I have a lot to learn. I think of it as part of the experience.

 

[loneredtree]

I did not know there was a "right way" till now.
58 years...... :nana:

 

[mikethompson]

There is always something that needs improving. My cadence kills me that's for sure. Maybe when I'm bnichols' age I will have figured it out

 

[highwaycobbery]

Been smoking for 11-12 years and am just figuring out how to smoke macbarens without burning the shit out of my tounge unit.

 

[Civil War]

Been smoking for over 10 years and I am still learning. This forum has helped tremendously! Thank you all.

 

[warren]

I learned to smoke at age 12, Pall Mall. Cheap cigars followed a short time later. First pipe at 18 in college. I've been refining my various techniques 60 years. For the pipe, the blends I've become attached to change rarely. The pipe is a tool, I learned to make it function well, fairly quickly.
This is another of those questions which requires some thought and some parameters as to when "one has learned to smoke a pipe." On my terms only, I'd say a few bowls and I was smoking comfortably, enjoying the experience and could forget I had a pipe in my mouth. I'n sure some here would say I never learned to really smoke a pipe.

 

[jpmcwjr]

Regardless, it seems most have learned to smoke comfortably and many are willing and open to learning more about some aspect of pipe smoking and tobacco. Such as lighters! Tobacco pouches! Racks! Moisture! Reaming! Etc., etc..

 

[mso489]

Dad was an all-day Granger smoker for decades, so by the time I bought a pipe in my thirties, I had years of instruction and imitated that.

 

[crashthegrey]

When I started I dove right into a slow smoke competition at the Kaywoodie Holiday Party, about 8 months in. Between the contest and the great people there I certainly learned a lot much quicker than just trial and error. That being said, I feel like years in I still learn a new trick or technique quite often. I don't think one ever finishes learning how to smoke a pipe and enjoy tobacco in a way that we currently wish to enjoy it.

 

[eggrollpiper]

Yeah, 25 years smoking a pipe and still learning. Pipe smoking is definitely a journey. About 6 months in and 18 years old I knew everything about pipes. Now, as Plato quoted Socrates: The only thing I know is that I know nothing. The Socratic Paradox.

 

[warren]

Let me put it this way, "I know all I need to know about pipes for an enjoyable bowl."
Now, if I had an interest, I could explore different packing techniques, different bowl materials, different blends, the effects of the different leaf, manufacturers, carvers, stems and bits, all sorts of facets. But, I am perhaps too easily satisfied with just a great tasting, satisfying, simple bowl of tobacco. I'm not seeking nirvana, just a good smoke.
Others here, more power to them, explore many facets of pipe smoking. Often very deeply. Those folks are, for all intents and purposes, still learning. I suspect many, confirmed above, will never quit learning to "smoke" a pipe. They don't want to quit, it's a quest and it's fun for them. God bless 'em all!

 

[jaytex1969]

At about 15 months in, it's a bit like chess. Easy to learn the way the pieces move, more involved to develop a great strategy.
I'm MUCH better than a year ago but I'm sure there's room for improvement.

 

[willisk]

On my first bowl I figured it out and knew all I needed to know!!
Not lol!! I’m getting better each day and have a long way to go but in just over 3 weeks with the help of this forum

I’ve come along way!! Without this forum I’d still be trying to smoke wet baccy and trying to make my own blends with

Cheap ryo tobacco and smokers pride cavendish ( it actually tastes pretty good ) not as good as the blends y’all recommended

But each day I’m getting better and learning more!!

 

[tuold]

I'd say it took me about 45 years. I'm a slow learner. Once I started reading these forums things picked up quite a bit and I had it down within a year!

 

[shanez]

I just make it up as I go along. Ignorance is bliss.