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Hi,
My handle is Navojoa as it's a town that I sometimes live in. My name is Scott.
I have been smoking the pipe since about 1996, I think. I have mild Tourette's Syndrome (since I was about 6 years old) and the nicotine does seem to help on the rare occasions when stress or fatigue exacerbates it. My wife - who was dead against my taking it up - now encourages me to have a bowl when I'm a bit twitchy.
(Funny story: I bought my first pipe from a street vendor in Beijing. I have no idea what kind of wood it was made of, but the bowl was lined with clay. It was a bent apple shape. I asked out of curiosity how much it cost (I'd been thinking about taking up the pipe) and the guy gave me some exorbitant price. I didn't really want it but he kept badgering me, "How much you give? How much you give?" I'd heard that if you low-balled too much, the vendors would be angry and leave you alone, so I offered him one dollar. He says, "Okay!" So I was stuck with a new pipe.
A few weeks later, back in the US, I bought a pouch of vanilla drug store backy while on a long drive, packed the pipe and thoroughly enjoyed the experience. As a matter of fact, it was so good that I packed a second bowl and lit it up. Well, you ever hear the phrase 'too much of a good thing?" About half-way through that second bowl, I pulled over to the side of the highway and threw my guts up!)
Back in the early 2000s I was on a forum at www.pipesmokerforum.com. I just tried to reconnect, but I don't think it exists anymore. There was one guy there who was a pastor at a Baptist church in Lawton, OK. He had suffered from migraines for years with no relief from any treatments, until finally his doctor recommended he take up the pipe. He started to have a bowl of some really strong Peterson blend (I think it was University Flake) every evening on the back porch after supper and never had another migraine!
At one time, I had a pretty extensive collection of briars, but moves and changes have seen many of them lost to the ravages of time and circumstance. I still have a few good ones, including a meerschaum that a friend in Mongolia (I lived there for ten years) gave me, a Kirsten with a couple of bowls, and one or two other nice ones.
My all-time favorite tobacco has long been McClelland 5110, a dark English full tobacco with a heavy note of wood smoke (best way I can describe it). I think it has a good proportion of latakia. I hit lighter blends on occasion, but that's my go-to.
I now live in NW Mexico and have recently discovered a native tobacco that is absolutely amazing. I'll post more about that later. Part of why I came here is that I hope to start growing my own from the seed of this particular weed and I may need some tips, mostly on preparing it.
The tobacco, if you're interested, is scientifically called nicotiana rustica. Here in the region, it's referred to as macuchi, though it has many different names throughout Latin America. It really is amazing.
Anyway, I'm looking forward to getting to know you all.
Regards,
Scott (Navojoa)
My handle is Navojoa as it's a town that I sometimes live in. My name is Scott.
I have been smoking the pipe since about 1996, I think. I have mild Tourette's Syndrome (since I was about 6 years old) and the nicotine does seem to help on the rare occasions when stress or fatigue exacerbates it. My wife - who was dead against my taking it up - now encourages me to have a bowl when I'm a bit twitchy.
(Funny story: I bought my first pipe from a street vendor in Beijing. I have no idea what kind of wood it was made of, but the bowl was lined with clay. It was a bent apple shape. I asked out of curiosity how much it cost (I'd been thinking about taking up the pipe) and the guy gave me some exorbitant price. I didn't really want it but he kept badgering me, "How much you give? How much you give?" I'd heard that if you low-balled too much, the vendors would be angry and leave you alone, so I offered him one dollar. He says, "Okay!" So I was stuck with a new pipe.
A few weeks later, back in the US, I bought a pouch of vanilla drug store backy while on a long drive, packed the pipe and thoroughly enjoyed the experience. As a matter of fact, it was so good that I packed a second bowl and lit it up. Well, you ever hear the phrase 'too much of a good thing?" About half-way through that second bowl, I pulled over to the side of the highway and threw my guts up!)
Back in the early 2000s I was on a forum at www.pipesmokerforum.com. I just tried to reconnect, but I don't think it exists anymore. There was one guy there who was a pastor at a Baptist church in Lawton, OK. He had suffered from migraines for years with no relief from any treatments, until finally his doctor recommended he take up the pipe. He started to have a bowl of some really strong Peterson blend (I think it was University Flake) every evening on the back porch after supper and never had another migraine!
At one time, I had a pretty extensive collection of briars, but moves and changes have seen many of them lost to the ravages of time and circumstance. I still have a few good ones, including a meerschaum that a friend in Mongolia (I lived there for ten years) gave me, a Kirsten with a couple of bowls, and one or two other nice ones.
My all-time favorite tobacco has long been McClelland 5110, a dark English full tobacco with a heavy note of wood smoke (best way I can describe it). I think it has a good proportion of latakia. I hit lighter blends on occasion, but that's my go-to.
I now live in NW Mexico and have recently discovered a native tobacco that is absolutely amazing. I'll post more about that later. Part of why I came here is that I hope to start growing my own from the seed of this particular weed and I may need some tips, mostly on preparing it.
The tobacco, if you're interested, is scientifically called nicotiana rustica. Here in the region, it's referred to as macuchi, though it has many different names throughout Latin America. It really is amazing.
Anyway, I'm looking forward to getting to know you all.
Regards,
Scott (Navojoa)
