My Visit to My Local B&M

[tokerpipes]

My trip started in the middle of a 36 hour rain storm. If you are familiar with the PNW it’s common, but irregular for this time of year. After dodging much traffic and to many rain puddles, I arrived 45 min after I left the house.
This is the closest shop to me in good old Tacoma. It’s a small space and it’s corporate tobacco seller. The two girls manning the store were busy filling bacci jars and opening fresh cigar boxes for the humidor. While they were staying busy they both took the time to address my window shopping of tobacco and pipe interests. They had what seemed like a water barrel of basket and estate pipes, not enough time to even go through a quarter of cheapos.
If your like me I want to know what tobacco I am buying when it’s bulk or jar blends. Most shops slap a name they created on the jar when it’s another major company’s blend, kinda irritating. I was surprised that these girl knew exactly the company of most of the stores named blends. Not to many tins but a lot of Seattle Pipe Club. So I got 4 different ounces of bacci, stocked up on pipe cleaners and matches. I thoroughly enjoyed my visit.

 

[fightnhampster]

Nice! It is good that they knew the manufacturer of their house blends. I have one shop here locally, but the gentleman that runs it is not pleasant at all and taters almost exclusively to Cigar smokers. Nothing wrong with that, just not very helpful since I am mostly a pipe smoker.

 

[badbriar]

You are truly fortunate. Tinderbox has not been in Florida for the last several years. Used to love going in there and browsing all the neat stuff.

 

[scloyd]

My local Tinder Box is in Rockford, IL. and whenever I'm in Rockford I'll stop and pick up pipe cleaners and look to see if they have any tins. I picked up my first tin of Erinmore Flake there...good stuff. As for their "house blends", I like Philosopher and Sherlock's Choice, both English blends.

 

[olkofri]

My privately owned local tobacco shoppe also rebrands some of Lane's bulk, but the tobacconist will tell you which one is 1-Q and which one is RPL-6 if you ask. Others like HGL and BCA are just left with their original denomination. I don't find it irritating; I mean, you ask once and then you know, and, frankly, "Gladstone" sounds way better than "1-Q".

 

[BROBS]

"Gladstone" sounds way better than "1-Q".

agree big time.

 

[augiebd]

I was just at local privately owned B&M this morning. They are an old fashioned tobacconist with good variety of product related to pipe smoking and cigars. They are knowledgeable about their product as they are also pipe smokers. It is nice to be able to discuss blends you haven't tried with someone who has tried them and can tell you other blends they are similar too.

 

[panamacharlie]

What is the brand and name of Philosopher?

 

[stbruno70]

Bless everybody on this thread who supports their local shop. The B&M is a threatened species that needs our patronage.

 

[jpmcwjr]

I was just at local privately owned B&M this morning. They are an old fashioned tobacconist with good variety of product related to pipe smoking and cigars. They are knowledgeable about their product as they are also pipe smokers. It is nice to be able to discuss blends you haven't tried with someone who has tried them and can tell you other blends they are similar too.

Agree. And it would be good to know where this shop is! Or where abouts you live; then presumably we can figure it out!

 

[jpmcwjr]

Bless everybody on this thread who supports their local shop. The B&M is a threatened species that needs our patronage.

That's an understatement! Mason lives near one of the best in CA, lucky guy.

And I hope folks often buy more than a pack of cleaners.

 

[augiebd]

Agree. And it would be good to know where this shop is! Or where abouts you live; then presumably we can figure it out!

I am in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, so a little off the beaten path for most. There are a few forum members from my city or close by who are probably already familiar with the shop, Burlington on Whyte. Most non-Canadian visitors would not enjoy the Canadian prices.

I have updated my profile to include a location.

 

[mso489]

More than several Forums members started pipe smoking by buying pipes and blends from Tinder Box. I did. I bought several pipes from them over the years: My first a smooth bent pot I still own and smoke; a Britannia smooth Dublin that's still going; and one or two others. At my franchise in the mall, they couldn't allow smoking, and over the years the revenue stream went to their cigar humidor, but they still had some pipes and bulk blends and tins. They moved in the mall then finally closed. Now there is a Tinder Box in a nearby city, but I'm not sure if it is the same management or another. Service was always friendly but sometimes preoccupied or, with part-timers, not knowledgeable, but I enjoyed it. Fortunately we still have a long-long-time independent pipe shop that thrives in its gentrified neighborhood next to a bicycle shop and tattoo parlor. A pipe shop is a wonderful venue.

 

[gervais]

I am in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, so a little off the beaten path for most. There are a few forum members from my city or close by who are probably already familiar with the shop, Burlington on Whyte. Most non-Canadian visitors would not enjoy the Canadian prices.

I have updated my profile to include a location.

Cheapest I've found in Ontario was a small kiosk in town mall. $38.00+tx for a tin. What's a tin run you up in Calgary?

 

[Sonorisis]

Our local Tinder Box was bought out by a successful, local cigar store. It's got better cigars now, but the pipe stuff has all but gone away.

 

[augiebd]

Cheapest I've found in Ontario was a small kiosk in town mall. $38.00+tx for a tin. What's a tin run you up in Calgary?

Bulk blends are about $25 an oz.+tax or so. Tins are about $45+to for common blends, more for things that are harder to find.

 

[anotherbob]

My privately owned local tobacco shoppe also rebrands some of Lane's bulk, but the tobacconist will tell you which one is 1-Q and which one is RPL-6 if you ask. Others like HGL and BCA are just left with their original denomination. I don't find it irritating; I mean, you ask once and then you know, and, frankly, "Gladstone" sounds way better than "1-Q".

one of the first pipe smokers I knew lived in Texas for a while and their local called 1-Q "Ladies love it". Which has probably lead to at least a few Laurel and Hardy type situations.

 

[mso489]

Holy smokes, $45 a tin. Online in the U.S. they average about $12 plus shipping and sometimes state tax. That higher price would temper my smoking schedule.

 

[augiebd]

Holy smokes, $45 a tin. Online in the U.S. they average about $12 plus shipping and sometimes state tax. That higher price would temper my smoking schedule.

I mostly buy pipes and accessories at my B&M and occasionally a rarer tobacco that is available. Most of my tobacco is purchased when my wife or I travel to the US. That said I usually only have the time to smoke on weekends and am even more limited when winter really settles in. Many factors contribute to a low bowl/week count, cost is not one of the larger ones. Sure, lower cost is always better, but some things are what they are, you gotta pay to play. If I was really concerned about cost I would have stopped buying pipes a while ago and started using that money for tobacco.

 

[diamondback]

What is the brand and name of Philosopher?

Is this it?

updating via yoast

www.tobaccoreviews.com

This was what Angel Eyes (Lee Van Cleef) was actually smoking in those Spaghetti Westerns?

Definitely not a relaxing lighting ritual there at about a minute in. For Angel Eyes though I’m sure this kind of thing was just another day at the office.