Newbie flailing on whether to smoke or not!

[derfatdutchman]

Nothing wrong with just a pipe collector. But, I agree if your this concerned about the possible effects of smoking it is probably not for you.

 

[bonehed]

 

[echie]

I can see where you're coming from. I've never smoked cigarettes (and in fact still dislike the smell - and the whole idea - of them). I think smoking (anything) is a very personal choice, so I don't want to give anyone advice on that. Heck, I have an app for pipe smokers, and on its "About" screen I specifically state that I don't encourage anyone to smoke pipes.
In the end, you have to accept that there is a health risk involved, and decide if you are comfortable with it. Nobody can make this decision for you.
And as for the taste, well, pipe smoking only makes sense if you enjoy it. But on that regard, at least, I can tell you that you have to give it some time and learn to appreciate it (like most taste-related hobbies, in fact).
Good luck with your decision

 

[Chasing Embers]

Get a small Missouri Meerschaum corn cob, and a pouch of Carter Hall. Inexpensive, but high enough grade for even the most veteran among us. Learn proper packing and lighting technique, and slowly smoke. Let the smoke roll around in your mouth before blowing it out. Once you've finished the bowl, ask yourself, "Did I enjoy that?"

 

[elpfeife]

Whether you smoke a pipe or not remember, if you live to a ripe old age, infirmity and dementia wait for you with open arms! ::

 

[aldecaker]

Well, you're too old to die young, so that's not a big worry. If you think you'd enjoy smoking, go for it. I'm not wedded to the idea of being a health nut to live to a ridiculously old age, and understand that we are suffering more risk factors for disease or death than you could ever tie to smoking. People die; that's what they do, every damned one of them. Pipe smoking may give you a new lease on life- a whole new set of "risk factors" to obsess over.

 

[mso489]

I think everyone on Forums takes action to promote their health, by their own lights -- be it diet, exercise, medical exams, and so forth. Your impulse to stay healthy is good. Since you see pipe smoking as an unhealthful risk, I'd say don't do it. The only sensible basis to smoke a pipe is that you do so in sufficient moderation not to induce bad health. Life has no guarantees, but you make the best risk analyses you can. The counter balance is that the enjoyment and sometimes companionability improve your morale and hence your health, but in your case, I don't see that.

 

[prairiedruid]

Just a quick question: are the pipes you collect already smoked? Could part of the "burnt" taste you get from smoking is from a pipe that hasn't been cleaned properly? Also have to agree with several of the posters that it seems you are looking for reasons pipe smoking can be bad but not looking for reasons it can be good. With that in mind I'd say collect the pipes but don't smoke them if you are worried about the effects.

 

[phil67]

I'm in agreement with many of the others here. If your all that concerned, analytical and over anxious about the health concerns associated with smoking a pipe... don't do it.

 

[hierophant]

I agree with everyone else pretty much. It's like deciding to ride a motorcycle, but always being afraid you're going to crash. You won't enjoy it so don't do it.

 

[eriksmokes85]

I think pipe smoking is just like anything else in life. nothing is safe everything carries risk. is the reward better than the possible risk? in the case of smoking a pipe for me yes it is! its away to not think about a damn thing but just sit in my chair and enjoy nature and a scotch and sometimes an amazing conversation with my wife. life is risky business but do you analyze getting out of bed every morning cause you could get hit by a bus..i have to agree with the first reply..if you always think about it i wouldnt do it cause it will never be the experience its meant to be!
Also if you decide to stop let us know if you want to sell you colletion :rofl: :D

 

[frozenchurchwarden]

1) While pipe tobacco doesn’t have any of the utter rubbish that is cigarette “tobacco”, it is treated with pesticides in the field. Some of these pesticides are quite evil, and we don’t seem to understand how they behave under combustion

It's a pesticide, of course it's going to sound nasty, but you'll also know that most people smoke tobacco specifically because it contains a nasty insecticide, and we're a long way from fully understanding that.

Unless you share the same glands and digestive tract as a beetle that eats tobacco you probably don't have much to worry about.

Worst case scenario, if it is hazardous, and if it is stored in the leaves of the plant, and if it doesn't break down after a week, the trace amounts are still going to be multiple orders of magnitude less hazardous than the smoke it's being carried in. It's like worrying about getting fleas from that lion that's about to eat you. If you escape from the lion (tongue bite) then the fleas aren't coming anywhere near you.

 

[jaydublin]

We're all in this together and nobody's getting out alive.
Our grip on life is tenuous at best, and hanging on tight doesn't guarantee the branch won't break. So I don't give up things that make the time I've got more pleasurable - ever.
I say smoke'm if you got'em. But that's just my way and a philosophy that works for me.
Speaking of making someone happy: "bonehed", thanks for the pic. That made my day! So damn funny.

 

[deathmetal]

Or just... smoke for a week, and see how you feel?

 

[stvalentine]

Smokers are not made, they are born. You don´t become a smoker but you surrender to the need or you fight it. After all a born smoker enjoys smoking while a born non-smoker simply can´t. I am a natural born smoker which means that I always wanted to smoke. I am fascintated by it and went from pipes to cigarettes, from cigarettes to cigars and from there back to pipes.

Your concerns tell me that you are a natural born non-smoker. This will never change and you will never enjoy smoking. There is no rational reason for smoking but joy after all.

Do yourself a favor and spare yourself the hassle of trying. Of course YMMV.... :wink:

 

[oldreddog]

Life will kill ya, just ask Warren Zevon. Stvalentine, spot on for me.

 

[rblood]

Just think of how silly all the health nuts will feel when they eventually die of nothing... Smoke if you want to, it's your choice not ours.

 

[fella55]

Thank you everyone for both taking the time to read as well as responding to my rather lengthy post. Having re-read my original post and all of your responses, I think I'm going to plod along with smoking at a pace at which I am comfortable. If I find that I am deriving more angst than pleasure by smoking, or if over time I don't find my self enjoying the taste of tobacco, I can always go back to admiring my pipes for the art that they are knowing that I gave the hobby a fair shake.
I also *promise* not to harass you with medical questions or concerns :D

 

[anchovyd]

Fella55, you've made the right choice. You probably shouldn't smoke. You can use that money that would've gone to tobacco and purchase more pipes for your collection. If you are that obsessed with checmicals in tobacco, you are better off not puffing. You don't seem to have the right attitude.
Your claims about nicotine are totally bogus. It is not addictive. Cigarette smoking maybe but it's not the nicotine. Me and my friends have smoked pipes and cigars for years and never have I felt that I was jonesing for nicotine. It's nothing for me to lay down the pipe for a couple of weeks when I go to visit my in-laws and a few times I have stopped smoking for about a half a year like when I had hand surgery to reconnect a nerves and tendons and the doctor said that smoking may retard the healing process. I wanted to get back to playing piano ASAP so I laid down my pipe for six or seven months and I never had the DTs or was tempted by my pipe collection staring at me on my mantle.
As for the chemicals and products of combustion, who knows. If you are obsessing this much over it, stay smoke-free Ponyboy.

 

[tuold]

We all have an expiration date. The closer I get to mine the less worried I am about trading risk for pleasure and enjoying some of the finer things life has to offer. I don't think you are there yet. Then again, I grew up in the hydrocarbon infused air of Los Angeles eating insecticide soaked produce and riding in cars with no seat belts. I've beaten the odds.
Like you, I'm also more of a pipe collector but I have had some peak tobacco experiences. As for nicotine addiction, I sometimes go for a week or more without a smoke, so I don't think I have that particular gene.
My advice is to keep collecting for another ten years, then make a smoking or no smoking decision.