Newbie Pipe Smoker

[nitemair13]

Hello, I just started smoking a pipe about a 2 months ago. Still learning all the steps and care methods. My area is rather lacking in pipe tobacco shops so I haven't experienced a wide range of tobacco yet. I started out with cigars and found that they helped my anxiety disorder. Mainly they calm me down, and eventually tried a pipe. Found that worked even better and have since moved over to pipes only. I'm interested in learning more about the art of pipe smoking and tips on new types of tobacco to try.

 

[sablebrush52]

Welcome to the forum! Keep reading and don't be afraid to ask questions.

 

[mso489]

Welcome aboard. There's a wealth of knowledge and experience from Forums members. Don't be afraid to ask whatever you need to know. Often times what feels like a dumb question is something others would like to hear discussed. Use the pipes magazines articles, podcasts, and blogs to pick up a lot of background, and the sponsor sites to learn about pipe shapes, filters, brands, finishes, and the vast selection of blends in different packages and genres. Take your time. It should be a fun journey.

 

[brassmonkey]

Welcome along. You have come to the right place to enhance your journey.

 

[carolinachurchwarden]

Well welcome to the party nitemair13! There's a ton of knowledge in this bunch! Ask and you shall receive answers, not all are guaranteed to be the one you want, but it will be an answer. In all seriousness though, this is a great place to be and find out things you didn't know, so welcome aboard!

 

[nitemair13]

Thank you all for the warm welcome.

 

[bnichols23]

Howdy from upstate SC, nightmair! As the others've said, you're *more* than welcome, & ask away. Questions here are like asking people if they have pictures of their grandkids! Plus, there's a ton of the good kind of crazy. You'll figure out who the lunatics are in pretty short order. Hint: You've already met 5 of them. }
What are you smoking, pipe-& tobacco-wise?

 

[nitemair13]

What are you smoking, pipe-& tobacco-wise?

I have a few pipes, I learned that you need to have a rotation. My favorite is a Briar bent stem pipe with Captain Black Original.
I'm from eastern NC so we're practically neighbors. Sadly my area is not a big pipe smoking market so my tobacco choices have been limited. I'm going to have to start going online and ordering new blends I guess. Though I enjoy Captain Black as it's not overly strong.

 

[jpmcwjr]

Welcome!! I hope your time here is not nightmarish!

 

[carolinachurchwarden]

Well fancy that! I'm up in Raleigh, myself. I do enjoy a good pouch of Captain Black from time to time. Gold was my first and currently have a pouch of original at home. It's a pretty good blend for a few bucks and ain't bad for the price.

 

[nitemair13]

Well fancy that! I'm up in Raleigh, myself

I'm just east of you, doesn't take me 45 minutes to get into the heart of Raleigh. Wouldn't happen to know of any good Tobacco places up there would you? I'm hunting new blends to try, though still learning the terminology of the different types of pipe tobacco. Had a hard enough time learning the cigar lingo, mainly because it was in spanish most of the time haha.
Also, and please nobody take this the wrong way, but why do I get the feeling I'm a youngster here. I'm 28 and from the way you guys present yourselves makes me believe everyone is a bit older.

 

[nitemair13]

Welcome!! I hope your time here is not nightmarish!

From what I've experienced so far, it has been far from nightmarish lol. And people usually ask about my username so I'll go ahead and explain that. It's what my father named my car (Black Mustang) and came up with the odd spelling so he could fit it on a license plate for me as a gift. The nickname carried over to me, most of my friends don't even use my real name anymore.

 

[opus777]

Welcome! These forums are a wealth of knowledge, I'm a new pipe smoker as well.

 

[bnichols23]

Yup, right you is. I've never tried the other cb blends since they just don't appeal to me, but the white & gold I do like. Ideally of course nothing beats testing bowls at an actual shop, but.... XCW & MSO are fairly close to you & can advise you better on sources, plus there are several other folks in/around our area. Also be sure to check out the site's shop locator if you haven't already. I founnd out about a few in my area I didn't know about. My favorite shop is actually over in Gatlinburg; I have a couple of blends I order from them a lot.

 

[nitemair13]

I love captain black, both original and just recently found the gold and enjoy that too. Though the original is my preferred. I've tried Peterson's Hyde Park which is good, just stronger to me. I'm not a fan of the stronger blends, not even when I smoked cigars. Always went with the Connecticut wrappers

 

[bnichols23]

BTW, my apologies, one for the typo XCW instead of CCW, & two for missing a question you asked. I was on my droid, working on a relight on a stubborn aromatic bowlful, & watching for my wife to come out of a meeting. Actually #1 probably covers it well enough. :twisted:
Can't speak to the "most of us," but a number of us do fall on the high side of 50. I'l leave it to any of the others who don't mind a reveal, but me, I'm 65. However I work at a med school where most of the students are mid-20s to low-30s, so that helps keep my brain from getting too :crazyssified.
Besides, "crazy knows no age." :crazy:

 

[mikethompson]

36 here, but I feel I got right in here with you old timers
there is a wealth of info here, and more importantly, people share it. Enjoy the pipe smoking journey!

 

[nitemair13]

Well I've always gotten on well with those older than me. I take after my paternal grandfather in that I was born old haha.

 

[carolinachurchwarden]

35 here, but like you, I always got along with the older folks than those my age. I was raised primarily by my grandmother and my great aunts and uncles because my mom and dad both worked long hours during the day. Made me who I am.

Wouldn't happen to know of any good Tobacco places up there would you?

So far, I'd have to say that Pipes by George over on Hillsborough Street in downtown, near NC States campus is a pretty good resource. Probably the largest supply of pipes at a B&M I have found so far. They also carry a good bit of tinned tobacco varieties from Dunhill to a few McClellands tins left and a bunch of different jarred blends to choose from. He sells by the ounce so it's a great way to try a few different tobacco blends.
The Tobacconist of Cary is a pretty decent store as well, and I've recently found Abbies Tobacco Shop over in Knightdale that carries a few nice blends as well and the guy that runs it is more than helpful and willing to order anything you want that he can get. He's currently also looking to begin stocking some higher quality pipes. It's a little closer to you if you come in up 64.
Every once in a while I find a store that does carry some pouches and I recently found one up near the crossroads of Glenwood/70 and 540 around the Best Buy near Briar Creek, called RJ Tobacco. Still learning the area myself, but those are just a few I've discovered.

 

[nitemair13]

I've been to Abbies Tobacco before, nice guy but at the time he didn't have much in the way of pipes. Of course this was awhile back before I was a pipe smoker so I may revisit there and see. I'm really interested in the one downtown, I just like that area. I'm into history and I like historical buildings and monuments and the museums around there. So I may plan a trip up there again and have a day of checking out the city. Use to go to Schoolkids Records when they were located across from NC State, that was such an awesome old school store.