Nicotine Delivery - cigar vs pipe

[Jahman7]

I've been wondering...

Does nicotine delivery become more efficient with pipe smoking vs cigar smoking?

There seems to be a lot of waste with cigar smoking...

For instance, I could smoke a cigar for an hour... Or I could cut that same cigar up and smoke it in a pipe for HOURSSSS.

 

[Jahman7]

I've never smoked cigar leaf in a pipe until a few days ago.

 

[Chasing Embers]

Never got much from either unless I really overdo it.

 

[warren]

Add a couple of patches to augment whatever you're smoking. That ought to get the level up there. Maybe one on each arm and one right over your heart.

 

[Zamora]

How much of a feeling you'll get from nicotine comes from tons of factors. Specific blend / cigar, what you're having with it, how much you've eaten, smoking technique, and with pipes there's the factor of filters and such. I've gotten too much nicotine from cigars but never from pipes and I certainly feel more nicotine from cigars. However I generally avoid blends known for high nicotine but will give occasionally give high nicotine cigars a chance since you can get singles

 

[Skippy B. Coyote]

It really depends on what you're smoking!

If a good dose of nicotine is what you're after and you like flavored tobaccos then I recommend Samuel Gawith 1792 Flake (strong vanilla'y tonquin flavor with no floral essence) and Gawith Hoggarth Coniston Cut Plug (lighter vanilla'y tonquin with a mild floral essence) or Bosun Cut Plug (very strong rose geranium floral essence). If completely natural tasting tobaccos with no toppings are more your speed then go for Gawith Hoggarth Kendal Dark or Brown Bogie / Brown Irish X (they're the same blend but Brown Bogie comes in a narrower, more tightly spun, and easier to prepare rope that's also good for chewing as well as smoking).

Black Irish X would be a good option too, though it tastes more like grilled meat and charcoal than tobacco if you ask me. 1792 Flake, Coniston Cut Plug, and Brown Bogie are my favorites of the bunch and daily smokes for me.

In any case, any of those blends will give even a pack a day cigarette smoker a very satisfying dose of nicotine after about 15 minutes of piping, and since they're all Virginia based dark fired blends they'll all relight well without turning harsh or acrid like a Burley blend or cigar would if you need to set the pipe down for a few hours or even overnight and come back to it later.

 

[MisterBadger]

I've been wondering...
<SNIP> I could smoke a cigar for an hour... Or I could cut that same cigar up and smoke it in a pipe for HOURSSSS.

I doubt that. Either way, the combustion rate should be the same, and either can last as long as you like if you're prepared to let it go out, fiddle with it, etc. If it's efficiency of nicotine absorption you want, take a look at some YouTube videos of Vietnamese (and visiting foreigners) smoking Thuoc Lao in a bong, where they take one huge inhalation, filling their lungs and emptying the pipe in that one single, mighty draught. But personally I can think of a dozen better reasons for smoking tobacco in a pipe in almost any other way.

 

[Chasing Embers]

In any case, any of those blends will give even a pack a day cigarette smoker a very satisfying dose of nicotine

Only when chewed. The majority of it gets flashed off when smoking them.

 

[Skippy B. Coyote]

Only when chewed. The majority of it gets flashed off when smoking them.

Jeez, you must have the nicotine tolerance of a god! I've been a pack a day cigarette smoker for about 26 years and even I can only smoke all those dark strong blends I mentioned for about 20 minutes max without risking nicotine sickness.

 

[Chasing Embers]

Jeez, you must have the nicotine tolerance of a god! I've been a pack a day cigarette smoker for about 26 years and even I can only smoke all those dark strong blends I mentioned for about 20 minutes max without risking nicotine sickness.

I mostly chew the ropes like Black Twist XX. They taste good smoking them but give less of a nicotine hit than a couple of cigarettes and most of my pipes are in the magnum category.

 

[Sobrbiker]

I smoke smaller chambered pipes, for 20-40min smokes as I smoke outside while doing other things, and rarely just sit and smoke “contemplatively” for hours.

I love the fact that with pipes I can get as much nic as I like with the amount of tobacco equivalent to one cigarette.

Cigars I wind up inhaling, and go green usually to quickly to enjoy, so I don’t bother with them.

 

[username]

I've gotten the spins from a cigar more then from smoking a pipe so my personal experience is cigars.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

I thought my tolerance for nicotine was phenomenal, but over the years I’ve come to understand that Cap’n Chasingembers has me beaten.

I like cigars and pipes equally. But, my problem with cutting up a cigar into plugs that missing that leaf touching my lips. That’s where I get 70% of my cigar experience.

I would suggest GLPs Key Largo for an enjoyable pipe experience that has some of those cigar notes I love.

 

[filmguerilla]

I actually prefer less nicotine and favor Oriental blends in the pipe. That said, I definitely get more of a nic hit off cigars than any pipe blend, including the Gawith and burley/rustica stuff. I'm a big fan of HP Upmann cigars (when I have them) and occasionally get wobble legs after smoking one. As cosmic said, Key Largo is great for a cigar style pipe blend, and I also enjoy the Toscano stuff, too.

 

[popeofpiping]

My personal opinion and my personal smoking habits, I find smoking pipes provides much more of a nicotine hit than cigars. I never inhale premium hand rolled cigars. The only nicotine will be from the absorption from the mouth. Pipes on the other hand, I find inhaling occasionally exceptional. TBH I can’t smoke a pipe without doing it. This among many other factors is the reason why after 10 plus years of chasing and smoking premium cigars, did I make the move to pipes. I am an admitted nicotine hound so take this opinion for what you will. Pipes all day over cigars for nicotine.

 

[Jahman7]

My personal opinion and my personal smoking habits, I find smoking pipes provides much more of a nicotine hit than cigars. I never inhale premium hand rolled cigars. The only nicotine will be from the absorption from the mouth. Pipes on the other hand, I find inhaling occasionally exceptional. TBH I can’t smoke a pipe without doing it. This among many other factors is the reason why after 10 plus years of chasing and smoking premium cigars, did I make the move to pipes. I am an admitted nicotine hound so take this opinion for what you will. Pipes all day over cigars for nicotine.

I smoke about the same as you. I generally do a French inhale when smoking anything. It dilutes the intensity of the smoke, as I am not an inhaler. But I do find I can comfortably inhale pipes far more than any other form of tobacco.

What spurred my thought process in the original question was this: there is a ton of tobacco in cigars than in pipes, and a ton more nicotine. Yet I get the same nic hit from smoking a bowl vs smoking an entire cigar.

Therefore, if I can smoke a cigar through a pipe several times, I must be getting more nicotine extracted throughout the process of smoking the cigar through a pipe, than if I were just smoking the cigar.

 

[popeofpiping]

I smoke about the same as you. I generally do a French inhale when smoking anything. It dilutes the intensity of the smoke, as I am not an inhaler. But I do find I can comfortably inhale pipes far more than any other form of tobacco.

What spurred my thought process in the original question was this: there is a ton of tobacco in cigars than in pipes, and a ton more nicotine. Yet I get the same nic hit from smoking a bowl vs smoking an entire cigar.

Therefore, if I can smoke a cigar through a pipe several times, I must be getting more nicotine extracted throughout the process of smoking the cigar through a pipe, than if I were just smoking the cigar.

 

[K.E. Powell]

In terms of raw amount of nicotine, a single cigar easily beats a single bowl of most pipe tobaccos. As others mentioned, there are a variety of factors involved that will effect how nicotine is absorbed and that in turn effects the smoker. That all being said, let's apply some common sense here. Your average cigar contains more tobacco than your average pipe bowl. So, when making an apples to apples comparison, you're going to get more nicotine from a cigar generally speaking.

As for delivery of nicotine? I honestly do not know which method would be more effective. In both cases, you're not supposed to inhale the smoke; and in both cases, one is supposed to enjoy sipping the tobacco slowly over a long period of time. I guess how it "feels" will vary from person to person.

 

[Richmond B. Funkenhouser]

Snuff, cigarettes, dip, chew, then cigars, then pipes.

That's the order of quickest to slowest nicotine delivery.

What's best depends on how much time you have and what effects you want to feel.

You'll get plenty of nicotine from each. They'll all stop a nicotine craving if you're patient.

But... how fast you take the nicotine into your system determines the effects you will feel.

If you want a rush of nicotine, snuff might be your thing.