No rules or requirements

[cosmicfolklore]

I don't know how accurate the statement is per se, but but I heard recently is that Pipe Smokers only account for about 1% of total tobacco users.

Yeh, it's a about a ten thousand dollar industry, ha ha. I'm pretty sure that the profits from a small batch release only pays the power bill.
If you ever get a chance to tour La Poche in St James, you will be shocked about how small an operation the world's perique industry is. I could store a year's production in my garage and still have room for the lawnmower and stuff.

 

[wyfbane]

I wish my wife had "no rules" in the bedroom ?

Yeah, that might come back to bite you, though... literally. ha ha

 

[warren]

Pipe Smokers only account for about 1% of total tobacco users.

So, a million plus pipes smokers? What's the total number for tobacco "users"? Snuff, chaw, smokers, etc? Gotta be a fairly substantial number even if it is a minority of the world-wide population.

 

[wyfbane]

I see the OP's point, I think. There is such a wide variety of pipes, tobaccos, and possible scenarios for smoking that it does feel free.

The counterpoint is that there are constraints due to having to use a pipe and certain techniques are best practice and straying too far will greatly reduce the quality of the smoke.

Still a great endeavor, this thing of ours.

 

[bullet08]

"Do what you want to do" comes after the smoker gets used to smoking pipes and no longer trying to figure out what to do. In this "spoon feed me" society, smoking pipe gets way complicated for the good number of new kids. Maybe that's why that funny weed is making the come back. I bet most of 'em hasn't figured out how to inhale and hold. Probably doing Slick Willie.

 

[kcghost]

I agree with you guys when you say it is a "hobby not a habit". There is even a website of that name.

 

[Streeper541]

Yeh, it's a about a ten thousand dollar industry, ha ha. I'm pretty sure that the profits from a small batch release only pays the power bill.
If you ever get a chance to tour La Poche in St James, you will be shocked about how small an operation the world's perique industry is. I could store a year's production in my garage and still have room for the lawnmower and stuff.

I got the opportunity to visit the La Poche tobacco facility in St. James Parish when I was stationed with my wife down in the New Orleans area about ten years ago. You're right... I was astonished at how small an operation it really was. (I thought the same about Avery Island where Tabasco is made) That being said... they were both still a really neat places to visit.

 

[cigrmaster]

Yes there are no rules, but my goal is to have the best smoke possible every time I light up. So I follow a certain dogma that works for me. I am a cake guy, I am a really clean pipe guy, I am a certain humidity guy, I am a certain shape of pipe guy, I am a certain size and weight guy,, I am a certain pipe cleaner guy, I am a smoke aged tobacco guy, I am a cellar that crap out of my favorites guy. I could go on.

I learned a lot of stuff from old timers but I also learned tons of stuff on this site. I still learn new stuff, 2 plus decades later.

 

[peregrinus]

Rules?
If that means optimizing techniques to achieve a successful outcome, then a set of rules can be generalized but because we all have different goals in smoking a pipe “the rules” must remain non-specific and highly individualized.

For me pipe smoking is more than a hobby but less than an addiction.
I smoke a pipe in a search relaxation, for that “ZEN” moment when time and tides are forgotten and all is well with the universe, if even for an instant.

 

[anotherbob]

Personally I think pipe smoking is less popular because you have to learn things to enjoy it and not suffer.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

Here's an odd thought, what if the reason we don't have many pipesmokers these days is because most people are quitting smoking. I have heard that there is a nasty rumor out there about tobacco.

 

[AroEnglish]

I think part of why it’s not more popular is the time and involvement it takes to pack, light, and keep it lit. A friend of mine who enjoys pipes only smokes pipeswhen I invite him over because he doesn't have the patience to do it when he’s alone. He's happy to take the time when we’re hanging out because of the social component.