Pipe Smokers Can Be a Sentimental "Lot"

[newbroom]

Motivation? Why do you enjoy pipe smoking? The answer(s) are myriad, but, those of us who persist include a certain amount of emotional gratification.

This can be derived from loyalty, or memories, or shared values amongst fellow pipers.

*Gramps used to smoke a pipe, and Gramps was thoughtfully stoic, and smelled of tobacco, which was strangely comforting.

*My first pipe.

*The quest for the perfect smoke, blend, or related pipe experience.

*Peer pressure? I think peer pressure involves emotion, which can be traced to shared experiential memory. (camaraderie)
One of my favorite pipes is also one of the least expensive and IS the most ugly in my rotation/collection.

It performs every time and I'm not afraid of losing it or ruining it, cuz, it's a cheap MM cob. The unfinished, or natural MM Pride. Over time it has become rather nasty looking, and its stem has been abused and re-opened via votive candle heat many times, but it's lightweight and 'comfrotable'. I believe I can replace it rather easily with a new one for less than $5.00. I'll enjoy it while it lasts.

 

[mikethompson]

Sentiment plays a large part in my pipe smoking. Why does having a 1950 Peterson, a 2015 Peterson Christmas pipe, and a 1981 Brigham matter to me? Because those were important years to me.
There are probably as many answers as there are pipes in banjos rotation.

 

[npod]

Great question for commodious contemplation.
1. Interpersonal:

Friendships

Fellowship

Community
2. Educational:

Something to study and learn

Learning new techniques and applying them personally

Pipe and tobacco history and lore
3. Nicotine:

I've been exposed to nicotine nearly daily for >30 years

Pipes are better than Cigs and chewing tobacco
4. Pipes:

I love them

I love spending hours online and in person looking at them

I love shows

I love meeting carvers and seeing their work

I love touching them, cleaning them, smoking them, breaking them it, restoring them

I love pipes
5. Tobacco:

Taste

Enjoyment

Talking with other hobbyists and being able to talk about tobacco with another human
6. Rebellion!:

This one is odd, but true

Smokers used to be the "Norm" in the U.S.

Now smokers are the rebels, the odd duck, the counter culture

I like being a part of that small, motley community
7. I don't watch or follow sports. I have to have something to spend my time and money on.
8. Travel.

Pipe smoking allows me to destination travel

Example, pipe shows, destination factory to tour

Pipe clubs, meetings

 

[prairiedruid]

1. It slows me down. The whole ritual of packing, lighting and slowly puffing helps calm my mind. It has been a big help with my depression.
2. Nicotine and flavor. Nicotine aids #1 and flavor keeps me coming back for more.
3. Fellowship as stated by npod.
4. Tactile. The feel of a pipe in your hand or clenched. The feel of retrohaling.
5. Connection with the past. My father and grandfather were pipe smokers. Plus being a history buff get a I kick out of old pictures that have pipe smokers in them.

 

[jpmcwjr]

Great question for commodious contemplation.

Does that mean "a lot" or while one is perched upon a commode? Regardless, a thoughtful reply.....
Agree there can be great sentimentality associated with smoking a pipe, or a particular pipe. But are we lot generally sentimental? Dunno.

 

[warren]

It's not the pipe I think. If a person is sentimental and smokes a pipe well ... there you go.
For me? The pipe is only one of a couple of ways I put nicotine into my system. The pipe takes less attention and lasts longer than a cigarette. Light it, stick in in your maw and forget it. I have to keep track of the ash and where the cherry is with respect to my lip and fingers for cigars and cigarettes. The pipe just rests there, slowly delivering taste and nicotine with very little thought.
I'm not big on nostalgia which is how I read "sentimental" is used in the OP. Or, perhaps "tenderness" is the application and I've never felt tender towards a tool. Respectful yes but, not nostalgic.
The pipe is certainly not relegated to only one type of personality much as some of us would like to believe. It's not the pipe, it's the personality of the person smoking the pipe.

 

[mso489]

Sentimental and sentimentality, and sentiment, are slippery words. Just 'cause I'm something of a word guy, I've thought about the word. I've been accused of being sentimental in writing, and that piqued my interest. When the words are used in a neutral way, they can just mean emotional. In literature, sentimental can be deeply negative and essentially dismissive of the writing or speech so described. A sentimental short story, in some contexts, simply means trash. Used in this negative way, it means the writing sets up emotions, wrings out emotions, that are not "earned," and do not befit the situation. While I don't want to use and abuse emotions, I would rather express emotions than not, but in a balanced and appropriate way, with authenticity. To be oblivious to emotion where it is appropriate is some variety of mental illness or a kind of self-induced numbness that is of clinical concern. This is really not on point with this post, but the word "sentimental" keys these ideas with me, more there than meets the eye.

 

[warren]

Sentimental
Alone it is simply a word open to many different interpretations. It's the surrounding words, context if you must, narrowing the possible interpretations. The mind set, education, ability to parse, that give meaning to the word. The right meaning? Well that's a matter between the reader and the author. In other words, write so others have at least a slim chance of understanding what you are trying to convey. And, my personal quirk is to misapply punctuation purposely if it helps convey my message.
The written word is tricky. Most especially in a world where words travel the time zones in seconds. Write what you mean from the stand point of the reader, parse your message before hitting send. And, understand that no matter how much care you use when typing, everything you write is going to be interpreted/misinterpreted. And those reading have all different levels of education and also represent many different cultures with different styles of speaking and writing.
I'm generally not oblivious to others emotions, I usually just do not care enough to consider them when attempting to make a point. And that sometimes means I'll not make a connection with the reader or listener. My loss? Sometimes.

 

[mso489]

Charles Dickens wrote a famous scene in one of his novels about the death of a character named Little Nell. It was a total tear jerker. People were in such suspense about the fate of Little Nell as serialized in a lit mag of the day that they met ships bringing the publication at the pier shouting to the passengers for news on the fate of Little Nell. Famously sardonic, the writer Oscar Wilde said of the famous deathbed scene, paraphrased: No one can read of the death of Little Nell without ... laughing." That's the critique on sentimentality, however Charles Dickens was and continues to be one of the best read novelists in history. Make of it what you will. He is one of the most enjoyable novelists.

 

[scooterdoo]

- nicotine

- taste

- meditative aspects

- feel the pipe

- visual beauty of the pipe

 

[mikefu]

I enjoy piping for several reasons, the greatest of which is that it affords me a dedicated chunk of time where I can relax, unwind, and do something that involves muscle memory and ebbing and flowing attention. Seldom do I have the same opportunity while doing anything else. Also, I do cherish the community aspects of piping with others, and certainly the comraderie of doing something that is a bit exclusive (I.e. not many folks are doing it). Lastly, I love being able to “geek out” with pipes. The pipes themselves are works of art to various degrees, and the pursuit of the great variety of tobaccos is one that is nearly without end. All that for mere cents per session adds up to a delightful melange of enjoyment. And I get a nice buzz to boot!