Pipe Smoking: Hobby? Life Style?

[brian64]

It would be kind of silly to consider the actual smoking to be a hobby.
But the PAD and TAD certainly could be considered that.
No different than someone with a wine cellar who collects fine wines. Drinking the wine is not a hobby...but the rest of it could be called that.
All of this of course is to varying degrees depending on the individual. But, IMO, unless you only have a few pipes and a relatively small stock of tobacco, then it is to some degree a hobby. And yes, you can still be an addict or an obsessive and have a hobby at the same time. Most hobbies are an obsession to some degree.

 

[kylef]

More of a hobby for me. I had never smoked anything before, and I don't have a nicotine addiction. I range from two or three bowls a week to two or three bowls a month, depending on season and circumstance.
I've found the whole process of learning to pack and smoke a pipe, learning about the history and the different types and cuts of pipe tobacco, and exploring the seemingly endless blends out there to be very enjoyable. I have lots of hobbies and interests that I like exploring, and pipe smoking is in that category for me.
Like lots of things--if you're willing to invest some time and effort into it, you get rewarded with a skill, knowledge and appreciation of something that most people don't have. It just makes your life richer, IMO.

 

[danimalia]

There has to be some hobby element to it for me. Obviously, I'm a nicotine addict, so it's partly a habit/compulsion. But if I was looking for the most efficient way to get nicotine, I'd smoke cigarettes or inhale a pipe, as inhaling smoke is the second most efficient delivery system for any drug outside of injection. If I was looking for the safest/least detrimental mode of nicotine administration, it would be Swedish Snus or nicotine gum/lozenges/patches. I enjoy smoking cigars and pipes though. I enjoy the taste of the tobacco in addition to the nicotine. I enjoy the pastime of preparing and smoking a pipe or cigar.

 

[warren]

efficient way to get nicotine, I'd smoke cigarettes or inhale a pipe,

Absorbing the nicotine directly into the blood through the mucus membranes in the nose and mouth is pretty damned efficient. And, no cloud of smoke to irritate the lungs. Or, are you equating the irritation of the smoke into the lungs with a nicotine hit. As nicotine simply displaces oxygen in the blood I don't know that there is any "safe" or least detrimental method of accomplishing such.
One needs to simply ignore the known negatives of smoking and enjoy the act of smoking. That's what I recommend, acquaint yourself with the hazards, weight the risks and decide.

 

[PaulTheScandinavian]

@Mr, Danimalia and Mr Warren, Well spoken, completely agreeing, and Yes when one has a 35+ year smoking career behind his shoulders how anyone could allege he is not an addict to nicotine, that'll be self-delusion and only

 

[mortonbriar]

I have come back to this with a little more context, thanks to some pondering on my commute (and amphora black cavendish in a meer).
I remember back when my wife and I were newly married, and she would tell her friends I was a 'surfer'. It took a while for me to explain to her why that made me cringe so hard. Growing up in a surftown in New Zealand I surfed my way through to adulthood from the age of 12 or so, going out up to 3 times a day when the surf was good etc etc. My dad was/is a surfer and it made sense to do something aquatic when you live a couple of blocks back from the pacific ocean, everyone in town used the beach to some extent, but I never considered myself to be a 'surfer'. If the surf was flat for a while I never drove down the coast looking for waves, I just did something else with my time.
So in a round about way I think I can kind of see how people would smoke a pipe but not really relate to the label of 'pipe smoker'....

 

[Chasing Embers]

So in a round about way I think I can kind of see how people would smoke a pipe but not really relate to the label of 'pipe smoker'....

Definitely a pipe smoker here, just not into the "hobby aspect".

 

[jon11]

Hobby: An activity done in ones leisure time for pleasure.

I would say by the definition of hobby that all pipe smokers here fit the bill. Unless of course you don’t get pleasure from smoking a pipe, buying pipes, buying tobacco, surfing the forum, and conversating on the subject. I know it’s not cool to say this is one of your hobbies but by definition it is.

 

[danimalia]

Absorbing the nicotine directly into the blood through the mucus membranes in the nose and mouth is pretty damned efficient. And, no cloud of smoke to irritate the lungs. Or, are you equating the irritation of the smoke into the lungs with a nicotine hit

Not to belabor a minor point, but no. Inhalation is far more efficient and faster-acting. That's why virtually all people who smoke to get a dose of a drug inhale the smoke, whether it's nicotine, cannabis, meth or whatever. Getting my nicotine through a pipe is actually a big adjustment, because it tends to take me at least 15 minutes to feel any nicotine effect from a pipe, as opposed to like 10 seconds with cigarettes.

 

[danimalia]

@Mr, Danimalia and Mr Warren, Well spoken, completely agreeing, and Yes when one has a 35+ year smoking career behind his shoulders how anyone could allege he is not an addict to nicotine, that'll be self-delusion and only

Maybe having had struggles in other aspects of my life has made me more open about the addiction aspect, but nicotine is a very addictive drug. I don't feel it makes any sense to deny what is obvious about my individual relationship to the substance.

 

[warren]

Hobby: An activity done in ones (sic) leisure time for pleasure.

So ... no leisure time equals ... no hobby?

 

[Chasing Embers]

An activity done in ones leisure time for pleasure.

Hmmm. I smoke at work, while driving, while doing yard work, etc.
So by that definition, cigarette smokers are hobbyists and taking a dump is a hobby!
Hobby just sounds like a cop out to avoid being called a smoker.

 

[brian64]

and taking a dump is a hobby!

I'm glad we finally all agree that everyone has a hobby.

 

[Chasing Embers]

I'm glad we finally all agree that everyone has a hobby.

Never said I didn't. I just can't call nicotine delivery techniques a hobby.

 

[frankrem]

The definition of Hobby definitely fits. Pipe smoking takes a definite time commitment. This isn't like the occasional cigarette to satisfy the need for a quick nicotine hit. Nor is it as simple as lighting up and dragging a cigarette down. There is also an element of skill involved as you learn the packing, lighting, tamping and proper care of the pipe itself. Not to mention the various cadences based on the tobacco that you happen to be using in that particular pipe. I think smoking a pipe deserves the elevation to a "Hobby" status.
When I think of a hobby I think of an activity that I enjoy doing. Investing my time in a activity that is enjoyable but more than just an every day simple task. I believe smoking a pipe takes more thought than some of the more experience pipe smokers may give themselves credit for. Thus the feeling that it should be less than a hobby. Just joining your world and experiencing all of these processes for the first time. I am still walking myself through the steps, enjoying the process and investigating all the variables.
Perhaps it may start as Hobby for the laymen and as you gain wisdom from many years of pipe smoking the hobby aspect evolves into something else entirely.

 

[Chasing Embers]

I believe smoking a pipe takes more thought than some of the more experience pipe smokers may give themselves credit for.

Place stummel in jar.

Fill chamber with finger.

Clench between teeth, light, and go.
I find RYO cigarettes more complicated than pipe smoking.

 

[warren]

Pipe smoking takes a definite time commitment.

Really! I smoke a pipe while running my chain saw, photographing wildlife, driving, etc and never found I needed to dedicate time solely to tending or smoking the pipe. The idea that pipe smoking is full of arcane techniques can be a self-fulfilling prophecy. Many pipe smokers enjoy having the process complicated with ritual and such. Many of us simply choose to stuff, light up and enjoy as we go about our day. You have my sympathies that pipe smoking impinges on your time. But, I'm also happy that you apparently enjoy such interruptions.

 

[brian64]

Never said I didn't. I just can't call nicotine delivery techniques a hobby.

I would not advise attempting to engage in your pictured hobby without the aid of nicotine.

Hobby just sounds like a cop out to avoid being called a smoker.

As for the idea that one must choose between being a smoker or a hobbyist, I just don't see the two as mutually exclusive.
I'm definitely a smoker...and there are aspects of the study and collection of pipes and pipe tobacco that definitely meet the generally accepted notion of a hobby.

 

[Chasing Embers]

I would not advise attempting to engage in your pictured hobby without the aid of nicotine.

None needed, puzzles relax me.

As for the idea that one must choose between being a smoker or a hobbyist, I just don't see the two as mutually exclusive.

No, but at the same time, one can be either or both.

 

[samuelgawith01]

I don’t know how to classify what this I do.I do know it’s in my blood,always has been.Even as a minor child,I was drawn to it,although I didn’t

actually light up a pipe for the first time until the age of eighteen.Never looked back.