Pipe vs Cigarettes

[redpanda]

This is probably an old and expired topic but anyway.I smoked cigarettes for about 15 yrs.,quit and started again many times,never really liked it (well cigarettes smokers know the story very well).Finally decided to quit forever,smoked a few cigars after that,and now i have been smoking pipe for about a year.I have not had a cigarrete from he day i quit.I don't miss it,i do not think of it ever,i can safely say cigarettes are out of my life.I smoke pipe everyday.Sometimes i'd smoke the first bowl in the morning after breakfast.In general i smoke around 4-6 bowls a day,although i don't count them.Anyway i remember very clearly how i used to feel,when i used to smoke cigarettes,how i was always tired and had this dry throat all the time.And how sometimes i would wake up feeling fresh,then have a cigarette and feel the tiredness creep on me almost immediately.I do not know if smoking the pipe is any healthier than smoking cigarettes,but i am happy to report that it certainly doe not make me feel this way.I do not inhale the pipe smoke.Maybe that has a lot to do with it.But the fact is i feel good and i can clearly tell pipe smoking is not affecting me in any negative way.Has anybody come from cigarettes like me and thinks pipe smoking has nothing in common with it?

 

[aldecaker]

I have had the exact same experience, except I am not completely cured off the coffin nails yet.

 

[warren]

Your personal observation, tough as it is to read, is interesting.
I smoke both, have for years. Like both very much. Cigarettes haven't debilitated me, neither have pipes. Same as blends, not all cigarettes are created equal. The same goes with smokers. I will say that the cigarette/pipe probably made it harder to get in shape for hockey season each year. Building endurance took longer, of course it may have been that I further out of shape than others. I believe the reason was the effect of the poisons from the burning tobacco, predominately from the cigarettes, created an extra hurdle to be cleared.
Now, I'm scared to quit cigarettes as I might lose the ability to capitalize "I" or use proper spacing between sentences. All that running together makes for hard reading which detracts from your message.

 

[aldecaker]

Dammit, Warren, I was off the cigarettes for a full year once, and my grammar didn't suffer at all!

 

[warren]

I quit for 5 years once. Spelling, coordination, thought processes all went to hell in a hand basket for a few days. Saved a lot of money, got into shape easier, probably smelled better to others and life was good. Then, I discovered MCD's and took up the cigarette again. So far, no apocalypse and I'm less grumpy in the morning.
Two cigarettes, a cup of coffee in the morning and I'm ready to face the day. Depending on where I'm working and what I'm working on, the two cigarettes in the morning are usually sufficient for the day. Nicotine addiction has to be fed first thing and then I'm good with the pipe.
It's a personal weakness that I can live with. I do so love my MCD's and the morning jolt. The pipe is a bit more work, extra gear to haul, etc. but is just as satisfying during the day as a cigarette. Less cost, more effort, same result I suppose. But, I look so much more extinguished with the pipe. Distinguished? And I do not have to field strip it and stow the filter in my pocket. Guess it's a wash.

 

[deathmetal]

The problem with all stimulants is that they create a peak, and then fall. This is the root of dependency. It also creates that tired feeling.
Pipes deliver tobacco in measured, slow doses, which avoids the heights of the peak -- unless you're smoking Best Brown No. 4 -- but also avoids the lows. I find it much more calming than cigarettes.
Cigarettes, which do not have to be inhaled but deliver their full effectiveness that way, are much less of a pain in the ass. However, the peaks are higher and the drop faster, which is why every habit eventually tends toward more cigarettes per day.

 

[redpanda]

Warren : Yousa point is well seen.

 

[warren]

Yup, it's all about the nicotine and possibly an oral fixation. For me at least.

 

[warren]

Yup, it's all about the nicotine and possibly an oral fixation. For me at least. I do like the rope. Good stuff!

 

[skraps]

Cigs are tough. I have started, stopped, started so many times I have lost count. Most recent I was up to 2 packs a day and then quit. I have picked them back up again, but in a much more limited way. Maybe half a pack a day, a few more if I'm out with friends drinking.

 

[redpanda]

Try quitting the cigarettes.You might find the pipe tastes a lot better when the cigarette ghost is gone.

 

[stickframer]

I quit for about 6 months but I'm back on cigs now. I've just started rolling my own. Quitting cigs is something I try not to get too stressed out about.
Recently two guys at work swore every day for 2 weeks that they would quit "tomorrow." Uh-huh I said. They got so wound up about quitting that they smoked even more. It takes a lot of dedication to quit and right now I frankly just don't want to.
My excuses for smoking cigs are that it's easier than a pipe when out and about, and that I couldn't smoke a pipe at work.

 

[newbroom]

When I started smoking a pipe I just used my roll your own tobacco for about a month instead of papers.

I inhaled cheap shag cut tobacco that way and one day went to the drug store again, and bought one of their store brand 'pipe' tobaccos. From their I began to explore some more. It was a matter of time till I found this forum, the youtube pipe folks, ebay, and the cornucopia of pipes and tobaccos.

I even learned to live with smoking a pipe without inhaling and haven't looked at another cigarette with any sense of longing, since.

 

[redpanda]

Well, I understand it will be rather hard for all you fellas still smoking cigs,to share my enthusiasm on the subject.And you know what? It's cool.Smoke them if it makes you feel good.It wasn't my intetion to advocate quitting.All I wanted to say was, I feel way better with the pipe alone.How's my orthography now Warren?

 

[thefalcon]

No cigs for me for quite sometime, been smoking a Pipe now for 30 years.But I must confess, I do inhale some of my Pipe smoke and Don't think I will ever be able to smoke without some inhaling.
Cheers,--Eric

 

[redpanda]

Eric,it might be a little late for changing your pipe smoking technique indeed.Let it be as it is!Cheers!

 

[warren]

Better. I appreciate the effort. I enjoy your posts but, when it all runs together it is awfully hard to read, especially with old eyes.

 

[phil67]

Better. I appreciate the effort. I enjoy your posts but, when it all runs together it is awfully hard to read, especially with old eyes.

Agreed and I also enjoy redpanda's input. However, and I hate to say this as I strongly dislike the thought of sounding like an Internet grammar Nazi, but no space after a sentence (periods and commas) can get a tad irritating while reading a post. After all, it's not that much of an effort to do so and applies to most languages as far as I know. :wink:
Other than that, I'm still a cigarette smoker after 50+ years and there is no way that cigarette smoking can effect you the same way as smoking a pipe, albeit both are admittedly bad. Granted, pipe smoking will surely deliver some Nicotine to the system, but not nearly close to the same consequences that cigarette smoking can do seeing that they are meant to be inhaled, and obviously much more addicting than smoking a pipe.

 

[stickframer]

Hey redpanda it's cool that you quit. I know I felt great physically when I quit. Good on ya.

 

[beerandbaccy]

I still smoke 1-2 roll-ups on Friday - Sunday. I will be giving up on New years eve! Just going to concentrate on the pipe and have small cigars when I'm at the pub instead. As we have to smoke outside in the UK (as with many places now) nipping out for a quick pipe in the winter months is not really an option!