Public Pipe Smoking

[mp31guitar]

This may sound crazy but, what age did you start smoking a pipe in public? I'm 35 years old and still self concious about smoking my pipe in public. Even when I have smoked around friends and family they have laughed. Seems like everyone associates pipe smoking with old men. I hope that changes.

 

[teamhavoc28]

I started at 20. Fast forward 9 years, I don't care who's looking anymore. They can stare away. It's about me and my pipe. we are enjoying ourselves and if the public doesn't like it they can drive/walk on by.

 

[brewshooter]

Those that laugh secretly wish they could have the quiet confidence of the pipe smoker.

 

[pawpaw]

well i smoke in public everyday but i have a gray beard so i guess i am in that old man catagory i did try back when i was 20-25 but it wasnt because i was self consious that i stopped it was because I just enjoyed cigs more and they were cheap

 

[portascat]

I really only smoke when I have "down time", so I typically smoke at home.
I have smoked it frequently at some social engagements, where smoking (primarily cigs) is going on. Nobody has laughed or made anything but positive or curious comments.
The closest I have come to flat out "public smoking" was in a hotel in Ft. Worth, Texas, when i smoked for a couple days down at the entrance. I talked about tobacco, in general, at length with a fellow who drove one of those rental horse carriages, and I got a couple comments form some well dressed ladies about how the pipe aroma was very nice, etc. Had I been a single man, in this nice Hotel, I would have definitely attempted to parlay those general comments from the ladies into more intimate knowledge of them.
In any case, nobody has laughed at me, or made snide remarks, at least where I could hear them. I would like to think it is because of my intimidating demeanor, but it is more likely a result of a confident one. I think a lot of things about people that I don't remark on publicly. I only expect the same in return.

 

[ssjones]

We have a couple of outdoor patio bar/restaurants and here in Maryland, for the moment we still have "rights", so I bring my pipe there. If no one else is smoking, I don't. If others are, I do. Most of my friends seem to think it's "quaint".

 

[romeowood]

Like portascat I generally only pack a pipe when I'm not racing around at a frantic pace; unlike cigarettes, i'm not chained to the tobacco this way, and I prefer to really enjoy the experience of it, so I mostly smoke in the evenings after work or when working at home at a slow pace. I do (more frequently lately) take an afternoon break when I can, and have the time to put the world on hold; smoking outside occasionally garners a "smells good" kind of reaction, if any. When I smoke around friends and neighbors they generally bust my balls about it, which I return in kind. Cops sometimes give me the stinkeye, but, as Chuck Bukowski said, "I don't hate cops...I just feel a whole lot better when they're not around."

 

[zunismoke]

I sarted when I was 17, am 66 now. I never pay any attention to whether people like me smoking a pipe or not! I really do not care what other people think,

 

[portascat]

forget I said all of this crap.

 

[portascat]

this, too.

 

[hobie1dog]

I'm 55 now, but when I first smoked a pipe when I was 20, it was basically a solitary thing. Now that I've started back up last year, I smoke outside in the rocking chairs in front of my B&M, and across the parking lot we have a diner that has an outdoor patio that you can partake in smoking, which I regularly do. Last week an elderly lady was walking across the parking lot next to the patio and hollared over to me and asked what I was smoking(which was Christmas Cookie) and she said she liked it and that her brother had always smoked Prince Albert his whole life. That was my first compliment.

 

[hobie1dog]

forget I said all of this crap.

what happened, did I miss something? :crazy:

 

[unclearthur]

Like zunismoke art 17. Didn't care then, don't care now, what people think.

 

[nemrod]

I'm 22. I don't smoke particularly much in public but sometimes I go for an evening stroll or light up on my way to the store. I haven't noticed very many looks or comments, but once a woman in her 40s commented to her male companions that it smelled nice, probably thinking I couldn't hear since I was already 20 meters past by the time she said it.
I do get kind of self-concious about it, but not so much about smoking a pipe, because that's just me doing my thing, but more about what pipe and how I should clench it to look the least weird. But that's more like choosing clothing and not looking retarded than anything actually to do with the fact that I'm smoking a pipe.

 

[bootlegbonvivant]

I'm 32 now, started smoking when I was 23-25. I never really gave it much thought. I just wanted to smoke my pipe.

 

[pstlpkr]

53 now.

I started when I was young, dumb, and full of BS.

1975.

 

[ace57]

A pipe, 24

 

[collin]

Started smoking in public back in the 70's when I was in my 20's,.....I felt like a pretentious wanna-be for the longest time....but it didn't stop me.
I'm now 57 and damned proud to smoke in front of everyone. Kind of an "in your face" thing!

 

[lonestar]

Mp31, I believe what it comes down to is the less you care, the less others care.

Just stick that pipe in your puffer like you were born with it, and you will magically get less attention.

The more out of place you feel smoking a pipe, the more suspicion will pop up in peoples minds.

The more confidently you smoke, the less people will even question it.

 

[mp31guitar]

Thanks, Im getting better at the "I dont give a shit what people think" frame of mind. They'll just have to get used to it. I'm smoking mine. Glad I found this site.