Quiz: Pipe Smoking Parallels

[SBC]

Different pipe smokers smoke pipes for different reasons. To my way of thinking, many of these reasons can be paralleled with other enjoyments.

Below, I will list some pipe parallels which come to mind. I am very curious to read which of them apply to you.

(Disclaimer: My suggested parallels will be imperfect. I'm just making an exploratory stab. Despite disclaiming perfect parallels, some of you will excoriate me for trying to pigeon-hole you in misleading ways. Feel free not to play the game.)

For most of us, more than one will apply. In many cases, they will apply in some kind of order.

If you want to play, read these suggestions, and then list in order the ones which you think apply to you.

(Note: I expect that I missed some important categories! Please do me the favor of suggesting them in your answer. Also, feel free to adjust or clarify any of the given suggestions. Probably no combination of these categories fully answers why you smoke pipes, so consider these a springboard to better explanations.)

Pipe Parallels:

• (A) The Sommelier
  You explore tobaccos like sommeliers explore wine. For you, tobaccos represent an opportunity to parse flavors. You enjoy reviewing and ranking new tobaccos (even if only for yourself).
  
  
• (B) The Snacker
  Like the sommelier, you're in it for the flavor; but, unlike him, you don't plan to explore it, parse it, or review it -- you reach for that tobacco for the same reason you reach for a favorite snack: you liked the taste before, and you'll like the taste again.
  
  
• (C) The Coin Collector
  You like collecting pipes. You collect pipes like some guys collect coins or stamps or vinyl records. You are thrilled by the hunt, the spotting of elusive game, the acquisition, then perhaps the categorization and display. You may like pipes as much as you like smoking pipes, but since you have them, you smoke them.
  
  
• (D) The Liturgist
  You're drawn to meaningful steps and well-ordered beauty -- to ritual and rhythm. This may take many expressions in your life, and one of them is pipe smoking. From selecting the pipe to packing its bowl, from lighting to tending to tamping, it's the methodical ritual that keeps you coming back.
  
  
• (E) The Nostalgic
  This one isn't a parallel -- it's just a category of which pipe smoking can be one expression. For you, pipe smoking is partly an attempt to participate in a better world. That better world may be the world of your grandfather, or of a favorite author, or of a period of history which you're interested in (or which you think had advantages over ours), or even a fictional world you enjoy. You miss a person or a way of life (or perhaps you "miss" what you've never yourself directly experienced), and pipe smoking is a way (whether reasonable or not) that you find yourself trying to connect with what you long for.
  
  
• (F) The Evening Nightcap Sipper
  A pipe at the end of your day helps you relax for the night. Perhaps it's the ritual, perhaps it's the puffing cadence, perhaps it's the pleasant diversion from accumulated stresses, or perhaps it's the nicotine, but for whatever reason, a pipe at the end of your day relaxes you and prepares you for bed.
  
  
• (G) The Hat Guy
  You care to look classy, and the pipe helps. It's an aesthetic accessory.
  
  
• (H) The LARPer
  Like the hat guy, your pipe is an aesthetic accessory. But, unlike the hat guy, you're trying to be a wizard or a sailor or a lumbersexual.
  
  
• (I) The Drug Addict:
  You've developed a felt-need to consume nicotine, and the pipe is one way to consume it.

These categories aren't meant to be mutually exclusive. Maybe several of them apply to you, to one degree or another.

What categories did I miss? How did I get them wrong? Which ones apply to you, and how do they rank for you?

 

[cosmicfolklore]

I think I'm a little of all of them, except the Larper. I mean, I am a wizard, but I don't want people to know that I'm a wizard.

 

[Casual]

If it were required to find a box to climb into, I suppose it’d be nostalgic sommelier.

But I’d add one more: the Buddhist. Smoking can be a meditative experience. Slow down, shut up, concentrate on breathing.

 

[warren]

They're your labels SBC so, apply them to whomever you wish and enjoy.

 

[Streeper541]

I learned my SBC lesson with the hobbyists discussion. No comment.

 

[OzPiper]

I'll play

(A), (B), (C)& (D) definitely, except substitute "stamp collector" for "coin collector"

And (E) - love old BritWoods (as do many other members). I find the history of those marques intriguing and fascinating to delve into.

(F) - no and yes. My pipe-smoking is done in the afternoons. But I definitely find it a relaxing ritual.

Definitely NOT (G) or (H) - almost all my smoking is at home, and apart from a couple of pipe buddies who drop by occasionally, NO ONE has shown an interest in my pipes, my wife and family least of all.

Never (I) - I love smoking, but nicotine is not something I crave.

 

[Morrison Jeremiah]

B
D
F
I
But I don't like the term "snacker' , or the idea of "snack", and would prefer "Hedonistic flavour raver"

 

[HawkeyeLinus]

I’ll try.

I guess nostalgic in a way, relaxing mostly and a contemplative way to enjoy tobacco. All I got.

I guess I’m just a boy, sitting before a pipe full of tobacco, asking it to love me.

Okay, sorry for the cheesy Notting Hill reference.

 

[FurCoat]

I see myself as a D and E

 

[Misanthrope]

Eh, I dunno. I like pipes and smoking them, but there's no special nuance or reason behind any of it for me.

I'm not really a sommelier or snacker, I just like 2 particular tobaccos a lot (Prince Albert and Stokkebye Norwegian), and I couldn't really tell you much about them other than I like them and think they're good.

I thought I was a pipe collector before, but I stopped when I had a nice daily rotation filled out. I also thought I was a tobacco collector before, but I stopped buying new blends when I discovered that I liked Prince Albert and Stokkebye Norwegian just fine.

I do kind of enjoy the whole ritual, but it's not, like, something I obsess about or put a whole lot of thought into, so maybe a little bit of liturgist?

Nostalgic? Maybe a little bit? Again, though, it's not something I really think about. I like old-fashioned things from a slower time (wet shaving also comes to mind), but it's not really at the forefront of my mind.

Definitely not a nightcap sipper, I smoke outside and vastly prefer to do so when the sun's still out. My favorite bowls are in the morning with coffee.

Not really a hat guy either, I have several different styles of pipe in different finishes, but that was more to the end of building a daily rotation of the same pipes and being able to "color code" them so I know which set of pipes to use on any given day of the week. I don't really smoke them anywhere other than home very often, so I couldn't care less how they accessorize with my outfit or whatever.

Definitely not a LARPer.

Drug addict? Soooorta-kinda, in the sense that I DO smoke primarily for the nicotine, but I don't jones for a pipe the way I used to for cigarettes. Like, when I'm out on errands or doing stuff, I can go hours and hours without thinking about it or climbing the walls, so I don't even really bring any nicotine anything with me for the most part, BUT if you gave me a low-nicotine blend, it's going into the potpourri dish because I'm not smoking that shit.

 

[STP]

I’m leaning towards “E” The Nostalgic, but also a little of A-F, but definitely not G & H, and I smoke mostly aromatics, so not so much “I” either…

 

[makhorkasmoker]

I see pipe smoking as a continuation of a millennia-old tradition, often considered sacred (and beside which our modern era is a blip).

I see pipe smoking as a connection to the world--of plants, of cultures, to the earth, with generations past, with aspects of ourselves that we do not understand, as well as with growers, artisans--and you guys.

I see pipe smoking as a way of improving vision, courage, spirit, creativity, and generally getting through rough times.

I see pipe smoking as a gift.

And so when I see these little categories... Snacker? Coin Collector???
(Lumbersexual!?!?)) I just don't know what to say...

 

[SBC]

(Lumbersexual!?!?)

It's not a good thing, for sure. Its inclusion was a jab.

 

[hoosierpipeguy]

Gave me a mild headache reading through all that. You must have invested significant mental energy putting that together. I'm in it because I enjoy smoking pipes and I've enjoyed collecting a few decent pipes along the way.

 

[SoulStation]

A, C & D. And if I'm honest a bit of I.

 

[B.Lew]

A B C D E F G H I gotta' gal wears her toenails long.
Drives a red Barracuda, singin' meat packer songs
And she ain't from Kalamazoo.

 

[North Pole piper]

You forgot, don’t pigeon hole me and leave me the f**ck alone while I smoke my pipe. Sometimes a pipe is jus a pipe.

 

[HawkeyeLinus]

You forgot, don’t pigeon hole me and leave me the f**ck alone while I smoke my pipe. Sometimes a pipe is jus a pipe.

Nobody puts the North Pole in a corner!

 

[SBC]

Gave me a mild headache reading through all that. You must have invested significant mental energy putting that together. I'm in it because I enjoy smoking pipes and I've enjoyed collecting a few decent pipes along the way.

Hoosier, I've always wondered about things. Probably too much. I enjoy figuring a thing out as much as I enjoy the thing itself.

A friend recently asked me why I smoke a pipe. It got me thinking about different guys having different reasons (or, at least, explaining their reasons pretty differently).

Some of these parallels came to my mind as I tried to answer a non-smoker. I wanted to point to more perspectives than just my own.

I thought that I'd get feedback here (inviting corrections and additions, since I want to hear guys in their own words).

But I can see how my way of processing things might seem annoying to some others. I was a teacher in a previous life, so thanks for bearing with my theorizing, categorizing, and writing. It's as fun to me as... smoking a pipe.

I liked your feedback!

 

[Morrison Jeremiah]

OP, I quite like your quirky posts.
In a sense, I have categorised myself by choosing to answer.
Of course I don't feel limited to only these options, and certainly don't feel that way when I'm actually smoking.
As I say, I like it. Keep them coming.