Smoking a Pipe at 36

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anotherbob

Lifer
Mar 30, 2019
16,731
31,387
46
In the semi-rural NorthEastern USA
Hi everyone

So I am 36 and smoke a pipe. People find it hilarious and make fun of me but I love it.

Anyone else on here in their 30s that smoke pipes? If so what kind of reception do you get from people when they see you smoke from a pipe out and about?
I usually get compliments and that's applied from 16 through 42 which encompasses my thirties as well. Every once in a blue money someone gives me a dirty look and I hope they say something just so I can point out that the fumes from the traffic they're walking close to are way worse then anything I smoke. It hasn't happened yet though. "Nice pipe" "I love the way pipes smell" "my grandfather smoked a pipe do you want to be my new grandpa?" "there is something sexy about a man with a pipe, it means I can look at you without gagging". Only one of those did I make up.
 

evo03

Starting to Get Obsessed
Nov 20, 2013
181
1,509
I started in my late 30's. Several older people have told me they never see anyone smoke a pipe anymore. But mostly people just keep their mouths shut.
 

saltedplug

Lifer
Aug 20, 2013
5,192
5,116
The last decade when pipes were commonly smoked was the 50s, and they had all but faded
away in the 60s. 60 years later in others' eyes anyone who smokes a pipe is odd, and truth be told, making the decision to take up an odd practice attests, I think, to a certain amount of oddity in the one that makes it. Yes: that would be you and me.

The amount of pressure to conform exerted by the dominant culture is enormous. In this pipes are tolerated because quaint, and if the smoke management goes well, inoffensive.

But that won't stop the stares and the tacit message, "My, aren't you a strange one."
 

crawdad

Lifer
Jul 19, 2019
1,500
11,841
Virginia
Eh, I started smoking a pipe in October '18 when I was 50. I only smoke at home because I'm always, ALWAYS working and you can't smoke anywhere on hospital property. It helps that I smoke infrequently and I don't crave it.
 
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Bushido

Might Stick Around
Jul 31, 2020
89
137
I actually like being seen with the pipe out walking the dog. There’s some curious looks, maybe because it’s rare or maybe people are wondering if it’s weed. But I like to think someone might have always been pipe-curious and decide to give it a try. I figure the more of us there are and the more normalized it becomes, the better for the survival of blenders, farmers and carvers.
 
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anotherbob

Lifer
Mar 30, 2019
16,731
31,387
46
In the semi-rural NorthEastern USA
Eh, I started smoking a pipe in October '18 when I was 50. I only smoke at home because I'm always, ALWAYS working and you can't smoke anywhere on hospital property. It helps that I smoke infrequently and I don't crave it.
actually if the P.T. area I have to clean sometimes is any indication the bathrooms are a good place to smoke. Just stash the cigs in the vent. Yeah I am not really kidding. One of the doctors keeps smoking in the bathroom the other day they left a big ass ash on the sink.
 
Dec 6, 2020
27
73
Portland, OR
I'm 38. I don't really know anyone else who smokes a pipe and for me its usually something I enjoy as a solitary thing so haven't been made fun of too much. I guess to most people it probably seems old fashioned, or maybe too impractical or involved? IDK, to me, the reward for that is a deeper and more nuanced experience than other forms of smoking. I guess my favorite thing about aging is I find it easier and easier to embrace my eccentricities.
 
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anotherbob

Lifer
Mar 30, 2019
16,731
31,387
46
In the semi-rural NorthEastern USA
I'm 38. I don't really know anyone else who smokes a pipe and for me its usually something I enjoy as a solitary thing so haven't been made fun of too much. I guess to most people it probably seems old fashioned, or maybe too impractical or involved? IDK, to me, the reward for that is a deeper and more nuanced experience than other forms of smoking. I guess my favorite thing about aging is I find it easier and easier to embrace my eccentricities.
you don't need to be cool when you're in your 40's it's liberating. You can just like things with out explination or justification.
 
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Reactions: Thehogfatherpdx
Jan 27, 2020
3,997
8,123
Can't say I'm "proud" to be a pipe smoker or ashamed for that matter and haven't encountered anyone who openly made fun of it. I live in New York, often people have this perception of a hostile attitude towards smoking but that's really not what I have experience, under normal times you'll see a few smokers outside of every bar. I don't like people blowing cigarette smoke in my face so try to keep my distance from people when I'm out and about with my pipe. Some older lady I run into told me the other week that she could smell my pipe a block away.

Like most things, over thinking things will certainly make an endeavor uncool.
 

BarrelProof

Lifer
Mar 29, 2020
2,701
10,600
39
The Last Frontier
Hi everyone

So I am 36 and smoke a pipe. People find it hilarious and make fun of me but I love it.

Anyone else on here in their 30s that smoke pipes? If so what kind of reception do you get from people when they see you smoke from a pipe out and about?



Give me 20 more days and I’ll be able to more accurately reflect on smoking a pipe at 36.
 

F4RM3R

Part of the Furniture Now
Nov 28, 2019
567
2,516
38
Canada
I'm 34. Started smoking pipe maybe 12 years ago, but only occasionally (mostly cigs) but since a year ago I've gone full time pipe and given up the cigs. So glad I did!

Ive gotten the odd look but people have no problems with it and mostly just say " my grandpa used to smoke a pipe" with a smile. There are a few young guys(under 40) in the pipe club here (vancouver) of maybe 10-12 members or so. But on the streets I've only met one young fellow piper (in france) who chatted to me about pipe smoking while I was having a bowl outside a train station.

I mostly smoke at home though as I only have a few bowls a day and work from home("urban" farmer). But the modern day pipe smoker is a special breed, so smoke on my friend. Represent!
 

Prunetucky84

Starting to Get Obsessed
Apr 17, 2020
166
419
Clovis, CA
Hi everyone

So I am 36 and smoke a pipe. People find it hilarious and make fun of me but I love it.

Anyone else on here in their 30s that smoke pipes? If so what kind of reception do you get from people when they see you smoke from a pipe out and about?
Hi there from Fresno, California. I’m also 36 and have been smoking pipes since I was 18. Bought my first pipe when I was a freshman in college. My dad has always smoked pipes, and my grandfather did as well.
 

Jshogan2

Starting to Get Obsessed
Dec 31, 2019
110
175
SC
Hi everyone

So I am 36 and smoke a pipe. People find it hilarious and make fun of me but I love it.

Anyone else on here in their 30s that smoke pipes? If so what kind of reception do you get from people when they see you smoke from a pipe out and about?
I am also 36 and enjoy a pipe, but to be honest I do not pay much attention to what others think/say/do in response. I also usually don't smoke it public, but when I have I've only received a handful of compliments over the years, no disparaging remarks. Funny looks? Maybe... dunno. I just don't pay much attention.
 

johng99

Starting to Get Obsessed
Apr 14, 2020
138
1,052
Lake Havasu City
I started smoking a pipe at the ripe old age of 17. It was 1973. My best friend had a '64 Ford Econoline and we would go out cruising on Friday night with a pipe in hand and whatever tobacco we could get. Usually Borkum Riff or something similar from the drug store. No it wasn't hip or cool, but we didn't care. We both enjoyed tobacco and had quit cigarettes. Pipes were a nice alternative and both of us thought they tasted much better. Over the years I've bounced back and forth between cigars and pipes, mostly depending on my personal situation. I smoked cigars when they weren't cool. The neighbors would laugh when I was out on my riding lawnmower with a big fat maduro in my mouth! I didn't care then and I don't care now. I have settled (again) on pipe smoking in the last year or so, and yes I get comments when I smoke in the few public venues that allow. It doesn't matter to me. I have even converted a few friends over to the pipe. So I say enjoy, be yourself and who cares what anyone thinks?