Not at all. Easier than RYO, and less messy than many tobacco products. Just fill, light, and smoke.
Smoking as a Fine Art by A. A. Milne
- Thread starter Elric
- Start date
SmokingPipes.com Updates
Watch for Updates Twice a Week
PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor
Site Sponsors
PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor
PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor
PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor
PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor
At first I was so nervous about stuff like packing and avoiding tongue bite, but honestly I've found packing to be quite intuitive and had tongue bite worse than a mild itch for a minute. I find cigars to be much more fussy. If you mess up backing you can just fix that with a pipe tool, but if you mess up cutting a cigar you probably can't fix that. I've never gotten nicotine sickness from pipes either, but I've had some pretty bad cases from cigars. Then of course there's the issue of storage
If no pipe tool is available, you can always just smack the open chamber against your palm to loosen the pack.
Such interesting observations about pipe smoking in his time! Though I fall somewhere in the middle, I'm likely slightly closer to those trendy lads ogling over their white spots than I am to A.A. Milne's smoking philosophy. I love my pipes (mostly affordable estates) and I love the gently aged tobaccos smoked in them -- hardly ever smoking the same blend two days in a row. It's a hobby more than a habit for sure.
I always like Winnie the Pooh, and wasn't quite sure why. Now I know.
Thanks for sharing.
Thanks for sharing.
Elric, your post is a delightful throwback and a reminder of the timeless nature of our hobby. The mention of A.A. Milne's encounter with tobacco at such a young age and his progression to pipes at Cambridge really highlights the personal journey many of us take with tobacco. It's fascinating how the choice of pipe and tobacco can become almost as much a part of one's identity as the academic disciplines one chooses to pursue. As for the pipes being 'compulsory,' it seems some traditions never fade, do they? I wonder if Milne's 'shilling briar' parallels what many consider the perfect 'starter' pipe today.
Well that was a fun read. I’m sure he would enjoy seeing the price of those pipes bearing the white spots today, and all our attitudes about fancy tobaccos and storing them up in closets for times that may or may not ever come.
I think folks like Milne, Tolkien, Lewis etc seem to have been those who had one or two things they liked and just kept with them.
Probably saw no need to turn it into a hobby, as we do, rather just enjoyed the smoking.
I think folks like Milne, Tolkien, Lewis etc seem to have been those who had one or two things they liked and just kept with them.
Probably saw no need to turn it into a hobby, as we do, rather just enjoyed the smoking.
To me any hobby would entails a lot of studying for history, technique and its evolution - whether its cichlids, pipe, automotive hobbies, reading/history and so forth. So i can keep the interest on whilst the hobby support our walks of life with pleasure, knowledge, friendship and a lot of nicotine 
Showing off and sharing knowledge may appears similar in "instant gratification" era as of now - but capability of sharing knowledge these days is also good in a way, in a good way especially in any (hobbies) such as pipe smoking.
Each can control how fast is the pace and what sort of inputs to consume; at the end of the day human is human and there's only so much you can consume - data, pipe, tobacco, tastes - you still have to interact with people to stay sane and content. And yet other people may have a totally new universe that you never thought about.
Having pass the PAD and TAD stage, personally i end up with only several favourite pipes and 3-4 blends that i am happy with. As with other hobbies, there is a learning curve, plateau and decline. The question is how long do you want to stay in the plateau without getting bored or obsessed or saturated with envy
Showing off and sharing knowledge may appears similar in "instant gratification" era as of now - but capability of sharing knowledge these days is also good in a way, in a good way especially in any (hobbies) such as pipe smoking.
Each can control how fast is the pace and what sort of inputs to consume; at the end of the day human is human and there's only so much you can consume - data, pipe, tobacco, tastes - you still have to interact with people to stay sane and content. And yet other people may have a totally new universe that you never thought about.
Having pass the PAD and TAD stage, personally i end up with only several favourite pipes and 3-4 blends that i am happy with. As with other hobbies, there is a learning curve, plateau and decline. The question is how long do you want to stay in the plateau without getting bored or obsessed
or saturated with envy
Now imagine what it was like taking up pipe smoking before the internet and not knowing another pipe smoker.
I learned this from you and it has saved me many times without a pipe cleaner handy. I don’t think I would’ve figured this one out on my own.
We will be still having B&M stores and meet there, i think. And you can smoke in bars and pubs. (yes you can smoke in most bars and pubs in Indonesia, no problem here)
The main pipe problem here is with tobaccos, as most are imported and local ones are not that developed. thankfully i got a friend with lots of connections in US so he can pretty much imported any tobaccos for me..mostly C&D
a C&D 2oz tin cost almost $35 here