I decided I'd quit my 40 year history of cigarettes before taking up the pipe. I've made it two months and I'm ready to see how I do. I'm hoping I can find enjoyment without the high nicotine buzz. Would love any advice. Thanks everybody
Switching from cigarettes
- Thread starter JBob
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I wish you all the luck. That was my plan when I started with pipes.
I have smoked thousands fewer cigarettes because of my pipes.
I have smoked thousands fewer cigarettes because of my pipes.
I smoke pipes because they are great nicotine delivery system. I'd suggest you try only those blends which use leaves with a low nicotine content. Can't suggest any blends for you, sorry.
Congratulations & good luck on your journey. I made the switch 3 years ago. If you’re looking for blends with a lighter nicotine content, I’d recommend trying stuff with a good bit of black cavendish in them. A lot of blend descriptions & reviews also mention the strength of the nic hit. Aros tend to be lightest, but that’s not a guarantee. Hope this helps.
The best method to replace squares is to smoke it slow and steady over a long bowl, AM smokes are the most heavily 'felt' but it's not a square nic hit buzz, more like turn green if you aren't careful but if you are having nic withdrawals it should satiate that.
Non Latakia Orientals and Kentucky's have the most bang. Latakia Orientals and Cavendish are the mildest.
I find the pleasure in the pipe is in the Flavor and Ritual. Select the pipe. Select the blend. Enjoy the cloud and the tastes. Read, reflect, watch football highlights, sharpen the chain on the chainsaw and lie to yourself that it's making a difference, water color, etc.
Non Latakia Orientals and Kentucky's have the most bang. Latakia Orientals and Cavendish are the mildest.
I find the pleasure in the pipe is in the Flavor and Ritual. Select the pipe. Select the blend. Enjoy the cloud and the tastes. Read, reflect, watch football highlights, sharpen the chain on the chainsaw and lie to yourself that it's making a difference, water color, etc.
Good luck! You said you might want the occasional nicotine buzz and it's perfectly possible with pipe tobacco. Haddo's Delight is the most nicotine-powerful blend I've ever tried. Anything with lots of burley can work too, but be careful as some burleys can be rough if not smoked properly (dry and slow does the trick for me). Kentucky is also an alternative and you can also have it in a delicious and cheap cigar format with toscani.
What helped me is finding blends my wife was okay with me smoking in my office and in the house. RLP-6, HGL, Boswell aros, Peretti's Original and English 110 seem to be agreeable to both of us so that's been what I've smoked the last several months. At night I'll sit on the patio and have something stronger that isn't inside-friendly. I used to vape constantly, so now I've become a codger with a pipe hanging from mouth all day.
The difference with pipes and cigs isn't how much nicotine but how it gets into the bloodstream and how that effects the experience. Think about it this way if you sip whiskey or down shots and you drink an equal volume of whiskey either way, how different is the experience? Pipes are sipping where as cigs are like doing shots. It takes getting used to.
The only two pieces of advice I have is to either just muscle through and know you'll get there. Or to take up another form of tobacco. Smokeless. Snus, nasal snuff, chew, moist snuff.... Any of those can take the edge off of the transition. And none of those require a large time commitment like a pipe does.
A previous post I made here:
From a 2020 article by Chuck Stanion on this website:
The main categories of pipe tobaccos in order of nicotine content, from low to high, though there is overlap:
From a 2020 article by Chuck Stanion on this website:
The main categories of pipe tobaccos in order of nicotine content, from low to high, though there is overlap:
- Orientals and Latakia (Lowest nicotine content)
- Cavendish
- Bright Virginia
- White Burley
- Red Virginia
- Dark Burley
- Perique
- Dark Fired Kentucky (Highest nicotine content)
+1 for snuff as a topper-up of Vit B3, it has become a regular feature in my habits.
Check the scientific name of tobacco. You can't smoke tobacco without getting a hit at some level. Your brain will thank you!
Hey JBob, glad you made the switch! I recommend trying out haunted bookshop, or my personal preference haunted bookshop cake, from Cornell & Diehl. To me, it tastes like my favorite memories of cigarettes and coffee early in the morning, except 100 times better because it is no longer quite that early, and it smells and tastes much much better than my cigarettes used to. Also the Christopher Morley book after which the blend is named is quite good and worth a read even if you dislike the tobacco blend.