The Rarity Of The Pipe Smoker

[igloo]

The other day I stopped off at one of my customers . Being 104 degrees outside everyone was perched on the back of big truck in front of the swamp cooler . Trying to catch a bit of the fresh 90 degree heat coming from the unit .I had brought ice cream sandwiches just before showing up .Shortly after scarfing those down everyone lit a cigarette .Not wanting be left out I walked out to my pickup and grabbed my pipe bag and proceeded to prepare myself a pipe on top of one of the sets of duals .One of the mechanics helpers watched in fascination as I prepared my bowl in the Frank Method taking me about five minutes .After I lit up he told I was the first person he had ever seen smoke a pipe in person . I asked him how old he was and he said twenty-six .

 

[sfsteves]

I was 26 once ... in fact, I've been 26 twice and am working on a third ...
but, at 26, I was a pipe smoker, though I'd smoked absolute crap (both the pipe and tobacco) most of the time before that ...

 

[pipestud]

Well, I'm 60 and have never seen a swamp cooler. 8O
Pipestud

 

[trailspike48]

Well, I'm 60 and have never seen a swamp cooler

+1 Pipestud, there aren't even any air conditioners where I now live.

 

[lordape]

Yep, I've once seen one other person smoking a pipe. he was crossing the road in the city center. I get all kinds of looks when I walk down the street with my pipe smoking :D

 

[flyguy]

I'm 61, smoked a pipe since I was 20 and our home had a swamp cooler starting in the early 1960s. They (swamp coolers or evaporative coolers) work best in lower humidity climates. Pipe smokers were in abundance when I started smoking.

 

[lostandfound]

I know one other pipe smoker, that guy I work with. I also saw a middle-age man driving while smoking a bent cob, in which he smoked Captain Black White. (I ascertained this while stopped at stop sign with him.) Even with the occasional visit to the some-what nearby B&M, which is right in the heart of the hipster-happy Iowa City, Iowa - I've yet to see another piper. We are out there, though.

 

[bonneville]

Where I live it's pretty rare as well. Although I do believe it is making a comeback, particularly with the 20-somthing hipsters who are just trying to look cool.

 

[lovethebriar]

Those days of sitting by the exhaust of the old swamp cooler in 130 degree 29 stumps desert heat. You brought back a memory for me.

 

[05venturer]

I have only 3 people that smoke a pipe that I know in my area, 1 is my uncle 2 are older friends (all over 60 years old). I am really trying to promote pipe smoking with all of my smoking friends. Would be really nice to be able to enjoy a pipe with friends in person.

 

[homeatsea]

I've lived where I currently reside for 4 months now. Besides myself, there is a man who I see walking around town regularly smoking a Falcon and some sort of aromatic. I also just recently saw a man at a local coffee shop sitting outside reading the paper and smoking what looked to be a large Nording and smelling distinctly of latakia.

 

[lestrout]

The last 2 times I was in downtown Philly, I've seen a couple of pipe smokers strolling about. Didn't used to see that. Good trend.
hp

les

 

[alex87]

I've surprisingly seen a few lately. One fella in Montreal right after buying my first pipe actually, and then more recently in Baddeck Nova Scotia while on vacation I saw a fellow getting out of a truck with a gorgeous full bent.
There are a couple of friends I play D&D with who have pipes and claim to be smokers, but when one refers to his CW as a (heaven help me) Gandalf pipe, I have to quickly correct him. Of the other two one is fairly serious, and the other just starting out.
Its nice though that even if they are, i'll use the word posing, that the few of us that are serious have the chance to lead them onto the right path. I've yet to see anyone walking around or in Halifax smoking a pipe.

 

[foggymountain]

The only pipesmokers I know are guys I met here. What is a swampcooler?

 

[plateauguy]

My best friend has gone back to a pipe after several years of cigars, and my cousin has gone back after using chew (ugh) for years. Both said the same thing, you can't beat a pipe! None of us are young men, but we all started when we were young.

 

[brdavidson]

I'm seeing a few pipe smokers up around my trailer. It's cottage country up there and I've seen several boaters, anglers and hikers with pipes in town.

 

[phred]

What is a swampcooler?

I learned about these on a road trip through Utah when I was a kid. They take in hot air, use it to evaporate water, and the heat transfer cools off the exhaust air (and the evaporation adds a little humidity to the air, too - they're more common in dry areas, such as Utah and Colorado). You can get small one-room units, whole-house units, or industrial-scale coolers. Or you can use a wet towel on an ice chest outdoors on a patio, if you get the breeze just right.

 

[irwinmetro]

Where I live it's pretty rare as well. Although I do believe it is making a comeback, particularly with the 20-somthing hipsters who are just trying to look cool.

So you're saying you were smoking pipes before it was cool? Just who exactly are the hipsters here? :nana:
Hipster: "What are you smoking?"

Old Codger: "It's an obscure blend, you wouldn't have heard of it"

 

[cavendish36]

My brother-in-law got me interested in smoking pipes, so we get together once or twice a month and enjoy a pipe together. There are a couple other younger guys I know (mid-20's) who also smoke pipes. Definitely not as common as it used to be, but it is starting to make a comeback in my area a bit. Kind of like shaving cream brushes and safety razors...

 

[delkhouri]

I have a bunch of friends/know a bunch of people who have pipes and smoke occasionally - like at hang outs and poker nights and the such. Most of them do not smoke regularly but it is nice to get together and smoke with friends. There was a group of about 4-5 of us that used to get together about once a week. But with us all getting married and having kids and having more adult jobs and responsibilities it is much more of an occasional thing these days.