The Vessel or the Contents?

[Ctbill]

Ok, this is a bit long winded, I admit...?

But I was thinking about my own process of choosing a pipe from the rack, and a tobacco from the collection.

There are 5 senses (or 9 senses, depending on classification):
sight
sound
taste
smell
touch
and adding the other 4:
thermoception (heat and cold)
nociception (pain)
equilibrioception (balance and gravity)
Proprioception (body awareness)

I‘ll stick with the first major 5...as I don’t think the last 4 really involve pipe smoking (except the heat thing...maybe...)

Do you consistently pick a pipe first, or a tobacco first?

Is the sight & touch of the pipe more important at the time, or the smell & taste of the tobacco the most important at the time? Not even sure the sound component is in play...

Yes, I realize smoking a pipe is smoking tobacco, and is inherently a smell & taste process. But I personally have chosen a pipe first because of the beauty and feel first, and filled with some tobacco that “fits” the pipe second. I’ve also done the opposite - pick a flavor & aroma first, and the vessel (pipe) second. Strangely, I mostly pick the pipe first!

Any thoughts?

 

[didimauw]

Before I started smoking only one pipe at a time, I always knew what tobacco I was in the mood for ( I only smoke a handful of blends) and then picked the pipe after that. But out out my 25 pipes, I again only ever smoke 3 or so. Simple.

 

[sasquatch]

I don't think it's strange, pipes are very individual, and wanting to smoke a certain one is just part and parcel of having that choice, no? Big ones, rough ones, small ones, straight or bent.... or if you want that certain pipe that makes McClelland 27 oh so sweet, then you wind up smoking the 27 in it.....

 

[warren]

I keep it very simple. You enjoy something a bit more complicated. It's whatever works for your particular personality type.

 

[Ctbill]

I keep it very simple. You enjoy something a bit more complicated. It's whatever works for your particular personality type.

Warren - do you keep it simple on the tobacco side, or the pipe side? Just curious...

 

[Chasing Embers]

All of my pipes are blend specific or genre specific so choosing a pipe is choosing a tobacco and vice versa.

 

[trubka2]

I like to rest briars for at least a day, and I don't have much wiggle-room in my rotation, so I operate on the Kris Kristofferson Principle: I put on my cleanest dirty shirt.

 

[Chasing Embers]

I like to rest briars for at least a day, and I don't have much wiggle-room in my rotation, so I operate on the Kris Kristofferson Principle: I put on my cleanest dirty shirt.

I've been taking the same pipe to work for the past two months.

 

[Jef]

I seem to always choose the pipe first.

Jef

 

[trubka2]

I've been taking the same pipe to work for the past two months.

I imagine I'll be the same when I get better at smoking a pipe. They're still usually kind of moist in the heel when I finish a bowl, and I just don't enjoy smoking them that way. Meanwhile, practice makes perfect, totally fine with me.

 

[Chasing Embers]

They're still usually kind of moist in the heel when I finish a bowl

A paper towel will make that right as rain.?

 

[jttnk]

I agree on enjoying the experience of picking the pipe. There is a reason we like having a bunch of pipes. Different looks and feels. Same with varieties in tobacco choice.

 

[alaskanpiper]

No rhyme. No reason. Although I do have blend type specific pipes, so as embers stated, if you pick pipe first, and its one of those, that kinda pigeon holes you a bit.

But in general, I dont pick one or the other before one or the other.

 

[jttnk]

I like Ember’s term genre specific. I don’t have many dedicated pipes. But I do have English or non English pipes. Cobs for more Virginia based blends, briars for English blends. 1 cob specific for Silem’s Black ( it’s pretty ghost worthy

 

[warren]

I pick a pipe for the day, various blends are stashed in the vehicle, my gear bags, etc. I smoke what is handy. The pipe is simply a minor adjunct to my life, nothing more. Just a pleasant diversion while going about my chores.

 

[Spa32]

All of my pipes are blend specific or genre specific so choosing a pipe is choosing a tobacco and vice versa.

This is how I planned on doing it from the start.

 

[Chasing Embers]

This is how I planned on doing it from the start.

I've even had blends that I liked so well that I had pipes commissioned specifically for them.

 

[sablebrush52]

Sometimes I pick the pipe first. Other times I pick the tobacco first. Somehow, it always seems to work out.

 

[gamzultovah]

I’m a Pipe Forward guy. Always have been (and I suspect), always will be.

 

[cortezattic]

I choose the pipe based on capacity, given my appetite for tobacco at the moment. In the morning I reach for a large pipe that has seen the least use recently. Before bed I usually grab a small pipe and stout tobacco.

Ctbill, Regarding the senses that you mentioned, try smoking a pipe in total darkness.