Thoughts From Millennials or Younger

[RookieGuy80]

I'm comfortably middle aged right now. My kids are at the age, or will be very very soon, when I started smoking. I wish I had stayed with a pipe instead of Marlboros, but that's beside the point until I'm asked about it.

There's a lot of responses that make me happy as a father, specifically not encouraging anyone not bringing their own tobacco habits to the table. Yes, encouraging anyone living a tobacco free lifestyle to smoke a pipe might not be the right way. But then there's the beauty of youth. The quickest way to get a younger person to do something is to have an older person tell them they can't.

I "evangelize" by following advice attributed to Paul of Tarsus. "Always teach the gospel. When necessary use words". So I live my life with a pipe in my jaw as much a possible. If anyone, younger or older, has any questions at all I'm more than happy to sit for hours talking about pipes and why I smoke them and why you should go. But I'm not going to cross the street to tell you about it.

I really believe to have someone in their mid to late 20s interested in a pipe, they first need to see someone smoking one. Someone from when after color was invented. An influencer would help quite a bit. Seeing younger people smoking a pipe in a movie or show would help. Seeing peers out in the wild would help even more.

To Telescopes and everyone else on 2 wheels, motorcycles something I actively encourage in kids too young to ride. Many a 4 or 5 year old in my neighborhood has "started" my motorcycle when I was outside with it and they were walking by. That's for 2 reasons. First, I won't lie, it feels really good to be "that" cool neighbor. Second, by encouraging that child's love of motorcycles, I'm encouraging them to not only look for motorcycles while out with Mommy and Daddy, hopefully pointing us out to parents who might not see us, but also I might still be on their minds in 10 years or so when they start driving.

 

[pappymac]

Pretty much this.

I'm 37 and my friends are all cool with me smoking and are even eager to take my pipe and puff as well but won't commit do doing it on their own. One of them will smoke a cigar with me and that's about it. My relatives around my age or younger just call me a "Boomer" and that's that. Some of my older relatives smoke cigars so I just hang out with them and smoke my pipe or enjoy a stogie.

And of course, I think it's cool.

I personally don't consider being called a "Boomer" an insult. I am a boomer and proud of it because of how the Boomer generation has lived and what we have contributed to society. Are Boomers perfect? No, but we were "cool" before "cool" became a thing.

Boomer's had Woodstock, The Grateful Dead, Rolling Stones, Elvis, the Doors, Doobie Brothers, Creedence, Lynyrd Skynyrd. Moody Blues, etc. What has Gen X and Millennials given the world? Taylor Swift, Justin Bieber.

Steve Jobs and Bill Gates - Boomers responsible for creating/developing the computers and electronic devices we use today.
Mark Zuckerberg - Facebook.

I'll stop ranting now.

 

[MattRVA]

Seems like marketing and instagram cults are what draws in the younger crowd. Shane Ireland is there leader.

 

[Chasing Embers]

What has Gen X and Millennials given the world?

Don't bring Gen X into that one, Peter Turbo, Taylor Swift, and Justin Bieber are all millennials.

 

[seaweed]

I think on top of the various negative social, health, and financial elements already outlined, there’s also the the general public opinion that young men smoke pipes as an affectation. I’ll say anecdotally that the very few young people I’ve seen with pipes in public were of a more eclectic sort, and gave the impression they were mostly just interested in being visibly unique. I try not to judge - I had my fair share of idiosyncrasies growing up as I learned what kind of man I would become, but it does feel like a certain portion of the pipe smoking population does it as an accessory of manliness or to play 1920s dressup.

I don’t mean this to shame those people - everyone walks their own path and I wish them nothing but happiness. I just think this probably has further contributed to a little self consciousness in others who might smoke in the public view. I’ll be the first to admit I won’t smoke in public for this reason (among greater other reasons), restricting my smoking to my own home, while in the woods, or otherwise out of view of society. I don’t see that changing for me until my salt and pepper hair runs out of pepper and my skin wrinkles so deeply I look like a raisin.

I reckon if you’ve got salt and pepper hair, you’re old enough to smoke in public.

I started at 18 as mentioned earlier, but I’ve always been too self conscious to smoke in public, not wanting it to seem like an affectation. At 34 I still feel too young to flaunt it, but I think by 40 I’ll go for it if I’m not worried about the smoke irritating someone.

I will say, the whole hipster phase has passed. The term gets bandied about on this forum, but it’s dead among young people. I don’t think smoking a pipe will carry quite the hipster stigma for young bucks these days.

Don't bring Gen X into that one, Peter Turbo, Taylor Swift, and Justin Bieber are all millennials.

they’re all products of boomers marketed to millennials

 

[Chasing Embers]

they’re all products of boomers marketed to millennials

Many were kids of Gen X though my kids are Gen Z and Gen Alpha.

 

[Kobold]

What has Gen X and Millennials given the world? Taylor Swift, Justin Bieber.

Gen X music is most certainly not Taylor Swift and Justin Bieber. More like Nirvana, Smashng Pumpkins, Radiohead, Alice in Chains etc. Good music that was depressing as hell but not like Swift and Bieber who make music that stinks and is depressing in a different way.

 

[El Capitán]

As a 33 year old, I've been asked by my peers why I enjoy a pipe more than vapes or cigarettes. My answer is that it's more zen than just puffing on a vape or cigarette. There is a ritual to smoking a pipe. Maintenance needed to properly keep your pipe optimally in proper shape. It's an experience that vapes and cigarettes cannot replicate.

 

[craZivn]

I started smoking with a cigar when I was 21, moved to Nat Sherman cigarettes (yes it was an affectation but the black-and-golds were just so cooooool) but ended up settling on a pipe for practical reasons.

It's way cheaper than commercial cigarettes, tastes way better and doesn't drop ash, which is an important factor when smoking in the car as I've had a few minor but uncomfortable incidences involving an unplanned de-ashing into that certain anatomical area which all hot ashes and coffee spills seem to target since the dawn of the automobile.

I still enjoy an occasional cigarette or cigar but it's the exception rather than the rule.

I get compliments on my pipe often and my usual reply is "Eh, it's cheaper than cigarettes!"
I never encourage anyone to try a pipe unless they bring it up first, in which case I'm happy to extoll it's virtues over cigarettes. I don't encourage it over not smoking at all though, as I think that's too much of an individual choice based on a person's mentality and lifestyle. If someone is already happy and stress-free then there's no real reason to take up the habit.

Ivan

 

[Peter Turbo]

Don't bring Gen X into that one, Peter Turbo, Taylor Swift, and Justin Bieber are all millennials.

I'm honored to be in the same sentence as those two.

 

[LeafErikson]

I switched to a pipe from cigarettes when my daughter was born. Pipes were cheaper (tailor made cigarettes) and the statistics seem to indicate it’s not as bad for you long term as cigarettes since you don’t inhale generally. The only people I’ve actively encouraged to try it we’re friends who already smoked cigarettes or do the vaping type of stuff. So far none have stuck with it. For what it’s worth I turn 30 later this year and the friends I’m referring to above were all in their early to mid 30s.

My brother in law, who works for Grayback Foretry, smokes a pipe with me sometimes. He actually has a colleague at work who smokes a pipe while they’re out on jobs in the mountains. He’s in his early 20s and so are most of the people he works with so that was surprising to hear. I think some of y’all might be surprised to know how many Americans still smoke pipes in rural areas if those statistics could be found anywhere.

 

[mike wheelock]

been riding bikes since 1967 and havent regreted one day in the saddle. thats 58 years i think. currently own 4 harleys ( actually my wife owns 2 and i have 2 ). whenever we venture out...maybe only 100 miles or 2-3 weeks i have my falcons with me. have converted a plano plastic box to hold two stems and 8 bowls. keep them in the side pocket of my t bag. always at the ready for a quick stop or hotel on the road. the combination couldnt be more satisfying. always thinking what bowl and tobacco i will try at the next stop. good luck to all you riders/smokers and keep the rubber side down.

 

[Servant King]

Here's my two cents, from right smack dab in the middle of the millennial generation (1985). I think pipe smoking does a fine job of growing the hobby itself, and needs no further assistance. As society deteriorates (a fact which is far too multifaceted to discuss in depth here, but a fact nonetheless), people of all ages will be looking for methods of escapism. Now, I think it's grossly oversimplified to label pipe smoking as simple escapism and nothing else, but the fact is, it does provide a way for one to "disconnect" from the twilight zone-esque series of events around them, and that alone offers quite the appeal. Also, there is that association with "the good old days" that pipe smoking will probably always have, and while that idea might be just as abstract as it is concrete (I mean, the old days probably weren't so good at all, but at least back then no one was delusional enough to think that men could get pregnant), it certainly, to some extent, was one of the factors that drew me in when I started five years ago. So perhaps it still retains that old-timey charm associated with it, despite the demonization the tobacco plant has received from all sides, whether justified or not.

Also, personally, I think that if I tried to "do something" to grow the hobby, it would necessarily detract from my own enjoyment of it. Not only am I fairly antisocial (hard to believe, right?), but most people these days are making Idiocracy director Mike Judge look like an freaking prophet. Would they even be able to rub out a flake of OGS without an app that does it for them? They'd probably need GPS to even locate the goddamn chamber! No, I think I'll pass at the idea of trying to interact with the "human" blobs of redundant protoplasm around me in any way other than to get as far away from them as possible. Then, at least I can smoke in (relative) peace!

 

[brian64]

but most people these days are making Idiocracy director Mike Judge look like an freaking prophet.

Sure, but you gotta admit, it is kind of hard to not get excited about President Camacho actually running for President in 2024! Somehow it only seems right that this should really happen at this point in Clownworld.

 

[PipeIT]

I would not want to attract someone to smoking a pipe, who isn’t already at some level a smoker to begin with.

If someone was certainly young, and a heavy cigarette smoker as an example, I would definitely try to convert this person into dropping inhaling smoke and taking up the pipe, to make a healthier choice, especially if it seems like they are not wanting to give up the habit. If someone was trying to quit, I would certainly not promote the pipe either.

So for me, it would be more about promoting a healthier choice, over a negative situation that is presently existing.

Maybe, but this is a really big maybe, if the person was a younger nonsmoker with some issues, I would possibly consider it as a form of relaxation as nicotine can help someone relax. But I also believe there are many healthy natural choices too for issues, so it would still be a tough call to make.

Bottom line, if someone has issues of any kind, making a serious healthier life style change(s) I belive is always the best.

Even I question myself at times, as to why am I doing this.

 

[warren]

Even I question myself at times, as to why am I doing this.

I believe everyone should have a wee vice. It's the rebel in me I suppose. But, you are right on in not wanting to be, even partially responsible for another's bad decisions. I absolutely refuse to abet another in making, what I believe to be, a totally selfish and irresponsible decision. That's just the way I'm wired I guess.

 

[VDL_Piper]

I say "lay your ears back" and get in to it, most relaxing, cathartic thing a man can do. I really don't think a bowl a day is going to kill you or cause health problems. I'll tell you what will kill you though, eating anything out of a wrapper...........

 

[obc83]

Just turned 40 and only recently found out that I was a millennial. Apparently '83 is often considered to be a cusp year. I don't really know who the heck I would be teaching about anything but I'd likely encourage the pipe to whoever would listen. It's quiet, contemplative and individualistic - exactly how a person should be, even more so if they are unlucky enough to be born in a society. Sarcasm obviously, sort of, but really I think that almost any kind of baseline lone-wolfery should be encouraged in a citizen. Its another important vector for perspective and easily as impactful on the life well lived as being good to your fellow man. I will say that my brother, who is a younger millennial I suppose, recently walked by me when I was smoking and said that it smelled good. He has that kind of baseline but minimal nicotine habit that a lot of military men seem to have so I can see him giving it a try some day. I'll hold off on collecting my points until it looks like a sure thing.

 

[warren]

I say "lay your ears back" and get in to it, most relaxing, cathartic thing a man can do.

The brain does indeed enjoy nicotine. But, Cathartic? Well, it is a purgative so, you are correct.

I'll tell you what will kill you though, eating anything out of a wrapper

The medical advice is much appreciated.

 

[Servant King]

younger people are addicted to phones in ways cigarettes companies would only dream of wielding.

^^^^ THIS