What Brought You To The Pipe?

[chalbach72]

I know this has been posted on many times, but I don't feel like digging up an older topic.
So, I just want to know what brought you to the hobby, and why you stick with it!
For me, it was a 1 1/2 years ago, in September 2014. My buddies had picked up pipes from their dads, and they were going to smoke. As a new college student, I had always been interested in pipes by the way they smell, and after researching it, I decided to join them one day. Just smoked a cheap wall pipe with a cherry blend made by our B&M. To be honest, I hated the blend (as I didn't really know what I was doing) and struggled to keep the darned pipe lit. However, my friend had his lit with Cherokee, our B&M's renowned blend (Country Squire MS) since the 70's. I loved the flavor from that tobacco and also just enjoyed the company found around a pipe.
To this day, I've grown excessively in my knowledge about pipes and the various tobaccos used in this interesting hobby, and I still smoke with my dear friends. I find it is a hobby of companionship, relaxation, and contemplation, and for that reason, I will always keep my pipe lit
So what's your story?

 

[lasttango]

People just kept telling me that I should smoke a pipe. My typical work attire consists of an oxford, blazer and scarf... so folks were always saying: "you should smoke a pipe."
I guess I had that ragged professor look.
I had quit smoking cigarettes for a few years and I was vaping. My pop and grandfather smoked a pipe. It was destiny.
I got a bent billiard and the rest was history!

 

[coffinmaker]

I grew up in Winchester, Va. around pipe smoking farmers and it rub off onto me. Tried cigarettes, darn things gave me a sore throat. I have not gotten into this as a hobby as many on here have, and you folks are quite knowledgeable. I just smoke and pick up a few low end pipes.

 

[grue]

Two things.
I needed a new hobby since my previous one -painting and illustration- became a full time job.

Also, I had been trying to quit smoking cigarettes for more than 10 years.
Both things were achieved beautifully!

 

[shawnofthedead]

How many people are like me, who just one day decided to "try something new"? A year ago I was under a lot of stress with writing papers and stuff, I noticed how pipe smoking seems to make a person calm and concentrated and thought that's exactly what would help my tenseness and anxiety. When I found out that pipe smoking doesn't involve inhaling, that's when I purchased my first pipe.

 

[radio807]

My dad and Uncle Joe smoked a pipe, although Dad was primarily a cigarette smoker. Everyone else in my family were cigarette or cigar smokers, so I grew up around tobacco. As a kid the choice was easy because of the allure of the pipe's room note compared to the lack thereof from cigars and cigarettes.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

I used the pipe hobby to get off of cigarettes which were causing me considerable lung problems... and financial.

I wanted to quit, but I also couldn't imagine a life without the taste of tobacco. So, I went for the lesser of the evils.

I also had a granddad and uncles who all smoked pipes, so I at least knew what I was getting into, although I had no idea at the time how far one could take this hobby. My uncles never had more than one pipe that was smoked every waking moment, no kidd'n if they were awake that one pipe was loaded and burning, sometimes they would even have the pipe burning while they slept, if they fell asleep on the porch. This new idea of rotating pipes and tobaccos just pushed me to a new level.

 

[demetrakopoulos]

The short answer is I've always liked how pipe tobacco smells.
But I transitioned from cigars to pipes because pipe tobacco is usually a lot cheaper, and you don't have to dedicate an hour or so to smoking one if you don't want to. With a cigar you either have to let it burn out and come back to it later when it won't taste the same, or discard it entirely.

 

[lifesizehobbit]

As a kid, my uncle had a few pipes in his book cabinet or garage work bench. I only got to visit him once a year and somehow those pipes always seemed "cool." Fast forward to my 20's and I was gifted a Savinelli bent billiard by a couple of friends and that started my hobby.
And for me, it truly is a hobby in that I'm an off/on individual as I can go several years without smoking a bowl. Then when the mood strikes, I drag out my pipes and smoke a few times until I feel like I'm "done" for that cycle. It's an odd way to enjoy the hobby, but I love the craftsmanship, the tactile nature and just the pure art of it. For the first time, I am experimenting with a wider variety of tobaccos and have been "on" cycle longer than before.
I would say that the last few months piping has been very enjoyable for me.

 

[aeropuffer]

All very good responses. I can relate to all of them.

For me back in the 40's lots of men smoked pipes. It was much easier to steal a pipe full of baccy than a cigar, plus a pipe didn't make me sick to my stomuck. Cigerettes cost 25 cents a pack, big money back then. Pipe baccy was free. Kids back then were much freer.

 

[flippinbird87]

After abstaining from all forms of tobacco for 2-3 years to get off the cigs, I got a Pipes and Cigars catalog, got the pipe bug and immediately ordered 2 ounces of tobacco (Just to see if I really wanted to stick with it). I have missed the feeling of calmness that pipe smoking brings to me. So in the end, I got into pipe smoking again because of the taste, aroma, calmness and spending time with my dog out on the front porch three times a day! :D

 

[warren]

I noticed the attraction coeds had to pipe smoking profs. I had to level the playing field. I already smoked cigarettes and cigars. The transition was easy but, it never really paid dividends. No way I was going to wear a cardigan.

 

[B18]

The short answer for me,
Popeye the sailor-man cartoon.

 

[captainprophesy]

It was always in my mind due to my grandfather and a few older gentlemen that he knew, I used to love the smell and thought it was so cool as a kid.

Even though I was smoking cigarettes since I was 17 I didn't try my first pipe until I was 22 when a fellow band members father turned me on to it. He let me borrow a cob one night and I was hooked! I don't recall the type of tobacco but it sure was nice.
Good lord that was a few years ago! :P

 

[timpiper]

For me it was the amazing, sweet aromatic aroma.

To this day it is very unique and when you smell it, your looking for the guy close by with the pipe.

That was in days gone by, sadly this doesn't happen much anymore.
Also the Sherlock Holmes story's sparked an interest.
-Tim

 

[deathmetal]

For me, it was frustration with the lack of flavor from cigarettes, and the general terrible quality of the tobacco in them. I like cigars as well but those seem to be special occasion smokes.

 

[jefff]

My grandfather smoked a pipe. I always liked the idea.

 

[chalbach72]

I love that so many of these stories involve family members or people grown up around, so neat!
Keep 'em coming, guys! I love this.

 

[mso489]

Dad, with his Granger, from my birth. Tamped with his thumb, knocked on the heel of his hand, burnt up a pipe at a time, no rotation. He from his dad.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

I love that so many of these stories involve family members or people grown up around,

It's much better than... when I was a kid, there was a guy who drove a van, and gave us pipes and tobaccos to...