What Does 2023 Hold for Pipe Smoking?

[mikethompson]

Look into your crystal balls and tell me what you see in store for us in 2023.

I see more of the usual, increased taxes in the US causing Canadians to laugh, increased restrictions in Australia.

But I am hopeful there might be some positives, although I can't quite put my finger on what they might be. Any guesses?

 

[BriarBrook]

A lot more small batch/limited releases... for better or for worse. I really don't see increased taxes, at least in Missouri. I hope to see more discord pipe/tobacco communities.

 

[hoosierpipeguy]

I see about 2,000 smoked bowls for me.

 

[smudgersmissingleg]

In the UK we'll get higher prices and more blends disappearing would be my guess.

 

[BriarBrook]

I see about 2,000 smoked bowls for me.

i wish i could smoke 1/10 of that...

 

[SBC]

I have wondered how the trend (characteristic of a forum like this, although probably not of all pipe smokers in general) of bourgeois pipe carving and tobacco blending can be economically sustainable.

Sure, there will always be some call for new pipes and for tobacco (and new tobaccos will always fascinate); but, affluence/leisure + Youtube has made skillful pipe carving an attainable goal for many, and the market may be flooding.

And the niche tobacco market is looking more and more like the craft beer phenomenon every day. What was new and cool and rare is becoming a dime-a-dozen eyeroll.

Pipe smoking is a luxury -- not a necessity -- so its apparent trend is volatile. Still, I expect that it will continue to swell for the time being, especially among young men.

If legislation continues along current lines, there may be prohibition-esque pushback which artificially boosts popularity for awhile. But, for whatever reason, it doesn't seem to be playing out that way, this time. The people seem more subservient these days.

 

[Sam Gamgee]

This is an interesting topic. I can absolutely see more red tape applied to tobacco, and maybe it getting harder to smoke in certain countries, but I don't see smoking ever going away in the USA. The govt makes too much money off it. They can pretend to care about health and safety by putting on more red tape, but all the while they are making more money than ever.

This year I went down the pipe-smoker rabbit hole pretty far. Read a lot, listened to podcasts a lot, spent quite a bit of coin on various blends, bought my first Peterson (way nicer than most of the pipes I've ever owned), etc. It all left me underwhelmed, and I ended up going back to being happy with a couple nice pipes and some Captn Black to smoke now and then. I'm probably in the minority here, though.