What/Who Influenced You to Start Pipe Smoking?

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Nov 25, 2020
5
19
Pune, India
Hello! My impression of the world of smoking pipes was through the images of Einstein, Arthur Miller, Satyajit Ray and of course Hugh Hefner. Then you also get to see quite a few folks smoking pipes in old films, both from Hollywood and India. What really aroused my curiosity was a picture of gent waiting in line to cast his vote in the first elections in independent India. He definitely looked part of the elite, but here he was, waiting in line for his turn, just like the others around him, sipping his pipe, waiting for his turn.

That for some reason really got me thinking about whatever happened to pipe smoking here. Cigarettes took over like anything, in addition to the already other well-developed local nicotine delivery systems, especially oral tobacco. And then I forgot all about it and moved on. Then another day, out of nowhere, outside my office on my smoke break, I can smell a very different kind of tobacco around me. I looked around to see if anyone was smoking anything funny and then I see this man, puffing on with his pipe, hurriedly getting inside a cab and off he went. Was smoking a straight billiard from what I can remember and whatever tobacco he was smoking was different in a good way.

Fast forward to maybe a year and I am on my way to London for work. As soon as I am outside Heathrow, I see an older gentleman smoking his pipe, chatting with somebody. I surely must have been staring at him for eternity, since that's how long it took my ride to arrive. When I was on my way to the hotel, I didn't see many like him but during my brief stay, I did encounter a few more pipe smokers and was quite intrigued by the whole thing. I still thought of it as something quite old -fashioned (not that being old-fashioned is a bad thing, but yeah it's not what so see the younger folks with).

Fast forward to now. A friend here was looking to try some 'real' cigars, not the strawberry/chocolate flavoured ones you get at the local cigarette shops here. With a little research, we found a couple of online shops selling cigars and also pipes. All of this research was done on my computer and the folks at Google and Facebook obviously sniffed an opportunity. After that everywhere I go I can see something related to cigars or pipes!

Was just discussing the powers of search engine optimization with my cousin who then tells me that our grandfather was a pipe smoker once upon a time. We still have a couple of his pipes, where exactly nobody knows but he has seen those before. It almost felt like the powers that be have joined forces with FB & Google!

I just dived into this world then. Saw a lot of videos, read a lot of posts, articles, tobacco reviews, got totally sucked in! Placed an order with 4noggins and a month later I had my very first bowl. My Mixture 965 is what I started off with. I couldn't catch all the different flavours that everyone talks about but any cigarette smoker should be able to tell the difference before their first bowl is done with. Quite obvious that this is quality stuff and very tasty.

The one advice I have not followed is to invest more on tobacco than pipes. I still only have my 965 and an MM Legend. But I have more than a couple of pipes on their way already! These are just so beautiful, I worry I spend too much time browsing through endless online catalogues and tobacco reviews.

About my first few bowls, I am really enjoying the smoky taste of 965 and that's pretty much I can say about the taste. I think I have figured out how to pack my pipe and smoke with a couple of relights at most. I am working on slowing down a bit. The flavours definitely are more noticeable then.

And for any beginners like myself reading this, it does satisfy my nicotine craving but not like the way a cigarette would. I'd compare the later to shot of espresso or a cup of black coffee while smoking a pipe is more akin to having a cup of tea. The caffeine is more gentle and tranquil. Likewise for pipe smoking. The coffee drinkers here wouldn't agree with this bit, but there you go!
 

Peter - CCB

Starting to Get Obsessed
Dec 26, 2019
250
977
46
Santa Barbara, CA
www.etsy.com
No one. Been smoking cigars. Saw pipes. Looked pretty. Figured I’d try. Bought a Bjarne at cigar shop. Smoked a few times. Didn’t like. Pipe sat for 10 + years. Was on cigar site, one an auction along with a tin of 1-Q. Liked it this time. So ordered some Plum Pudding and a few others. Liked it a lot. Now I’ve got a cabinet of cigars aging away while I smoke pipes only.
 
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Birddog66

Lifer
Nov 29, 2020
2,997
53,383
Newhaven England
My dad smoked a pipe briefly when I was a child and apparently I was always running off with his pipe. I didn’t start myself though until I found a old Dunhill in a Salvation Army thrift shop in Chicago and then only at Christmas and only black cherry tobacco. It was a year ago when I put down the cigarettes and started buying more pipes, sixteen of them now, and started to delve deeper into the world of pipe tobacco. And now I’ve found you guys. And they say smoking is bad for you.
 

ph151

Lurker
Aug 10, 2018
11
17
Our neighbour Rev. Arthur Perry. I grew up with him just down the hall from us in our apartment building. The whole floor would smell wonderfully of whatever aromatic he was smoking. He would gleefully smoke in the elevator and in the lobby. My parents never said anything negative about Arthur's pipe. Rest in peace Arthur.
Perry_Rev_Arthur.jpg
 

Servant King

Lifer
Nov 27, 2020
4,705
27,168
39
Frazier Park, CA
www.thechembow.com
Lee Van Cleef's character, Col. Douglas Mortimer, in For A Few Dollars More (1965). Of course, it would take years after I first saw this film, coupled with my disenchantment with cigars, to actually do something about it. And judging from the postings in the Tobacco Legislation section of the forum, not a moment too soon.
 
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Lyle b

Starting to Get Obsessed
Nov 8, 2019
172
343
51
Northern rivers nsw Australia
I remember my grandfather smoking a pipe and a few older fellas I worked with along the way , was just something I was drawn to do , like riding a motorbike or growing a goatee he he .
 

username

Lifer
Dec 24, 2014
2,233
15,355
Tucson Az
My uncle Ricky smoked a pipe. I don’t know what blend so when I walked into a tinderbox to buy a cigar and saw the gentleman behind the counter smoking a pipe it reminded me of him and a basket pipe (in this case a mr brog) wasn’t that much more then a couple of cigars. And came with a free ounce or two of tobacco. It seemed like it was worth a shot. So I ended up buying that pipe for a baggie full of midnight and added a tin of nightcap since I liked the tin art and proceeded to burn the shit out of my tongue. I didn’t know to dry my tobacco a bit and not puff on it like a freight train. But I stuck with it for about a year. But at the time I was living at home and my mom didn’t let me smoke at the house even outside so I had to quit till I moved out. Forgot about it for a while till I had my own place and a friend who’s I used to hang out with and smoke at his place for a bit since he was a cig smoker and didn’t care if I smoked a pipe there so I left my pipe one day when I had quit. Well he called me like 7 years ago and was like hey I found your pipe stuff I’m going to toss it if you don’t want it anymore. I had already started smoking a pipe agian about a year prior so I said sure. Been smoking a pipe agien since then 7-8 years now. Went from heavy English blends and aromatics to Virginia’s To Vapers. To now currently living burleys. Straight Virginia,vapers and the occasional Lakeland when I can get them. The englishs just sit in then cellar.
 

Lawyer66

Can't Leave
Nov 21, 2020
319
640
Grand Cayman
What originally piqued my interest in pipes was the Lord of the Rings and Tolkien in general. Also, I keep remembering the pipe-smoking scene from the Chronicles of Narnia Series. However, I really learned a lot and became excited about pipe smoking by watching PipeFriendCHS on youtube. I watched his videos and others for months before buying my first pipe. It was ephemeral, but I did manage to find my way back.

Hoping to stick it out this time.