Why did you first pick up a pipe?

[jchaplick]

Exactly that question, what made you start?
Personally i always found it fascinating, since i have been little ive always wanted to look like those old men from way back when.
Bought my first cob and some cherry tobacco my freshman year of college, now here i am in my sophomore year of college, im the vice president and youngest member of my pipe club. I have a small collection of pipes, and its one of my favorite passtimes.
The reason im asking is because im actually smoking my first cob right now and was thinking about it. thanks for sharing

 

[pstlpkr]

For me, it was simple. my Father, my Grandfather, my Great-grandfather, and his Father were all pipe smokers.

They were also US Marines, so naturally I picked up the pipe, and a year or so later.... I enlisted in the Marine Corps.. The rest as they say: "is History."

 

[hobie1dog]

started out smoking stuff that was worth smoking in a pipe, then went to conventional bland pipe tobacco. :wink:

 

[philip]

It brought back memories of my dad.

 

[olderthandirt]

Nicotine other than cigarettes.

 

[lordofthepiperings]

Got intrigued from the Lord of the Rings movies. Gandalf puffing away on his wonderful churchwarden. So I headed to a local tobacconist and picked up a churchwarden and some cherry tobacco.

 

[baronsamedi]

I always wanted a Meerschaum. My dad had one. Years later, the singer of my band bought one. One of the guys down at the mortuary was a pipe smoker and it re-ignited my interest, so to speak. I decided to try and get one and I figured if I was going to buy one, I should at least know how to smoke the darn thing without looking like a complete fool. In my research I ran across this forum and discovered that pipe smoking as a hobby was not only alive and well, but existed as a subculture, one that I liked. Been a pipe smoker ever since.

 

[withnail]

My Dad and Granddad both smoked a pipe and I loved the smell compared to cigarettes. My evil step-mother refused to let me have any of Dads things when he passed, so I decided to get a pipe of my own. I smoked for a while but couldn't find a tobacco I really liked (this was back in the pre-WWW days). Now that there is a whole world of tobaccos that can be delivered to my door, I'm back and enjoying sampling my way through a huge list of "want to try" blends.

 

[morlader]

Saw a pipe in the window of a shop in S Australia and liked the look of it,it was yellow,I went in and bought it and just went on from there.

 

[macnutz]

My reason for taking up the pipe was to get my nic fix without inhaling the stuff but the attraction was more complex. I grew up with my grand parents, I was practically my grandfather's dog. He was an ex coal miner and smoked Camels until he died at 85 but his brothers, old farmer friends, and my grandmother's brother, were all pipe smokers. Those pipes, the smells, the mosquito repellant factor, were a big part of the nights in the back yard listening to the old guys and their stories.
They all smoked a brown twist from the local tobacco farmers or from their own personal patch, for themselves and friends. Sadly, I will never get to share a bowl with those fellows. I'm in my sixties and they all went the way of all flesh, a long time ago.

 

[papipeguy]

Sherlock Holmes and Cary Grant. Smart and classy. What's not to like?

 

[bigvan]

I had been smoking about a pack of cigarettes a day when I joined the Navy. Bootcamp was "No Smoking" for 9 weeks, so when that was over I didn't want to restart, so I looked for alternatives. My father and grandfather were pipesmokers, so I was familiar with it. When I got to A-school I found a smokeshop in downtown Monterey, bought a pipe and some tobacco and haven't looked back since. That was 23 years ago.

 

[juvat270]

I smoked about a pack day for 18 years and chewed tobacco occasionally within those years as well. I always had an attraction to the pipe but to be honest, 15 years ago when I was 20 years old, smoking a pipe at that age looked kinda silly. Especially considering that I think in those years, pipe smoking was at an all time low. I could be wrong about that, but I just never saw anyone doing it anymore, young or old. Not like when I was kind growing up in the 80s.
Finally, when I turned 25 I said to hell with it and bought a pipe. I smoked about a bowl a week. When I finally quit cigarettes and chew 5 years ago I was going to say good bye to the pipe as well. But damn it I love tobacco!! So now I'm a full time pipe smoker.
As for why I was attracted to the pipe, I cant explain it other that what I stated earlier. I love tobacco. I love the smell of it, the taste, the feel. Everything. The pipe just seemed to me the pinnacle of tobacco use. Like something you had to graduate to.
Cigars are a different matter though. For reasons I can't explain, and no matter how many times I tried, I just could never get into them.

 

[uberam3rica]

My buddy had an old Aritsocob he got at a flea market, but he never used it so that got me interested. One day we were at a smoke shop and I saw a cheap, shitty, $20 pipe. I remembered the short time my dad smoked a pipe, he smoked Captain Black, and it smelled wonderful. So I bought the pipe and some Paladin Black Cherry, and found I liked it. Its just gone from there

 

[olderthandirt]

Agreed, I see no reason that stem up or down would have any detrimental effect.

My personal preference is stem up. The racks I've made all hold the pipes in profile, stem up adds to the display value for me.
Ooops! Wrong thread. Too much VO this early in the day I s'pose (-:

 

[sherlock]

My grandpa smoked a pipe and I always admired him. When I turned 18 one of the first things I did was go buy a pipe and never looked back.

 

[dongreyface]

My family was having a party and one of the guests was outside somking a cigar. My fiance then noted that she likes the smell of cigars, but she likes the smell of pipe tobacco the best and thus planted the seed in my mind. Me, her, my best friend and his wife were going to be getting together the following tuesday for dinner and to hang about his new fire pit so I decided to buy a pipe to smoke while sitting around said fire since he would be puffing away on a cigar. I went into a local smoke/alcohol store(I refuse to call it a B&M since they hardly know crap about pipes), found a Dr. Gabow I liked(which I later found out I paid way too much for...$45), bought some of their own brand tobacco and went on my merry way. I enjoyed the relaxed feeling I got from smoking that pipe so much that I decided to continue it. And the rest is history.

 

[terry]

The smell of pipe tobacco is like no other...pipe tobacco for the most part has an aroma that smokers and non smokers like. I was attracted to the aroma of pipe tobacco every since I can remember. I knew that someday I would smoke a pipe..but I waited untill I was 48 because of the sterotype that pipe smokers where older gentlemen. ::

 

[rd02sir]

I smelt the sweet tobacco aroma when I was a kid at a theater show with my parents. That was the first time I got a whiff of that sweet smoke. Since then I would get the occasional scent drifting my way. It wasn't until I passed by a shop that had pipes that brought back the memories from when I was a kid. Few days later i decided to give it a try and here we are, a newbie pipe smoker. None of my relatives smoke, maybe the occasional cigar, but nothing beyond that.

 

[spartan]

LOL @ OTD
A man after my own heart. Don't care for moderation myself. Except when I endanger others. That's another story.
I picked up a pipe because I was "entrigued about them. A natural curiosity if you will.
I said to my girlfriend/finace, "hey, I like that pipe. That man (Person at my B&M that I asked about pipes whilst I was buying Cigars from him) is a badass and I've always "wondered" about pipes.... I want one.
And she bought me one as a gift for our second anniversary (Aug 1st. 2011) Been Smokin' ever since.
"Put a spicy pickle in your Lager; see if it don't change yer LIFE."

Drinking this right now. Feeling pretty good. ::