Why did you start smoking a pipe?

[ace57]

:?:

 

[oldmaus]

I just did it so my grandkids would have a cool grandpa like so many of you guys remember. (seriously I just liked it :laughat: )

 

[irish]

Worked with a gentlemen who smoked a pipe, always liked the smell and I like the way the pipe looks. So one day I told him I wanted to buy a pipe and he took me to a local little pipe shop that a elderly gentlemen ran. It was a true pipe shop and the man who owned it was an awesome pipe maker. He sold me my first pipe, taught me how to load it, smoke it, clean it. He also sold his own blends of tobacco that he even had the patent on. I ended becoming great friends with the pipemaker and bought several ( 30 or so pipes ) from him through the years. I bought mostly his pipes he had made but he would talk me into a Pete ever now and then, and a Stanwell, a few Savinellis, and a couple of freehands. They are works of art. Not just some pipes but nearly all pipes. If you take a pipe and clean it and hold it, even the ugliest little fellow will have something that jumps out at you. My good friend died owning over 10,000 pipes. Unfortunatly his son did not continue the business and did not offer any of his pipes for sale later on. So the 30 I own that he made for me are very special. Sorry got carried away and rambled on. Point of story. I love pipes, love smoking pipes, and owe it to my late friend.

 

[judcole]

I started back in college 'cause that's what College Men did - at least, in those long ago days. Started with drug store stuff - and that's when there was a lot of pipe tobacco available in drugstores. Did aromatics - Borkum Riff, that sorta thing. Moved to Sail and Troost. Then got into the local B&M store and started smoking English and Balkan blends. Still most of what I smoke, although I do enjoy burleys or virginias, too. Cigars anow and then - but they are not the most efficient use of my tobacco budget! Never smoked cigs.

 

[romeowood]

I was gifted my first pipe by an ex. Well, probably the ex, the one that got away and all. We were young and in love, I was a card-carrying preacher in the Church of the Subgenius, she was a bookworm and part-time stripper. We chased each other through three states...alas, one day the bottom fell out, and of the few mementos I have of that time, the pipe is the most cherished. She adored the way I looked smoking it, and the aroma. This is the one pipe that I could never sell. And I'm not sure a smoke goes by without her flitting through my memory at least for a moment.

 

[joshy]

I never knew anybody that smoked a pipe or anything like that. When I was very young I was at a fair and an old man smoking a pipe walked by me - The smell stuck with me since then. All I can remember about the smell is that it was "soft".
I picked up a corncob pipe in an effort to find that scent again though I haven't had any luck thus far, and seeing how my wallet is currently lighter than air it may be a while before I begin my hunt once again. :lol:

 

[ichbinmuede]

When I was in fifth grade the older bearded gentleman who taught me "Social Studies" would sometimes be walking around the playground supervising during recess and he would be smoking his pipe and I always loved the smell. That was definitely part of it. I'm sure that my love of Sherlock Holmes and LOTR helped as well.

 

[pstlpkr]

Who says they're aren't any good teachers left...
Like all of the males in my family (on my Dad's side) we are all Marines and we all smoke pipes.

Bought my first before I was legal... but they didn't enforce back then.

I still have it; a great little smoker.
My Royal Coachman 256 Made in France Sandblast:

::

 

[smokindawg]

Peer Pressure!
Just kidding...... I saw how relaxed my buddy was when he floated down the river in his canoe followed by the delicate smoke eminating from his pipe.
I thought how content he looked and thought, "Why Not?" So talked to him, he showed me a little bit about loading the pipe he gave me and the rest is history. Now we feed off each other when it comes to pipe things.

 

[spartan]

CUZ I'M IRISH!

Or it could be the fact that I've always been curious. For me cigs were a gateway tobacco. That leads to Cigars with more flavor, but the smokability of a cigar for me is a no go.(it's spell checking me on smokability... that's not a word? Wth? It should be damn it) I can't hang with the Cigars unless they are so ridiculously smooth it should be called something else. , and finally ending up at PIPES.
I walked into my "Cigar Shop" and the dude was sporting a pipe behind the register and smoking it like a champ. As soon as I saw him I turned and pointed, "YES! THAT'S WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT SIR!" Those were my exact words. I then told him that I was looking for some Cigars to try and he proceeded to tell me all about the wonderful selection they have and directed to me to something that might strike my fancy as he INTERROGATED me about what i was expecting from a cigar.
As I was walking out I said that, "Someday I will venture into the world of pipes... Someday. *sigh*, *looks at wife and thinks to himself ... is she okay with pipes?*
And then me gots a pipe! And some backy. And some stuffs that go with that.
And that's when you fellas were most unlucky to have me added to your historical community here.

 

[hebel]

Like many of you I'm sure I started smoking cigarettes when I was younger. I then saw guys smoking cigars so I decided to try them and I liked them more then cigarettes. One day I was listening to Jim Rome on the radio talking about how he was always fascinated with guys that smoked pipes. I gave it a thought but continued to smoke cigars. One day I went into my local cigar shop and I saw one of the guys that worked their smoking a pipe. It smelled awesome! I asked him for some advice and I decided to try it. I have been smoking a pipe for almost a year now and I can't even smoke cigars any more because pipes are so much milder. There are so many types of tabacos and so many different kinds of pipes that the possibilities are endless. A pipe makes you stand out, most smells are not offensive and you stand out from the crowd as well as a cool looking pipe is always a conversation starter.

 

[jeff59]

My grandfather smoked a pipe, as did my dad. The fondest of my memories are of grampop and he always had his pipe in hand.

 

[chopz]

short answer: the cost of cigarettes.
long answer: i first owned a grabow in my teens and smoked it alternately with cigs, but cigs won out. later on, through the 80s, i tried all the drug store brands and in between tried chewing tobacco and cigars on occasion. still ended up going back to cigarettes for which i've kicked myself many times. tried to take the pipe back up in the 90s with little luck.
anyway, most of the 3 or 4 pipes i ever owned are long gone, who knows where, but i did find one in a drawer along with some really well-aged tobacco and said "what the heck." i lit it up and the age actually made it pretty darn good. then i started looking around the local shops and found there's nothing - easy to find a $5 dollar cigar but nearly impossible to even find a pouch of prince albert. so i looked online and started learning so much about what good pipes and good tobacco really is.

 

[fireink]

When I was a child my great aunt and uncle would bring tobacco twists for the kids. We were never given them when they left, as we were all under 12. I recall being very curious of the stuff. Every one in the family smoked, pipes, cigs, cigars. Tobacco was in the family--including many RJR employees, including a head of Tobacco buying and a head of advertising; as well, a pre-revolution tobacco farm in the family, so learning the history was learning my heritage. Oh, the sweet smell of the curing tobacco all around the piedmont of NC in the autumn, walking into the old curing barns before they moved to the denser methods, and recognizing the artisanship of tobacco that is lost on cigarettes beginning in the nineties. It is The decadent indulgence of the US, our heritage, like Jazz, it is purely ours, though it has been historically exported and altered--and to its the advantage of the leaf's expression. But, it remains our culture's wine. I remember thinking when I was about 20 when purusing a tobacconist for cigars, why do I smoke cigarettes? (Camel had obviously change the blend by that point). I though, "Do I really "enjoy" the tobacco." The answer was a yes and a no and an acknowledgement of addiction and it's detriments (i.e.-breathing). So, I decided to begin enjoying tobacco for what it could be rather than what it was most commonly sold as. I bought a bent brandy and fell in love. And I began to be able to breath again too! I loved it, and was quickly weened from taste deadening cigs. As my palet began to be educated, I realized that, like wines and alcohols, there are sweets, tannics, spirited, and pures. All have their merits. None is more for more "educated" smokers than any other. Are whiskeys more "educated" drinks than ports or sparklings, or the multiplicities of consumer driven flavored beers? No, to each his own. One becomes educated in their own palet through experience and taste dynamics. The deeper I delved into the variety of types of tobacco, I began to fall in love with the relaxing effects and the aroma. I also enjoy the historic nostalgia and the smokey reveries that I fall into when I begin to forget the consumption tool hanging from my mouth and begin to experince only the tobacco and its effects. For me, the pipe, while beautiful and expressive, is only only a tool. I chose a pipe based soley on its utility for consumming tobacco. Today, I choose based on the variety of circumstances and manners in which I smoke them (if I am a relaxed smoker in one activity and a puffer fish in another). While I do enjoy their form and their art, they remain, in part, tools that have expression via personal aesthetics. Often times the pipe becomes little more than superficial novelty. Pipes? Yes. Love 'em, but it's not about the pipe... IT'S ABOUT THE TOBACCO MAN!!! I don't really "smoke a pipe"--the pipe is superfluous apart from utility--rather, a pipe is how I choose to smoke and enjoy tobacco.

 

[irish2fish]

I always loved the smell of a pipe. A lot of the old men I looked up too as a kid smoked pipes, then I read the Hobbit,LOTR, and the Narnia series. Totally respected Tokken and Lewis and they were smoking pipes in their pictures. Finally I joined the Army and some friends and I got some corn cob pipes for new years(cheaper than cigars) and we celebrated the new year in a small coffee house in Bosnia. I have had a pipe ever sense.

 

[sincityjeff]

My Uncle smoked a pipe, and I would always walk around with his pipe, puffing on it like he would (it was empty you know. I was like 4) One day my mom bought one of those kids pipes that you fill with soap and you could blow bubbles out of. Well, anyway, I always loved pipes and the smell was always wonderful to me.
But it wasn't until I started cigars at 27 to quit cigs that I started going to smokers forums(sadly I started up on cigs again). a year later at age 28 I stumbled on the pipe section of a forum and thought, I always loved pipes, why don't I buy one? and I did, and I have been for over four years now, it'll be five years of pipe smoking march or April 2012.
Now, I did stop for a few months when I moved out of Chicago and sold everything, I kicked my self in the ass for that one. But, I got to start all over again, this time with more knowledge. It's even better the second time around.

 

[olderthandirt]

Determined to quit smoking so I tried:

Cold Turkey - yeah right

Patches - what patch? might as well have a chunk of masking tape for all the good it does

Gum or Lozenges - yuuuuck!

Electronic Cigarettes and yes E-Pipes - hmmm, getting real close but....

Swedish snus - oh yeah, now we're getting somewhere

Snuff - I'm liking it!
So, I'm dropping dollars on the e-cigs, snuff and snus and I'm still not really feeling well or satisfied.
Cheap chinese cob and a pouch of Half and Half and heeeeey, this is not bad at all!
The e-cigs hit the bin.

I continue to use a few portions of snus throughout the day because I like it and it helps level my nicotine needs.

I continue to use a few pinches of snuff throughout the day because I like it and it helps level my nicotine needs.
I can't even imagine a day without a bowl now. Sometimes it satisfies the nic, sometimes it simply satisfies.

 

[matchstickman]

I started smoking a pipe for several reasons, namely because NO ONE else in my family ever smoked a pipe. My brother, sister, and mom and dad always smoked cigs in the house, and I hated the smell, and whats worse, it always made me smell as a little kid. When I was 17, I wandered into the local gas station to get gas, and I saw a guy with a pipe hanging out of his mouth. Mind you, I had seen pipe smokers on TV and in movies, but had never actually seen one in real life. I told myself, "Im gonna do that one of these days." When I turned 18, I bought a little Dr Grabow pipe and some Captain Black, and smoked a pipe for a little while and said, "This is pretty damn cool." But I didnt have a job at the time, so once that Captain Black ran out, I kind of stopped. Fast forward to getting a job, being young and stupid, getting hooked on hard liquor, moving to another job I hated, drank more, never had any money, you get the picture. When I met my girlfriend, her help along with the help of my family got me to kick my drinking habit. Well, I had forgotten about my pipes at this point, but I was cleaning out a drawer one day some seven months back and found that old Grabow. Barely used, still in great shape, I thought, "Now this guys been neglected for a while. Maybe we'll fire him up again." I had no baccy, and nowhere close to here sells it, so I went online to order some Captain Black cause I liked the stuff so much. You can imagine my surprise when I hit pipesandcigars and saw their list of tobacco blends and manufacturers.
8O
Its been non-stop PAD and TAD ever since, and I am thankful for every minute of it. ::

 

[longshot]

My father smoked a pipe, so I grew up around them, and liked the smell. In my teens/twenties most of my buddies smoked cigarettes, which never caught on with me, but they would occasionally hit the cigars. That led me to the occasional booze and cigar night. Also working lots of graveyards and long drives at night, smoking cigars on the road, made for a nice drive home after a long day. The cost of cigars at the time was getting to me, so my father hooked me up with a few of his pipes, and that pretty much was the start of it. I do still smoke the periodic cigar but the pipe is my preference.

 

[philip]

Some of my fondest childhood memories were of sitting in my dad's den watching him fight with his pipes. He didn't smoke them so much as fight with them. He'd light one, then grumble a little, play with his pipe tool, light it again and then grumble some more. "This might be a good tobacco, but it won't burn." He smoked whatever they had behind the counter at the grocery store and I don't think he ever reamed his pipes. But they were beautiful wood and they smelled terrific.
Dad is gone now and unfortunatley his pipes are lost. Once I tried smoking some of his tobacco in a cheap pipe and it was horrible. So for years I kept a pipe without smoking it and I still have a Nimrod lighter to remember him by.
A few months back I got tired of "smoking" an empty pipe so I went to a real tobacco store, bought a good pipe and some good tobacco. What a difference! It was enjoyable and relaxing, and thanks to advice I get from places like this, I can smoke it without grumbling. ::