Why Did You Start?

[cortezattic]

I was encouraged by my parents. You see, when I was young I had this "problem" with, uh, shall we say "self abuse".

And my folks thought that pipe smoking was a pastime that would, uh, keep my hands busy. So now I have two habits.

 

[lordnoble]

So now I have two habits.

:rofl:
Nice. I needed that!
I blame the late Jeremy Brett for my introduction to pipe smoking. He made it seem so relaxing and easy. It's relaxing and easy now, (well, I SAY easy... Flakes are touch and go sometimes) but in the beginning, it was pretty tough. I persevered and I'm so glad I did.
-Jason

 

[badbriar]

For lots of us I think it's the PAD thing. They are SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO Pretty!
I'm with Unclearthur - pipes smoking is primarily a guy thing and pipes are just great to look at and hold.

It's the whole process that is so very refined. Truthfully, men like toys and pipe smoking gives us stuff to buy and collect and show off and collect some more...and then there's the tobacco tins to cellar!!!

PAD & TAD are good things!

bb

 

[oldshacker]

When I was a small kid I would play in the corn fields. I soon made corn cob pipe toys first. Then when I was a young teen I had to puff on one of the pipes I made with 4 pinches of a cherry blend and never gave it up. I do have to add that the Huckleberry Finn book was part of my life long love for the leaf. ::

 

[rotschefeller]

not quite as interesting as some other member's stories, but...
I was a cigarette smoker and a friend of mine had a pipe, asked me if I wanted to try it (why not?), so I did and I liked it but I think he had some relatively cheap stuff, so I wasn't compelled to get my own.
I quit cigarette smoking and developed a taste for higher quality things. After 9 months or so I had missed tobacco and figured as long as I didn't inhale the smoke or smoke too much, it wouldn't be nearly as bad for my health as cigs were.
A friend and I went to a tobaccanist, He was very nice and hooked me up with some quality stuff, and now I wish I had started sooner!

 

[undermidnight]

Hmmm... it was shortly after getting married when I picked up my first pipe. And I really don't remember why... ::
Jason

 

[smokey422]

My brother-in-law and a long time friend of our family both smoked pipes and just always looked like they were really enjoying it. Also, I didn't want to become a cigarette smoker like the rest of my friends in the late '60s. I started with Carter Hall and a Dr. Grabow and smoked OTCs exclusively until I discovered the internet and the other individual who influenced my pipe smoking. His name was Bob Runowski and he introduced me to premium tobaccos, particularly burleys. I never met Bob personally but read his posts in the pipe forums and eventually contacted him a few times by e-mail. My first premium tobacco was Morley's Best and it's still a favorite. Then I moved on to English, VA/Per and VA, and select aromatics. Today I smoke them all and am so glad I was introduced to this lifestyle.

Smokey

 

[zanthal]

It was suggested to me by a friend about 12 years ago.
I picked it up again last year because I realized I didn't have any redeeming petty vices. ::

 

[phred]

I grew up in a very straight-laced family - no drinking, no smoking, no cussing - and was always warned about my "addictive personality". :roll:
I somehow got it in my head that my paternal grandfather had died of lung cancer after years of smoking - he actually died before my parents met, so I never knew him, and only after my own father died of a lung ailment (probably traceable to VOCs in the printer's ink he was around every day - he taught commercial art at a local high school) did I find out that no, my grandfather actually died of a heart attack.
So, after 46 years of babying my lungs (and after 25 years of learning to drink beer and Scotch without becoming an alcoholic), I decided to take the plunge after another friend of mine picked up a pipe in November. I like nice, smoky/peaty single malts and I'm loving the black, smoky Lapsang Soucham tea that my wife's been buying lately, so I figured some actual smoke wouldn't do too much harm, if taken in moderation.

 

[erichbaumer]

Some great stories here, interesting to see how many people picked it up because of dads/grandfathers. Makes me wonder about my kids someday.

My grandad did smoke a pipe, but he died before I was walking, and I only learned about it from my dad's comments when he learned that I'd started smoking one. I actually believed the hihgschool "smoke and you'll die mentality," until I got to college last year. My roommate and I hit it off, and are still best friends, and he convinced me to buy a pipe within a week (he'd been smoking for years). A little over a year later, I have nine, and enjoy smoking more than most any other hobby.

Oh and Phred, amen to the peaty single malts! Just curious, has that taste led you to try any English/latakia blends?

 

[phred]

erichbaumer - I'm a rank newbie, having just bought my first pipe and smoked my first bowlful last Sunday. The helpful folks at my local B&M suggested one of their popular house blends, an aromatic Black Cavendish and Golden Virginia mix that they call "Victorian Standard". I'm currently reading through their list of house blends to see what else sounds interesting, and will keep your suggestion in mind - they do stock a couple of Latakia blends in their 'English-style' line (and that doesn't count their tinned stock, which I'll get to eventually, I'm sure...)

 

[jeffboyrd]

Growing up, I would always see both of my grandpas milling in the garage or the outdoors with a pipe clenched firmly in their teeth. I remember walking in to their homes and smelling the sweet smell of pipe and seeing them both fiddle with tobacco pouches and lighters. My mothers Dad passed away when I was eight and at the time my Mom and I were living with him and my Grandma. Shortly after he passed, my grandma placed a box in my closet labeled, "Personal Effects of Oscar..". As a curious kid, I would often open up the box and inspect its contents piece by piece. In it, were a lot of Zippos, some Masonic literature, various hats and belts, coins and one Dr. Grabow straight Lark pipe. I am pretty sure the Grabow was an oversight by my Grandmda, as my Grandpa had many pipes and they were all given away. After my inspections, I would always pack-up the boxes contents and put them neatly back, as to not let anyone on to my curiosity. The years passed and the box remained in my closet until I brought it with me when I moved to college. Sometime in the fall of my freshman year, I went out to do some fishing in the beautiful Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Walking out the door that day, I remembered the pipe in the box, so I grabbed it and stopped at a gas station in town and purchased a pouch of Captain Black. The pipe hadn't been cleaned in at least 10 years, however, I didn't know the difference then. As I fished that day, I felt my "Pa-Pa" right beside me. That day certainly changed my life. While I didn't make a habit of pipe smoking back then, it certainly lit the fire for my pipe smoking passion these days.
Although I am not certain, but the timeline would suggest it, that Grabow has probably circled the globe, as my Grandpa was retired Air Force and did three tours in Vietnam. Although I have more "quality" pipes now, I still pick-up that Grabow whenever I am out in the woods or on the water.

 

[nehemias88]

I never really liked the idea of smoking anything because of fear of ruining my lungs. And I'm a musician with asthma, but my music teacher talked about enjoying his summer vacation in florida with a cigar in hand. I wondered why anyone in the world that takes their lungs seriously and depend on them for an income put their lungs at terrible risk? I began to investigate more about all this tobacco and cigar thing. I never understood it before. Wealthy people smoke cigars, in times of celebration cigars are handed out. What made it so attractive to people? So I did research on the health factors and consequences of tobacco and then the good things people like and why smoke it. I was hooked on the ideas and responses of why they liked it. So now I decided to try it without smoking it. There was snus and snuff, which in my opinion doesn't sound too pleasing, and then there were methods like cigarettes and cigars. I've always hated the way cigarettes looked. So cigars was the obvious choice. As I moved on my research, I came along an older method: Pipe smoking. I remember reading that pipe smoking is harder to master. It has to be relit many times as opposed to a cigar and there are many variables that can bring you a pleasant smoke or a terrible pipe. I steered away from the pipe and kept looking for cigars. Then I thought it out a bit more... Pipes don't seem bad at all. I look at it now as an art to pack, light, and sip on that warm pipe. It takes many years of practice and patience to achieve what you're looking for. But even then you can learn something new. So I bought a good pipe, my first being a Nording Signature pipe. A pretty big price for me back then. But I couldn't be happier!! :puffpipe:

 

[seaninkitale]

I got my start three years ago. I had a friend who brought me a pipe and some tobacco. I don't smoke regularly, but I do enjoy it. Like many others, my grandfather smoked a pipe. I have often thought about trying to find his, but I am not even sure they are still around. I smoke occasional cigars as well, which is what I started smoking in my twenties. I do not inhale either pipe or cigar, as I have heard that it is not proper etiquette or what ever.

 

[ssjones]

A great story Jeffboyd, that Grabow is a keeper!

 

[jeffboyrd]

Thanks Al!

 

[cleidophoros]

Why did I start? I love tobacco; the smell, the nicotine, the taste. I smoked cigarettes and RYO for almost 20 years and trying get more out of my tobacco I decided to try the pipe. I would go for cigars as they are more readily available and easier to maintain alas they are expensive. So pipe it is and after a year now I find that a pipe is most probably the best way to smoke tobacco; didn't even try to get a good cigar yet. Maybe I will one day. But I think a pipe is a more personal thing with all different pipes and accessories and then there is the factor of, as wife puts it, fiddling with things, I love fiddling with things and pipes are perfect for it.

 

[billybobjoehoot]

i had inherited sevral pipes from my great grandpa after he passed,when i was only 3. sevral years later when i was 15 i discovered my dads old stash of pipe tobacco (he had quit 10 years before then) i was home alone at his point due to my parents being at one of my sisters volley ball games giving me a hole weekend to my self. i decided to try it out. i had been told not to inhale pipe or cigar smoke from some of my friends but other than that i was clueless. i whent up to my room and dug around in my old trunk of my grand fathers untill i found the small corn cob pipe. i rushed out side with the bag of tobacco. i shoved a pinch or two into the small bowl and lit it. other than the toung bite it tasted really good. ever sence then i have hooked.

 

[kashmir]

That's an easy one. I was in the restaurant business in the 80s. Two packs+ a day. Marlboro Reds. And cigarettes were killing me. Literally. So I took up the pipe 30 yrs. ago and never looked back. I'm convinced if I hadn't taken up the pipe I'd be dead by now.

 

[bigboi]

For me I got into it after a friend described all the relaxing qualities of pipe smoking. At the time I really needed an outlet that forced me to slow down. Pipes gave me that outlet. They have helped me to slow down, enjoy the flavor, and relax. It also reminds me of my grandpa, he smelled of fine tobacco because he smoked a pipe and did chew as well.