Why do We Smoke Pipes?

[PipeWI]

I'm getting some on my trip here in Scotland, an occasional treat and worth the mess.

 

[PipeIT]

When I first started smoking, trying to look back, it was in the early 80s, around 81-83 I believe.

I first started smoking cigarettes, if I have to be stereotypical here, because teen kids in the USA, did this sort of thing, and so did I.

But, somewhere along the way, I saw a tobacco shop, went inside and the smell of the pipe tobacco and all the amazing looking pipes grabbed my attention and it’s pretty much how I started, I was mesmerized by this new world.

I can’t say with honesty and certainty that this was about some psychological place of peace, ritual, happy space, relaxation etc., more simply about smells and tastes.

Even today, with or without a pipe, I’m still extremely chill and pretty much always in a happy relaxed place. So, even looking at it now, I still find, it’s more about enjoying the tastes and smells still, then going to this mental zone.

P.S. Let’s be honest, I think we sometimes just like playing with our toys and looking at them, as much as smoking them. I certainly do, otherwise, rhetorically speaking, why so much TAD and PAD! LOL

 

[Chasing Embers]

I'm getting some on my trip here in Scotland, an occasional treat and worth the mess.

Once a tobacco type or blends gets more difficult to obtain, I just gravitate to the next. It's been nearly three decades since my last regular purchase of nasal snuff.

 

[Chasing Embers]

I first started smoking cigarettes, if I have to be stereotypical here, because teen kids in the USA, did this sort of thing, and so did I.

I actually started with pipes and worked my way out into other tobacco products.

 

[PipeWI]

I actually started with pipes and worked my way out into other tobacco products.

I started with cigars, then pipes, then snuff and dip. I've never smoked a cigarette!

 

[Pooh-Bah]

I started with cigars, then pipes, then snuff and dip. I've never smoked a cigarette!

I was given a cigar by a coworker, then took up the pipe as my primary tobacco intake method. ... Because I am a sheep, and it was such a cool prop in some of them Japanese cartoons and old movies.

 

[Doctor Chopper]

My parents told me not to

 

[kcghost]

It's relaxing, you do it with friends, and it lets us discuss issues of the day.

 

[condorlover1]

@kcghost : Is that pipe smoking or sex you are talking about?

 

[Nitrane84]

Smokable art. The tobacco pipe is a beautiful thing. Sit and study the carvers' work while trying to develop the palate of JimInks.

 

[pappymac]

Honestly, I really don't know why I started smoking a pipe. If my mother was still around, she might have blamed it on here step-father who was the only pipe smoker I remember from my pre-adult life. I don't recall thinking that his pipe smoking was ever stinky but I always thought stale cigarette smoke stunk. I also found that I didn't enjoy kissing girls right after they smoked a cigarette.

 

[Epip Oc'Cabot]

true but I think the he didn't say that sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.

Nah… he said it in German!

“ Manchmal eine Zigarre ist nur eine Zigarre.”

 

[wernerat]

Sigmund Freud smoked a pipe, I believe, and he expressed opinions on smoking in general. Of course he had his theory about oral gratification. I think he also said, at one point, sometimes a good cigar is just a cigar.

Personally, I'd agree with the ritual of down time to be in the moment and focus on ones thoughts, or to have an agreeable and companionable time with another smoker or two.

The simplicity of it is central, although to read our posts you'd think it was astro physics.

Freud smoked cigars but there are plenty of psychotherapist who smoked pipe jung, berne ...
But not freud it s a common mistake and I thought the same before I goggled it :D

 

[tobakenist]

Most early mountaineers smoked pipes so I thought I would follow, I didn't become a great Mountaineer but I did become a great pipe smoker

 

[JOHN72]

Because it's cool, manly, and anachronic. Oh my God. I think the same as you.

 

[jttnk]

I think I just always loved the smell of pipe tobacco. My dad smoked a pipe a bit in the 70’s and cigars for as long as I remember. It’s great to share a cigar with my dad now. BTW, he‘s 86, walks a few miles a day, plays golf, travels etc… and is a doctor. I’m keeping the tradition going, enjoy tobacco in moderation and enjoy life.

Stan, me, and a friend back in the day. Dude, the collars on those shirts!

 

[TheIdahoan]

I've smoked cigars and cigarettes and now pipes.

I find cigarettes nasty. I've smoked RYO and "tailor made". Quick, accessible, and no fuss but just not enjoyable.

Cigars are delicious. However, time consuming and not well smoked when doing activities. Also not tolerant to being put out and resmoked.

Pipes are similar to cigars with the delicious tobacco, but can be clenched when doing stuff and relighting is not an issue if a few hours pass.

Plus, there's a appeal to having a pipe that I like (appearance wise) as a clothing accessory similar to a nice watch or tie, etc.

 

[burleybreath]

One whiff of pipe smoke at age 2, and the depravity embedded itself in my skull forever. Not consummated until age 16, however. That's the age the parental leash was tossed. (Went from leash to lash, in a manner of speaking.)

 

[Chasing Embers]

That's the age the parental leash was tossed. (Went from leash to lash, in a manner of speaking.)

I tired of the parental totalitarian regime and left home at 13.

 

[JOHN72]

Something similar to what our friend burleybreath comments. My father smoked pipes and cigars. He smoked at home, in the living room, in the bathroom, in his bedroom. That smell stayed with me somewhere dark and cold in my brain. Also traveling with him in the truck in Europe, I swallowed all the smoke, maybe this is the reason why my brain accepted to initiate me in this world of tobacco. Although, it seems to me a special way of life, authentic, traditional, conservative. To my way of understanding this damned and fucked up life.