Why do We Smoke Pipes?

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Nitrane84

Might Stick Around
Jan 10, 2022
63
204
Chatham-Kent
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.View attachment 220205
Fantastic picture. Hope the fucked up life is less fucked up with a good pipe full
 

craig61a

Lifer
Apr 29, 2017
6,164
52,948
Minnesota USA
He smoked both cigars and pipes.


It was attributed to him from a speech in which he was discussing noun genders in Romance languages, and sexual roles in sentence structures. Language studies was one earliest and most famous studies, before psychology. However, Germanic and English speakers have a hard time understanding this concept... so in a moment of awkwardness, he said the now famous and often misunderstood phrase to break the ice.
However, because there is no evidence (written or recorded) Google states that there is no evidence. However, it is one of his most famous saying... that many witnesses have recalled throughout history.
And did enough cocaine to kill a small horse…
 
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Reactions: wernerat
Oct 3, 2021
1,141
5,373
Southeastern PA
Because the alternative is extreme violence?

For me, it's a relaxing escape for an hour or so. To be able to put aside the day's stress and enjoy a bowl or 2 of whatever my mood happens to be.

As for why a pipe, I had an uncle who smoked pipes and it always smelled so good. Makes me wish I payed more attention to what he smoked. I tried smoking a pipe back when i was 18-19... bought a Grabow and a pouch of Paladin from Rite-Aid and had no clue what I was doing. I never finished the pouch. So fast forward 22 years later, 1 day (about 4.5 years ago), I just decided to give it a try again and haven't looked back since.
 

Zamora

Part of the Furniture Now
Mar 15, 2023
524
1,376
Olympia, Washington
I branched into pipes from cigars. Cigars I've found to be a wonderful way to relax and enjoy an hour, my B&Ms sells some bulk blends and discount pipes so I figured I might as well check it out. Now I like pipes even better than cigars, there's so much more variety and I love the extra dimension added by the pipes themselves. I'd always been intrigued by pipe smoking having read lots of Tolkien and Twain growing up, plus I'm a history buff and so many great figures of the past were avid pipe smokers and now I get why.
 

BDIC

Might Stick Around
Feb 15, 2021
64
878
NY, Long Island
For me it was kind of a natural progression. I smoked cigarettes when I was younger and thought they tasted like crap and my lungs felt like shit. I'd always been around older professionals in my career that smoke cigars and I started enjoying them way before I had even quit cigarettes so eventually I just smoked cigars. After years I got curious about trying a pipe, and while I do enjoy cigars still, I find myself smoking my pipes way more than I do cigars these days. To me it was just more of a flavor journey at the end. And I do love the relaxing effect that's sitting back with a pipe and a cup of coffee has.
 

Zeno Marx

Starting to Get Obsessed
Oct 10, 2022
277
1,403
I started smoking because I wanted/needed something to do while I wrote all night long. I need the last-minute pressure to do certain things, so all-nighters were a common thing. Then it became lots of other things, like I'm sure is the deal for most of us. It blossomed. But the last few years, it became about the flavor. I'm not a foodie. I like to cook and eat to a certain extent, but I also find eating to be a chore. I'd rather be doing a thousand other things. So smoking has really picked up that taste pleasure aspect. Of course, it was always there. If it didn't always taste great, I wouldn't have continued to do it, but it became central, and to a substantial extent, a substitute of sorts for that taste satisfaction.
 
Jul 28, 2016
8,085
42,808
Finland-Scandinavia-EU
till my 50th Birthday, i was on and off pipesmoker,primarly smoking french unfiltered cigarettes and Dutch blend Roll Your owns, then some 10 year ago tailormade cigarettes went and the quality of RYo tobacco went so much downhill that I decided to switch to full-time pipe smoking, I do occasional Cigars and Chewing as well
 

sablebrush52

The Bard Of Barlings
Jun 15, 2013
20,989
50,263
Southern Oregon
jrs457.wixsite.com
Title edited for caps. And most of us are not that strange!

Pipe smokers are a small, strange group. Why do we like it?

For me, much of the enjoyment boils down to the experience of focus, relaxation and peace that comes along with process, ritual and tools.

To smoke a pipe requires tools and a knowledge of how to use and maintain them. It entails a process which takes time to learn and perfect. It spawns rituals before, during and after the smoke.

Finally, it creates a perpetual treasure hunt for the next trophy or experience - whether that's the next new pipe, the next great tobacco, a new rack or case of jars because of those first two, the perfect "down to white ash" smoke, etc.

I value all these elements as much if not more than the actual act of smoking. Also, I think I'm smarter when I smoke my pipe 😁

Why do you like pipe smoking?
What got me started was the smell of pipe tobaccos and what kept me going was the variety of flavors, the craftsmanship of pipemaking, and the history behind it, with an emphasis on Britwood, particularly Barling. I also enjoy prep and packing, the codger scoop, lighting up, fiddling with the pipe during a smoke, as well as cleaning and maintenance. However, were it not for the flavors, none of the rest of it would long hold my attention.

The "smoke down to a fine white ash" is one of the more destructive myths surrounding pipe smoking. Most tobaccos will smoke down to a mottled gray ash. The last one that I can remember smoking that did actually reduce to a fine white ash was Sobranie made Balkan Sobranie Original Smoking Mixture, and that hasn't been made in 40+ years. Aside from that, trying to burn every last thread of ribbon will generate enough heat to damage your pipe over time, causing cracks and fissures in the wood at and around the base of the chamber. It's a really stupid metric for success.

Ultimately for me, it's all about the flavors.