Why Inhale?

[sixmp]

I also find that I get more flavour when I inhale.

Taste buds on your lungs? :rofl:

 

[kris]

Not to be too hard on the kid, but I kinda agree... Just don't know exactly how to describe it. Suppose it's a bit like this "retrohaling" business, when you inhale (& have mastered it enough not to cough up a lung) you get different flavours in different places... Hey, it's tobacco, it's ALL good. :D

 

[willjames]

been smoking a pipe since i was 18 i don't inhale have once or twice by accident and its makes me dizzy

 

[radoslav]

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[pipedude]

I inhale most of the time, I really like the flavour and buzz it brings. No shame in doing what you like. I've been a pipe smoker for 10 years now.

 

[zdwebb12]

I used to smoke cigarettes (about half a pack a day) so I get nicotine cravings. I inhale about 50% of the time I'm smoking a bowl, but never a big mouthful of smoke. I'll roll it around in my mouth, slowly let out about half the smoke, then deeply inhale the rest. I have to agree that inhaling reduces the flavor noticeably but it also brings some of the more subtle flavors out. I smoke very light cigarettes and have yet to find a tobacco strong enough to make me involuntarily gag when I try to inhale, and I've smoked some pretty heavy stuff (GL Pease, FVF, and Nightcap). One of the great things about replacing the cancer sticks with the pipe is that I only smoke around 2-3 bowls a day so when I inhale I get a massive nicotine buzz. Feels good man.

 

[tombraider]

A lot of info on this thread but it leaves me with 1 question. I'm also in the process of transitioning from cigarettes to the pipe. I enjoy everything about pipe smoking, but I miss the nicotine buzz from the cigarettes. I don't want to start inhaling the pipe smoke as this is counterproductive to transitioning to the pipe. I know that nicotine can be absorbed into the body through the mouth, gums etc. without inhaling. My question is, do I have to look for really "strong" tobaccos to get enough nicotine or could something in the "medium" or "medium to strong" do the trick.

 

[cjgoh]

I inhale all the time, every bowl I smoke. But with pipe smoking, I can go without a puff for pretty much half a day when compared with cigarettes. I used to smoked a stick every 20 minutes or so. Now, my throat has cleared up, I don't cough anymore, and best of all, I seem to be immune to the Flu-bug here in Singapore after re-starting my Pipe Passion.

 

[punkrockarmy]

I personally could never force myself to inhale smoke into my lungs. I accidently inhaled once and I thought I was literally going to cough up a lung.

 

[eibhir]

I can't figure out how not to inhale. I try on occasion to see if I can just hold it in my mouth but before you know it it's creeping out my nose as I exhale. I was a heavy cig smoker so I barely even feel the pipe smoke hit the back of my throat as it goes down. I don't mind inhaling, but wish I could control it more.

 

[eibhir]

Thanks Mike! That's funny about your kids. Have you seen the movies yet?

 

[andrew]

I always inhale right up until the end of the bowl, I find piped to be way smoother and taste so much better than cigarettes,

 

[sparroa]

I inhale occasionally but it is usually an unconscious slip on my part. It is extraordinarily easy to do.
I often release the smoke from my mouth and take a deep breathe afterwards. Something about smoking just makes me want to fill up the lungs...
I try to avoid it.
Knowing what we know about lung cancer, it is the safer bet.
(I know, I know that there are other cancer risks associated with pipe smoking but I'd rather cross one off the list if I can)
When I first started pipe smoking, I *thought* I wasn't inhaling much - but I was. That's why "medium" strength blends had a tendency to kick my ass. Now I can smoke fuller blends without much difficulty, but I inhale less than ever before.
You definitely don't need to inhale to get a big nicotine dose, but there are only two ways to get a buzz from pipe tobacco if you've already got a high tolerance. a) Smoke strong blends. b) Quit all tobacco cold turkey for awhile and start over with a more moderate blend. This method is bound to induce a litte suffering...

 

[jhclark]

It seems to me as far as inhaling, that the people that DO inhale often, are cigarette smokers. They either still smoke cigarettes, or quit cigs, and are trying pipes or cigars. The inhaling I think is a urge from when they smoked the cigs.
I started directly on pipes, never having touched a cigarette, and I never ever inhale. I want my lungs to stay clear, allowing me a lifetime of enjoying my pipes.
I have read a lot about cigarettes, and they are loaded with additives, like extra nicotine, burn agents, preservatives, and who knows what else. Look it up online and you can see. Also, when smoking a cig, you are inhaling wood smoke from the paper wrapper, which is bad stuff. The clean natural tobacco in quality cigars, or pipes with no paper or chemicals is just infinitely better than any cigarette, and far less dangerous to your health. I don't smoke for the nicotine, and do not enjoy it when a pipe tobacco that's overly strong like one I tried recently called Peterson Old Dublin, gives me a huge nicotine blast near the end.
These are just my opinions, any of you that enjoy cigarettes please don't be offended. I'm just saying what I think about the subject.

I know I'm new, and don't want to come off as thinking I know everything, but I have a bit of experience and would like to add something very important here.
Let me start by answering the OP. I've smoked on and off for about 10 years now, in one form or another. About half the time, probably (2 years smoking, 2 years of horrible "clean" air, repeat).
When I smoked cigarettes, it got expensive. Saw someone rip a filter off in a movie once, so tried that with camels, and found a cheap version of non-filtered cigs! Sweet! Then discovered making my own (filter tubes) because my rolling skills were no good. Finally figured out how to roll, and stopped buying at the corner market stores. By this time my (now wife) bought me my first pipe and I had been enjoying Glouster Street Cigars (Boston) as well as hookah at home.
Ran out of rolling tobacco one day.
Rolled up some pipe tobacco......
Wow. It's like the best cross between the flavor of a pipe, the strength of a cigar, the thick smoke like a hookah, and the quick, informal, and efficient nature of a cigarette!
THAT SAID
I just had my first pipe in 2 years a couple of days ago, and smoked for quite a while, no inhaling (and I was outdoors in the wind, so really no inhaling...). I didn't get any nicotine (that I felt)! Then I started thinking about getting a lung full (I quit all the time because I have quite bad asthma), and it was nice and thick like I remember, but I think what I really felt was the oxygen deprivation someone mentioned. Probably...
Inhaling DOES get some smoke to a part of your pallet that you would not taste with if you keep the back of your throat closed - even if you don't like smoke in your nose (some call it a snork note?) the tongue and soft pallet extend further back beyond where you close your throat to keep from inhaling.
NOW to add my novella:
Inhaling cig smoke is different for ONE VERY BIG REASON: The tobacco inside is not always tobacco. We know that we're already inhaling some paper smoke from the wrapper, but what many people don't know is that some of the "tobacco" inside is paper as well. It's paper that's been soaked in what you could basically call "tobacco tea." This gives it flavor and N, and is much cheaper for them and more efficient for production and delivery (and nicotine delivery...)
For cigarettes that are 100% tobacco, they don't tell you that it's the tobacco that's had all the N and flavor extracted for making that "tea" stuff anyway! The difference is that they add the juice back into those leaves! Why? Well, it lets them more easily control the flavor and the quality.
Orange juice companies do it all the time - even the big 100% non-concentrate ones.
They have giant vats (or whatever they're called in the fields...) of juice, and those vats are so big that they take a while to fill. By the time they're full, the juice has lost flavor. They're ok with this, because it lets them add concentrated orange flavor (I say concentrated because I can't think of a better term, but they win on some technicality). This lets them control it, and BRAND THEIR NAME. Ever notice how Minute Maid OJ tastes different from Tropicana? Or, ever notice how Tropicana always tastes the same? I can't drink Florida Natural... gross to me. Just like Winston cigs are gross to some people, or Marlbro to others.
Ok, that's my "the more you know" bit, and sorry I had to do that.
Now, back to your regularly scheduled programming...

 

[andrew]

I find the best way to enhale is to get a good mouthful of smoke, let it sit in your mouth a bit, blow half of it out and then inhale the last bit, or I just don't enjoy smoking, same with cigars