The setting: A camping trip/outdoor funeral for my grandmother in law. A small informal service at the campsite followed by somewhat excessive drinking with family. As night fell, a heavy downpour accompanied by wind and close lightening strikes ensued. Drinking continued, and I found myself drinking straight vodka from a large bottle while continuously relighting my rain soaked pipe.
The pipe: Homemade out of crabapple wood, wide open draft, small conical bowl. My first 7 pipes were homemade from apple, cherry, or corn. Being a hobby woodworker and broke at the time, I couldn't justify spending money on what was essentially just a peice of wood with two sizes of holes in it.
The tobacco: Having just recently started my pipe smoking adventures, I hadn't smoked anything except what was available from gas stations or local cigar store's meager bulk jar selection. On the night in question, I was alternating between Lane BCA and Brigham Wild Anatolia (AKA: Sutliff Wild Cherry). Being inexperienced in the ways of properly drying tobacco (I now like it crispy), I had been told by my uncle that I should always keep an apple slice in my tobacco to keep it moist. My tobacco was sopping wet even before it was loaded and smoked in the driving rain.
The aftermath: The next morning my mouth felt like 80 grit sandpaper, and tasted like blood. I love spicy food, but when I went out with my dad for Mexican food my enchiladas tasted like electricity and pain. I had a continuous taste of metal and blood in my mouth for 3 days following. However, on the same trip I found a tin of Dunhill EMP at a magazine and convenience store, and fell in love with it, and have been pipe smoking ever since, and have never experienced that level of tongue bite again.
The pipe: Homemade out of crabapple wood, wide open draft, small conical bowl. My first 7 pipes were homemade from apple, cherry, or corn. Being a hobby woodworker and broke at the time, I couldn't justify spending money on what was essentially just a peice of wood with two sizes of holes in it.
The tobacco: Having just recently started my pipe smoking adventures, I hadn't smoked anything except what was available from gas stations or local cigar store's meager bulk jar selection. On the night in question, I was alternating between Lane BCA and Brigham Wild Anatolia (AKA: Sutliff Wild Cherry). Being inexperienced in the ways of properly drying tobacco (I now like it crispy), I had been told by my uncle that I should always keep an apple slice in my tobacco to keep it moist. My tobacco was sopping wet even before it was loaded and smoked in the driving rain.
The aftermath: The next morning my mouth felt like 80 grit sandpaper, and tasted like blood. I love spicy food, but when I went out with my dad for Mexican food my enchiladas tasted like electricity and pain. I had a continuous taste of metal and blood in my mouth for 3 days following. However, on the same trip I found a tin of Dunhill EMP at a magazine and convenience store, and fell in love with it, and have been pipe smoking ever since, and have never experienced that level of tongue bite again.
