Cars and Pipes

PipeProfessor

Does anyone drive and smoke? What are your expereinces?

PipeProfessor

I tried it once but it was too hard to tamp and light when driving in the city.

LostMason

I will pack a bowl before heading out,and have learned ho to tamp lightly with one hand.
Gets fun sometimes since my car is a standard.

PipeProfessor

@lostmason, wow thats skills!

Abreathawayfromglory

ahh the Joy of owning a Jeep Wrangler I pop off the top take the doors off Pack a bowl and drive. Ya learn to tamp with one hand. Also Great for Cigar smoking 

Topaz75

I'm now officially an old geezer and consequently haven't smoked in my car for years. However, in my youth I can distinctly recall puffing away on a bent Peterson while driving a Triumph TR3.

PappyJoe

I have been known to smoke a pipe while driving by myself in my old truck. Got rid of the old truck last December though and the new truck is still too new to risk smoking a pipe in it.  Let's just say, the wife always mistook old pipe smoke as an air freshener in the old truck.

Darmon

I do occasionally to or from work, just have to steer with your knees while your tamp.

PappyBadger

I'm a service plumber so I drive a ton. Probably smoke 3-5 bowls a day in my van.

thebadgerpiper

I don't smoke my pipe often, but if I'm out for a coffee run or coming back from my pipe club, I'll smoke my pipe in the car. Like @lostmason , I drive a standard, so it's fun to juggle my pipe and shift gears.

LostMason

The trick is to use your thumb and pinky to steady the pipe while
using your first two fingers to manipulate the tamper,Have to be on
a strech so you have time between shifting.I've had to learn to do it
left handed so I can still see the road.@pipeprofessor,it's more
being an A** than skills,I like the stares from other drivers.
@thebadgerpiper,hills are fun aren't they?

drac2485

I preload my pipe and have learned to tamp and light without taking my eyes off the road.  Normally, I smoke one of my Peterson African Rock Meerschaum's so I don't have to worry about scorching the rim. 

Here's another discussion about tips for smoking in the car https://thispipelife.com/us/tpl/forum/index.php?p=/discussion/193/car-smoker-tips#latest

drac2485

Oh and I will only smoke a pipe when I am on the long haul highways.  If I'm in the city and my pipe goes out I put it down and deal with it later.

judandhispipe

I don't smoke as much in the car as I used to, but it makes a long drive more pleasant.

thebadgerpiper

@lostmason Oh, hills terrified me when I first learned stick shift. I started on automatic, and then in 2014 my wife and I got a stick shift and she had to teach me how to drive all over again. I still remember having to stop at a red light while on a hill incline, and almost rolling back into the car behind me trying to rev up and accelerate.

Haven't had any stares yet while smoking my pipe in my car. I hope that changes eventually and encounter them.

LostMason

@thebadgerpiper,Ya gotta learn how to use your parking brake to keep from rolling backwards,
that is if you have a hand brake.If it's a pedal, well just keep playing with the clutch.It only costs about
$1500 to replace,that guys car and neck and the dog that went into labor cause of the horrendous
crash,well you get the idea.Anywho,try driving thru town during lunch hour with your pipe.Especially
if you go by a college.Oh and if you take a walk in front of the shopping mall smoking alexander bridge.

thebadgerpiper

@lostmason I have a parking break, and I don't use it as often as I should. I have grown to enjoy driving my stick shift, just not in rush hour.

And my town has a nice little downtown area that I drive through. I should grab a coffee, chill by my car with a pipe, or cruise around with my pipe and garner some attention that way.

mhajec

Remind me not to drive around you guys in the future...

LostMason

@ thebadgerpiper , Just don't do it with a cob,they will all think yer a hillbilly
sell peaches.Use a shiny bent briar,and a tobacco with plenty of body to it.
@mhajec,I drive like an old codger,50 in a school zone and 45 on the interstate.
Sirens in the morning,sounds like,,,,INSANITY !

tomatobodhi

I drive and smoke all the time. I have a little glass cup in my cup holder just for knocking out ashes halfway through a bowl.

I usually smoke cobs while I drive, because lighting or relighting while driving might risk charring the rim, since I'm trying to keep my attention on the road, not my pipe-lighting. I don't want to char the rims of my briars, but a cob is a cob.

As for people thinking yer a hillbilly... I'm an Arkansawyer, so no prob.

thebadgerpiper

I have no fear of looking like a hillbilly. I do usually choose to smoke my Royal Danish billiard with Vanilla Cream flake. I usually try to have a nice aro when I'm around the public.

And don't worry @mhajec , I always make sure to pay more attention to the car and road than to my pipe.

pipesith

No I found it to be to much of a distraction. Light and tamp and pay attention to what's going on. I can wait till I'm off the road.

drac2485

@tomatobodhi that's sounds like me when smoking and driving. I got a few weird looks yesterday but I don't care. I definitely only smoke pipes I don't care if I char, cobs and a few meerschaums, definitely not my nice briars

Wolf41035

Will not smoke in my vehicles, recently I smoked a Cigar in my truck but it was not good, my truck is my everyday driver/beater so no big deal if something happened but the wind was crazy and it went out....can't light a Cigar while driving (not safely anyway!) so Nope, no smoking. 

drac2485

@wolf41035  I normally light my cigars with a butane torch. I actually find it easier to light a cigar while driving then lighting a pipe with a soft flame.

Wolf41035

Problem I have is I drive on back roads or small city streets and I have a Standard shift truck, I always have to keep my hands, feet and eyes on high alert.  LOL  Country driving is almost as bad as big city driving. 
I also do not have A/C so I drive with my windows down, tends to blow cigar ashes all over.

Woodsman

Taught myself to pack a pipe "One Handed" holding the pipe in the pouch with the thumb and middle and ring fingers while scooping and packing with the index finger. Lighting after rubbing some saliva on the bowl top to prevent scorching. Tamp carefully with pipe clenched, 3 fingers holding the pipe steady against the thumb base tamping with index and thumb.

Teach yourself to do it w/o looking down at it. Wear old cloths while training. You can also do it using a wide mouth mason jar for the tobacco kept alongside you.

IndyJG

I won't smoke in my personal car, but I have done it numerous times before at jobs where I had a work truck and a decent drive ahead of me. I usually preferred to smoke cigars in those instances versus loading/maintaining a pipe especially with the windows down.

Bphasty

I've got no A/C so I don't risk it, too much wind involved. Better to make it home without a lap full of smoldering ash & smoke once you hit the garage

Woodsman

Back in the mid 60's a friend and I bought a 2 tube Hookah that sat on the console of my GTO with both of us smoking tobacco, unfortunately Police Cars found us too interesting. I still have my tube amongst my pipe stuff.