Hello all, my name is Scott. I'm 65 years old and have been smoking a pipe, on and off, since high school. Started sneaking my dad's Kaywoodies and his OLD Amphora tobacco and just kept at it. I live in southern Maine, where my wife and I moved almost six years ago from Colorado. I'm an executive and career coach helping people figure out what they want to be when they grow up.
@DixonHill - Welcome indeed. We look forward to engaging your thoughts in the various discussions. I'm from NJ, age 70, and I'm one of those who like pipe smoking more than we like the "natural" taste of tobacco. I smoke heavily flavored and cased tobaccos from Sutliff. Back in the 60's I smoked Balkan Sobranie and Cope's Escudo, a Balkan/English blend and a VaPer. I resumed pipe smoking last summer, after a several decade hiatus, and find myself smoking blends called Vanilla Custard, Creme Brulee, and Molto Dolce. Go figure. What do you smoke these days?
A veritable cornucopia of knowledge and experience, all in one place. Welcome Dixon,by the way, I am 66, if you find the secret about what you want to be when you grow up, please share.
I agree. I tried growing up a couple of times and it really didn't work out. I guess I'm just not very good at it. Besides, there are few things on the planet more boring than a roomful of grownups.
Thanks gents, appreciate the warm welcome. As for growing up...as long as folks keep trying, I'll have a job. My preference, though, will be to keep learning as I've found once people have grown up, they know it all.
@motie2...I'm intrigued by how many of us return to pipe smoking after many years hiatus. I wonder why that is? I know in my case, I always enjoyed the tactile aspect of packing a pipe and holding a warm pipe in my hand. I enjoyed the relaxation of matching my breathing to a "rhythm" of the tobacco burning in the bowl. These are the things that always drew me back to pipe smoking.
I smoked my pipes from freshman year, through a kind of graduate school, and for nine years after that, until 1985.Then we moved somewhere more air and water polluted than where we lived before, and I figured that one less pollution of the body, ya know? It was stupid and arbitrary, but it took hold and from 1985 until summer of 2016 I didn't smoke. During that time I really hated the smell of tobacco -- cigarette, cigar, and I don't remember running into more than one pipe smoker during that time, so I dunno. I also don't know why I started again. I had three pipes I'd kept, from before, and I bought two used on eBay before i smoked my first bowl. I bought some Black Cavendish. Nope. I bought some Erinmore Flake. Nope. I got some BlackHouse. It wasn't Balkan Sobranie. I couldn't find Escudo in a local B&M cigar shop. I started looking around on the web and basically decided purchasing from http://www.PipesandCigars.com or http://www.Smokingpipes.com I went with P&C because I liked the review set up. I read a lot of those reviews and those at http://www.Tobaccoreviews.com and decided on at tin of Sutliff Maple Street and another of what a lot of reviewers described as the ultimate in candy-flavored (-assed?) pipe tobacco, Molto Dolce. I bought both because one particularly erudite reviewer (like our own @ghostsofpompeii) suggested blending the two together for "the ultimate smoke." They are, indeed, very good blended 50/50. Because the only hard liquor I drink is 92 proof black spiced rum I ordered some Barbados Plantation, sticking with Sutliff tinned tobaccos. I wandered the net, looking randomly for pipe info. I learned and collected many files on my hard drive. I found reviews, instructional essays, histories, and at least 27 documents on How to Smoke a Pipe. A ton of stuff, plus URL's to the best in online pipe and tobacco info. In another discussion folder I posted the best of the best. BTW, I never considered bulk purchase until @ghostsofpompeii led me to Creme Brulee and Vanilla Custard. Thanks again, Ghost. And I still only order two ounces at a time. So, what's it all about? At age 70, I have a new and engaging hobby to fritter away my retirement time when I'm not doing chores or attending to the honeydew list. I have a new circle of friendly acquaintances with whom I share some common interests. I've learned a lot here from folks like @ghostsofpompeii and @xDutchx and @PappyJoe and @Woodsman and several others. We also seem to be a fairly even tempered bunch, because I've seen some nasty trolling in other pipe forums. BTW, the satisfaction I get from pipe smoking is taste and the act of smoking. I like the taste of my chosen blends, but I recognize that I really don't care for tobacco itself. How nuts is that? Anyway, wherever you go, there you are!!
@motie2, I understand what you mean when you said, "I like the taste of my chosen blends, but I recognize that I really don't care for tobacco itself." I don't generally hate the smell of cigarettes, most cigars, chewing tobacco or just raw tobacco from what I have experienced. However, I have always liked how a pipe smells and looks. Don't know why that is.
Like many of us the hiatus from the pipe was the kids. Very few of the parents in my town would let their kids go to a house where there was a smoker. I was going through the basement clearing stuff out and came across my Pipes packed away. I opened the box and the ghost of pipes past wafted out. I took them upstairs and remembered, that's all it took.
@Woodsman -- I have no idea why I took up the pipe again last summer after a couple of decades not smoking a pipe. But I'm glad I did. So much of the pipe smoking world has changed, both tobacco and pipe wise, and with the availability of the internet, a whole work of pipe smoking has opened up. Back in the day, I never heard of so many Mac Barens, and Dunhill's (wave bye-bye) and others. Where were the sweet Sutiff blends back in the day? And where has Balkan Sobranie gone? So many questions; so many choices..... Great time to be a pipe smoker, despite the coming governmental mandated decimation of blends -- if it ever really manifests itself.
For me it was when they enacted the no-smoking policy at the Steel Mill which made smoking in my office taboo. There were certain sections or out in certain hallways acceptable but my job kept me pretty well occupied in my office and I didn't have much time for smoke breaks. And as we all know a three or four minute smoke break might be fine for a cigarette smoker but a pipe takes a little longer time. And I'm not going to puff like a locomotive just to get threw the bowl on time. And on the occasions I did just that, I'd end up with a really bad case of tongue burn which even limited my pipe smoking even more. So eventually I got to the point when I'd smoke an occasional bowl after a really good meal. And not suggesting my wife didn't always serve a really good meal - it was more like the Thanksgiving feast type occasion when I'd pull out my pipe. And as the span of time between smokes got wider and wider, the tobacco in my humidor ended up dry as dust and was unsmokable. (Didn't learn about rehydrating till much later). It was only after retiring, and my hands refused to cooperate with me and I had to also retire from performing my music that I returned to the pipe with a real passion. I guess you could say boredom rejuvenated my passion for pipe smoking ... and the irony is what could be more boring that sitting n a chair smoking your pipe and doing nothing but daydream.
Daydreaming can be an excellent pastime, especially with your pipe. I worked 30 years as a technician, the last 17 of those years as a circuit board mod/repair specialist. Using a microscope, tweezers, and a small soldering tip I got to build some really interesting things. It was a great job, listening to tunes on Pandora and building/repairing stuff. I started smoking a pipe on my morning commutes. My first pipe was a Dr. Grawbow and I smoked Admiral's choice, basic drug store fare. For 6 years running the morning traffic was easier to bear but I decided I had scorched my upholstery one time too many and put my pipe away. Not long after I started having numbness in my feet. Lost my ability to walk and went on disability leave. Shortly after that I found myself in a skilled nursing home. My legs were numb and my arms soon followed. Lastly my hands curled up into fists. Spent 6 months in diapers being hand fed before my wife's loving persistence and the good doctors at UT Southwest determined that I had POEMS syndrome. I had a great opportunity to practice sitting quietly and daydream. Treatment started and I was soon in a powered wheelchair, somewhat up and about. Now jump forward: I'm out of the chair and walking with a cane. My left little finger and both thumbs have some movement. I'm sitting thinking 'what do I do to stay busy' and I remember that Grabow that I put away. Dug out that pipe, found some online tobacco retailers, and stumbled into this site. Now, I'm not doing what I thought I would be doing at 61, but I have a pastime that keeps me busy, I'm in good company, and sitting still daydreaming is a fine way to pass the day, especially when you're on your own back porch.
@Swmaples -- For certain, a heartwarming story.... triumph of the spirit. I'm not doing what I thought I'd be doing at 71. I thought I'd be gone already after the docs told me in 2000 that I had an 80% chance of living 5 years if I took the radiation following surgery. I refused the radiation. I'm still here.
I'll think of you when I'm out on my rear deck, smoking a bowl of Barbados Plantation....
Triumph of the spirit for sure. Glad to have you here buddy...I have been "piping" for over 50 years or so, loving every minute of it. The cool thing is even smoking pipes for that long, I learn new stuff every day because the rest of the bunch here know what they are talking about. Never a day goes by that anyone with an open mind cannot learn a snoot full of valuable experience and ideas. have a question: Ask, you will be amazed at the facts and insight that will be offered. One of my favorite of the input from others are when they blend different blends together and share the results.....I have seen and replicated some with very favorable results, and I have shared mine as well.
So if you need anything just ask........We all look forward to your posts.
I smoked a pipe like 16 years ago. Sorta forgot about it when I meet my honey. Now in 2017, I started again and can't recall why or how I got interested again. Pretty odd.
Hi everybody, I am a married homeschooling mom of three living in a tiny house off grid in northern NM.
I started smoking a pipe a couple of years ago when I randomly got a P&C catalog in the mail. As an occasional cigar smoker I found pipe tobacco choices (and lower prices) fascinating. I ordered some CAO blends with a MM and the rest is history.
My favorite blends are English and warm aromatics.
Welcome @Desertdweller — Great to have you on the forums. I love that you’re living “off the grid.” We homeschooled for a while as well. I think you’ll really enjoy the collective knowledge about our hobby. Again... welcome!
I am reverting back to the old ways of things. I'm sick of this modern digital age. I don't see much personal upside only the loss of freedoms and increase of risk. We are working towards a debt free life off the grid as much as possible.
Pipe smoking is so old school along with iron cookware and acoustic porch pickin! I'm going back baby. Happier days even though they were way before my time. It's less pressure and more about enjoying life.
@Londy3 - I smoke a pipe. I have three different sizes of cast iron skillets and two different Dutch ovens plus a couple of cast iron griddles and cornbread molds. I don't play the guitar, even though I tried to learn, but I have made 4 three string cigar box guitars that produce good tones.
Comments
Hello, and Welcome.
I'm not doing what I thought I'd be doing at 71.
I thought I'd be gone already after the docs told me in 2000 that I had an 80% chance of living 5 years if I took the radiation following surgery.
I refused the radiation.
I'm still here.
I'll think of you when I'm out on my rear deck, smoking a bowl of Barbados Plantation....
Triumph of the spirit for sure. Glad to have you here buddy...I have been "piping" for over 50 years or so, loving every minute of it. The cool thing is even smoking pipes for that long, I learn new stuff every day because the rest of the bunch here know what they are talking about. Never a day goes by that anyone with an open mind cannot learn a snoot full of valuable experience and ideas. have a question: Ask, you will be amazed at the facts and insight that will be offered. One of my favorite of the input from others are when they blend different blends together and share the results.....I have seen and replicated some with very favorable results, and I have shared mine as well.
So if you need anything just ask........We all look forward to your posts.
I started smoking a pipe a couple of years ago when I randomly got a P&C catalog in the mail. As an occasional cigar smoker I found pipe tobacco choices (and lower prices) fascinating. I ordered some CAO blends with a MM and the rest is history.
My favorite blends are English and warm aromatics.
Pipe smoking is so old school along with iron cookware and acoustic porch pickin! I'm going back baby. Happier days even though they were way before my time. It's less pressure and more about enjoying life.
http://www.cigarboxnation.com/video/kiss-i-was-made-for-lovin-you-cover-cigar-box-guitar