Pipe- Starter Kit

[markymark01]

Could someone suggest a starter kit from one of the online shops that delivers to Canada?
It seems like a lot of the online vendors listed here don't deliver to Canada.
was looking at this one that 'Commander Quan' suggested a few months ago from a different thread...
http://www.cigarsinternational.com/pipe-accessories/76236/stanwell-pipe-starter-kit/#p-138403

I'm looking for a $50-100 kit..I guess I should have tried bidding on the auction that just ended but I only thought about trying it out in the past a few days.
thanks in advance,
M

 

[DC_MPA]

stanwell makes a wonderful pipe. One of my favorite pipes of my 27 pipe collection is a stanwell. With that pipe, you are basically buying the pipe and getting everything else free. A good stanwell is in the $65-100 range depending on grain, quality of drill hole, etc.

 

[Commander Quan]

Unfortunately, despite their name, I don't believe Cigars International is one of the vendors that ships internationally.

Check out Smokingpipes.com estate pipes especially after their Thursday afternoon update. You can almost always find quality pipes in the $40-$60 dollar range, and tins should be ~$10±. Not as good of a deal as the CI one but still cheaper than buying tobacco in Canada.

 

[markymark01]

I just called the company and there's no way to tell what kind of Stanwell I'd get even if I could somehow order, have it shipped to a US address and to me..

from Smoking pipes, I have no clue what to get to be honest(I know absolutely nothing about pipes or pipe tobacco-I just know i would like a bent pipe-ergonomically it seem to make sense)...and price seems quite high compared to Cigars int'l.

Should I just get a $15 kit -corn cob starter kit to see if I even like it or not? I've been told I should really invest in a good pipe to get the full experience out of it but wasn't sure if that's really the case or not.

thx
M

 

[Price]

Should I just get a $15 kit -corn cob starter kit to see if I even like it or not? I've been told I should really invest in a good pipe to get the full experience out of it but wasn't sure if that's really the case or not.

If you're not sure whether or not you are going to enjoy pipes, a good ol' cob is the way to go IMO. Sure, they may not look like much, but they smoke great, and you can't beat the price. If you like it, you can always upgrade. If not, you're only out a few bucks.

 

[captaincaveman]

In general I don't recommend starting with a kit, but especially if you're going to have it shipped into Canada you're far better off having your tobacco come in a separate package from everything else. That way, if you get hit with a duty, you pay only on the value of the tobacco; and if the duty is too much you don't have to abandon the non-tobacco portion of your order.

I recommend a Missouri Meerschaum corn cob pipe or MM's Ozark hardwood pipe. If MM's own shipping department will ship to Canada and you don't mind cosmetic defects, their grab bag of smokeable seconds seems great. All of their pipes smoke perfectly right from the beginning, they require less maintenance and care, and if you abuse it and mess it up then you haven't lost much. Most come with a filter but if you prefer not to use filters you can just remove it. If you would like to use filters I recommend Medico over the more common Dr. Grabow filters; those Grabows are probably why so many pipe smokers hate filters, whereas the Medico filters are a million times better.

Then for tobacco, what to start with depends on what your preferences are. Have you read up on what types of blends are around and what their qualities are like? It is common to want to start with a sweet-smelling aromatic, but those are difficult to smoke and difficult to get decent taste from. I like English/Balkan blends with plenty of Latakia; they smell like a campfire or incense and taste like that smell (usually a little sweet too). They are also the most beginner-friendly type of blend; with lots of Latakia it's difficult to get tongue bite, and it's also less likely to fail to produce taste if you smoke it too hot. I would have done a lot better starting with a nice campfiry English.

 

[Docpsycho]

I'm with the Captain on the Cob pipe. In fact they smoke so well I am considering selling all my briars and just smoking cobs. Missouri Meerschaums are the best in my opinion. 1+ to everything the Captain said.

Rick

 

[Docpsycho]

Please correct me if I'm wrong but I thought I had heard that Pipes and Cigars would ship to Canada. Maybe 4Noggins. I could be wrong.

Rick

 

[doofus]

Go corn cob if your unsure. I love them I smoke them half the time. I live 20 minutes from where they make missouri meerschaums....but I swear I'm not biased. They export all over. You may be able to contact them and see if there is a dealer locally or at least in CA.

 

[ontheroadagain]

Ditto to all the advise you have received here. Cobs are great and cheap! As to the tobacco, the english/balkan blends which all contain Latakia seem to bite less than other styles, but I get bored with that campfire vibe all the time. The old time OTC blends which are mostly burley are an inexpensive all day smoke, but they too can get boring on a steady diet. Personally, I have tried a bunch of straight Virginia's and Virginia/Perique styles but find they bite my tongue. So what I do ( and I'll bet many others) is to make my own constantly evolving blend of basically half Codger Burley such as Carter Hall, and half whatever straight Virginia i'm trying to use up. You can play with the percentages until you find a balance which does not bite but remains interesting. Thus, with only three types of tobacco blends on hand you have the ability to customize to your own personal taste.

 

[markymark01]

thank you all for sharing your expertise with me. Cobs it is..
Captain, I think I will go with MM's Ozark hardwood and diplomat gift set that has both straight and bent. Shipping to Canada is only $13, which is great!

Now, I quit smoking 3 years ago. I picked up cigar smoking since Jan (this year) and enjoy light to med Cubans. I also like A Fuente short story-a lot! I literally thought about smoking pipes a few days ago when I was trying to smoke a cigar and was way too cold and was looking for a 5-10 min cigar...
knowing this background info, would you suggest different tobacco for me? (I know nothing about quality, types etc-i will definitely spend some time tomorrow and read up on it though)
I guess I just need to find a another online store for tobacco.- Whats a good/reputable online store to buy tobacco-that ships internationally? I'd hate to get my first tobacco to come stale/dry or whatever and end up hating the experience and ruin it for me.
thanks again!

 

[Docpsycho]

I may be wrong but I thought I heard that the online store PipesandCigars.com will ship to Canada but I may be mistaken. Hopefully some of our Canadian BL brothers could chime in and give you a heads up on ordering from your side of the border.

Best to you Sir in your quest eh,

Rick

 

[Commander Quan]

4noggins.com

 

[Robster]

Agreed. 4noggins. Every transaction with them has been excellent to date. I'm not from north America and I've had great service from them.

 

[markymark01]

I called 4noggins and talked to a gentleman on the phone. Super nice, super patient and just a great person to talk to on the phone.

I bought their starter kit-corn cob pipe, some english, some virginia and some cigar tasting blends plus A. fuente short story cigars!

I really appreciate everybody's help!
THANK YOU!

 

[Robster]

Perfect. I couldn't bring myself to get a cob at first and ended up with a cheap Mr Brogg. Now I'm not saying the Brogg is bad, but since I started buying cobs I haven't used the Brogg, not even once. Those cobs smoke so damn well.

 

[DC_MPA]

Rich at 4noggins is a legend in the pipe tobacco business as far as I'm concerned. Great guy always willing to chat on the phone and help.

 

[Docpsycho]

Glad to see the guys here at the BL hooked you up with 4Noggins.com. I've had good dealings with them in the past. Those short stories are great cigars too.

Rick

 

[markymark01]

So I've been smoking for about a week now. I bought the cob kit-4 tobacco samples plus davidoff royalty(tin), mcclleland red cake.(1 oz-i feel like I should try 0.5 to 1 Oz all the time rather than buying a tin to try them out)

My problem is, they all kind of taste the same? Other than the two aromatic tobacco, they all sort of taste very similar. I really liked the vanila flavoured one....
I clean my pipe like crazy after each bowl and I use the filter. So I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong.
Should I try different ones with more cavendish or latakia?
Should I buy a Dr grabow-briar, and would it make a difference?

What's the hype about Balkan Sobrani , penzance?
They're sold out everywhere?? Would anybody be open to selling me 0.5- 1 Oz each?

 

[Docpsycho]

Marcus I feel that purchasing a briar wouldn't make a difference. I would call the folks at 4Noggins.com again and tell them you would like a bit more variety in flavors. With aromatics be sure you dry them out sufficiently before smoking. If I don't I experience tongue bite. In my opinion your just starting the journey. Give it some time. Read Captain Cave Mans posts on A Caveman and his pipe and it will give you a huge amt of his experience which helped me a lot. Balkan Sobranie and Penzance have a condiment tobacco called Latakia in them usually found in English style tobaccos. It is something that has to be tried or experienced. Difficult to describe the flavor profile. One could say smokey or like a campfire as opposed to flavored like an aromatic. There are much less rare examples of that type of tobacco than Penzance or Balkan Sobranie to try that would give you an idea if you even like that flavor profile at all or not. Just my thoughts right now as you are early on in your experience.

Best to you Sir,

Rick