Thinking of a pipe

Today has been my first day completely free of cigarettes....and I haven't missed them at all!

I was close yesterday, but I'd had one first thing with my pre-shower coffee and then had one last thing at night.

Today, I started with a small pipe (Dr Plumb, Dinky-Nine) appropriately filled with Dunhill's Early Morning Pipe. Was a very pleasant start to the day. There was still a bit left in the bowl that I was finishing off as I walked in to work.

My mid-morning smoke was my Falcon filled with some St Bruno Ready Rubbed...my packing seems to be getting better as I had a nice steady burn and the dottle wasn't too big.

Lunch was a refill (I'm really liking the St Bruno), same bowl as I've been cleaning out the estate "apple" bowl I just got for the Falcon. Thanks to James for the Salt/Alcohol tutorial.

Being able to just pick up an unlit pipe during the afternoon certainly muted any cravings I might have had.

Finished work then jumped in the car to go and meet Mrs Pumpkin...pausing long enough to light up my new Hardcastle Bent Bulldog filled with some Bullseye DeLuxe Flake (thanks Andy). That pipe lasted most of the evening, smoked on and off, between shower, shave, cooking dinner and cleaning pipes!

As I'm typing, I'm finishing off my Medico filled with some very nice aromatic, Gawith Hogarth & Co. Rum Flake (again, thanks Andy...I'm definitely getting more of that!)

I've got lots of other samples to work through. I'm keeping notes on an Excel spreadsheet so I know what varieties and blends I prefer.

Observant readers, if you're still here, will have noticed that my rotation has grown a bit already!

Just need to pack the Dr Plumb with some Dunhill EMP ready for the morning

You've certainly taken to pipes! I was wondering if you would pick up a Dinky at some point. How do you like it?

That Rum Flake really is great. Glad to hear you're enjoying the samples and that the pipes are helping you quit cigarettes!

-Andy

andrew98 said:

You've certainly taken to pipes! I was wondering if you would pick up a Dinky at some point. How do you like it?

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It would have been a shame to miss it at that price!

It's a nice little pipe. Feels really comfortable in my hand and the bowl is just right for a short smoke Only tried it with a filter in so far...needed something to put them in as I got the filters first by mistake. Mouthpiece and stem are full size so it looks slightly out of proportion, but it doesn't suffer because of that (IMHO).

Cheap...but for the AD.

andrew98 said:

You've certainly taken to pipes! I was wondering if you would pick up a Dinky at some point. How do you like it?

That Rum Flake really is great. Glad to hear you're enjoying the samples and that the pipes are helping you quit cigarettes!

-Andy

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+1. Grats on day one of quitting cigarettes!

Blue_2 said:

+1. Grats on day one of quitting cigarettes!

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The best part is that I'm not missing them at all
I'm obviously getting enough nicotine from my pipes and the filling and handling of them is a lot more satisfying than holding one of those silly Nicorette Inhalators!
Plus, I can just stick an empty pipe in my mouth.

My original intention wasn't to quit the ciggies but it's definitely going to be an added bonus.

I switched from cigarettes to pipes/cigars too.

It's a definite improvement. I feel less "addicted"; I only smoke once/day and don't inhale. I can even go a couple days without smoking anything. My smoker's cough is gone, and my wind is better.

Although I still use tobacco, it's a huge improvement as far as I'm concerned. And statistics show that pipes/cigars don't carry nearly the same cardiovascular risk as cigarettes.

Falcons are great if not a little odd.. I like the straight Falcons with the smooth Genoa bowls. The new international series is blk vs the standard silver pipe. They really do smoke cool and dry. If you get one pipe and 3 bowls you don't need to worry about ghosting from smoking aro's, english's and Va's in the same bowl.

Bullwinkle said:

Falcons are great if not a little odd.. I like the straight Falcons with the smooth Genoa bowls. The new international series is blk vs the standard silver pipe. They really do smoke cool and dry. If you get one pipe and 3 bowls you don't need to worry about ghosting from smoking aro's, english's and Va's in the same bowl.

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I actually prefer the look of the older "silver" pipes over the new all black internationals.

I was going to get just a couple of spare bowls...but it was cheaper getting the whole pipes!

Yes Falcons get addicting so many combo's. I also prefer the straight silver pipes. My lastest is another standard straight silver with a carbin fibre bowl.

Glad to see you're getting along so well with it, I saw that you have chosen some of my favorite tobaccos as well. Sadly your posts constantly bring about a craving for St. Bruno's Flake which isn't available to us in the States.

Bullwinkle said:

Yes Falcons get addicting so many combo's. I also prefer the straight silver pipes. My lastest is another standard straight silver with a carbin fibre bowl.

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I've seen those Carbon Fibre bowls...they look sharp! How do they smoke?

jwhite said:

Glad to see you're getting along so well with it, I saw that you have chosen some of my favorite tobaccos as well. Sadly your posts constantly bring about a craving for St. Bruno's Flake which isn't available to us in the States.

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Thanks to a lot of help and advice (particularly some of yours James), I've managed to avoid a lot of newbie mistakes so I've been enjoying my pipe(s) from the start

I'll be getting some SB Flake on Tuesday (stocking up before we go on holiday) to see how it compares to the Ready Rubbed...I'll smoke a bowl for you!
I'll check with my B&M then to see if there are any blends in particular that we can't get here.

Mazeman said:

I switched from cigarettes to pipes/cigars too.

It's a definite improvement. I feel less "addicted"; I only smoke once/day and don't inhale. I can even go a couple days without smoking anything. My smoker's cough is gone, and my wind is better.

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The anti-tobacco crowd doesn't like to admit it, I guess because alternatives to cigs carry their own risks, but the careful, moderate use of pipes and smokeless tobacco (snuff, chew, snus) can be one way to wean yourself off tobacco for good. It sounds as if you are at the point that you could walk away from tobacco completely if you wished.

I stepped down from Marlboros to pipes and snuff and chewing tobacco, then eventually quit altogether. Still miss the Marlboros but I miss the pipes almost as badly.

auk1124 said:

the careful, moderate use of pipes and smokeless tobacco (snuff, chew, snus) can be one way to wean yourself off tobacco for good. It sounds as if you are at the point that you could walk away from tobacco completely if you wished

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Had a cigarette today, was in the car with SWMBO (I was driving) and it was easier for her to light me a cig than me to fill a pipe and light it (that will teach me to prep an extra pipe!)...it was okay but certainly didn't taste as nice as a pipe

I've just stocked up on some extra tobacco (Celtic Talisman and Bull's Eye) and bought another pipe!

I've found that since my palate has adjusted from smoking a pipe I can't stand the taste of premades at all. I still have the occasional cigarette but I make my own from a quality Virginia shag, or natural tobacco blend.

Pumpkin said:

Had a cigarette today, was in the car with SWMBO (I was driving) and it was easier for her to light me a cig than me to fill a pipe and light it (that will teach me to prep an extra pipe!)...it was okay but certainly didn't taste as nice as a pipe

I've just stocked up on some extra tobacco (Celtic Talisman and Bull's Eye) and bought another pipe!

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For driving, a cheap Dr. Grabow or whatever and some drugstore burley are your friend - easy loading, easy lighting... with some practice you can get a decent pack of Carter Hall or Prince Albert one-handed.

auk1124 said:

For driving, a cheap Dr. Grabow or whatever and some drugstore burley are your friend - easy loading, easy lighting... with some practice you can get a decent pack of Carter Hall or Prince Albert one-handed.

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I'm still not ready to pack whilst driving....but having just come back from a week's camping in the North of Scotland (and driving nearly 1000 miles) I've got re-lights down to an art!

Having smoked just pipes (4-5 bowls/day) all week, I'm definitely finding that I prefer to use a filter pipe (or the dry rings in a Falcon)...if it's a finer cut tobacco the filter catches any small pieces and if I'm holding the pipe in my mouth more (particularly when driving), the smoke can get a bit "soggy" without a filter or dry ring.

regarding the addiction issue. I smoke a pipe 5-6 times a week when I'm home. For the last 4.5 weeks I've been in Italy and I've only smoked a pipe 3 times, the last time was about 10 days ago; no shakes, headaches or cravings. Although nicotine is addictive, I believe it's the other chemicals in cigarettes that enhance the addiction and nicotine, a cigarette is only about 40% tobacco. I never recommend smoking, but I believe, for myself, the 30-45 minutes of relaxation and meditation does me more good than harm.

RazoRock said:

regarding the addiction issue. I smoke a pipe 5-6 times a week when I'm home. For the last 4.5 weeks I've been in Italy and I've only smoked a pipe 3 times, the last time was about 10 days ago; no shakes, headaches or cravings. Although nicotine is addictive, I believe it's the other chemicals in cigarettes that enhance the addiction and nicotine, a cigarette is only about 40% tobacco. I never recommend smoking, but I believe, for myself, the 30-45 minutes of relaxation and meditation does me more good than harm.

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Finally some common sense in this flood of political correctness.