Brown Leaf Member Spotlight 1st Edition: Argonaut

The Brown Leaf is like a virtual Brick and Mortar tobacconist. The armchairs are tattooed with body prints of the regulars, friendly faces are never too far away and we all have one thing in common; our love of tobacco products and enjoying the stories shared with those that share our passion. This is a chance to get the know those familiar faces and discuss our beloved leaf.

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I would really like to thank you for doing this. You’re an icon in the BL and a lot of us look up to you.


You're quite welcome, and that's just crazy talk.



Speaking of crazy...tell us a little bit about yourself.



Well, I'm 42, a proud father of five great kids, husband to a great wife for 22 years now. I was a truck driver in my early career days, then went to trade school and got into the world of HVAC and plumbing back in '94. I had a severe back injury about 1.5 years ago which required surgery that I'm still on the mend from, so the future of my career life is currently in limbo. I coached little league in various sports for 6 years, and currently enjoy not coaching and just watching my kids play school sports. I was born, raised and still reside in Oklahoma, except for years 1-4 when my mother took me home to New Jersey while dad did his stint in Germany during the Vietnam war. I still want to be like Jeremiah Johnson, but there's no mountains or beaver within a half days ride of my house. I'm part Choctaw Indian, Italian, Dutch, and God knows what else is thrown in there for good measure. That's about all I can think of with things getting weird.



I'm sure we could work something out with Robert Redford and some beavers... Sounds like you need a nice smoke between all the chaos. Do you have a favorite pipe?



As far as smoking... no, I have too many to have a favorite. As far as personal pride, the 2013 LE would be it since the design was a collaboration between Mark and myself. The tamper was my design from start to finish, hell I even researched and found the damned brass stars that adorn the end of the thing, Mark never made a tamper before and he did NOT want to do that one lol! After he made it he was pretty excited about how they turned out and even offered a different tamper with his Christmas pipe that year, though ours look much cooler. Anyway, I'm pretty proud that some schlub from Oklahoma got to work with, and browbeat, one of the worlds top pipe makers into making something he had never done before, and to get to exclusively share it with my BL brothers.



I have seen the pipe and the tamper. They sure are something to be proud of. I would love to add both to my collection. Some guys are more into collecting pipes, others tobacco. Which category do you fall into?



I figure I collect pipes, and stock up on tobacco. I have a ridiculous amount of both currently so I've kind of slacked off on both areas. What I really need to do is stock up on cigars, which I like to purchase in the winter because they are what I smoke the most in the summer. I usually do a large (for me) order of stogies when all the Christmas sales are going on, then they have all winter to age until summer time calls them out. Conversely I'll stock up on pipe tobacco during the Fathers Day sales, with the exception of grabbing a couple of McClellands Christmas when it comes out. Right now I have no desire to get anymore pipes, I have around sixty, with 20 of those being estates that need attention being brought back to life. I won a couple of fantastic lots of eBay a few months ago and there's some real beauties in there waiting for me. I get much more pleasure anymore from finding old pipes and restoring them than just buying a new pipe for the sake of it. My current favorite is an old Medico Dublin with an acrylic stem that's made for a filter, I've never seen another like it. I also found an awesome Bakelite pipe with a detachable briar bowl that there is very little info to be found about. Those pipes probably aren't worth $30 in pristine condition, but I love them because they're unusual and of course, they're mine.


Sometimes it's the pipes we least suspect that are the best. Now that we've got pipes out of the way, do you have a favorite tobacco?


I love VAs and Vapers, well aged FVF, HOTW, and Escudo are tough to beat, but sometimes an Aro like C&Ds Autumn Evening or Butternut Burley are just perfect with a cup of coffee.


A nice cup of coffee to go with a pipe is something I'm sure all of us can relate to. Could you describe your perfect/favorite smoking scenario.


Peace and quiet, a perfect autumn day in the hardwoods of eastern Oklahoma when the leaves are turning, slightly overcast with temps in the 50s and zero wind. A small campfire with a comfortable chair, along with a perfect cup of strong coffee. Maureen O'Harrah from her role in "The Quiet Man" waiting on me would really top it off but I'm not greedy.



Campfires and pipes. Sometimes you can have one without the other...A lot of us have heard you refer to Latakia as...shall we say not your favorite? Could you extrapolate on this?



I truly cannot find one redeeming quality about Latakia, other than other brothers of the leaf seem to really enjoy it, and I know if somebody mistakenly gives me some I can always trade it for something I like. Seriously, I despise the smell and taste of it, it has to be something in the chemical makeup of myself, because it is beyond me how people enjoy it. To me it smells like a campfire that a horse pee'd on to extinguish, I just don't get it. However, as is the creed of the BL, smoke what you like and like what you smoke. I throw a few jabs at the lat lovers now and then, but I'm not out to convert anyone.


I'm sure Ed would Pistol-whip you if you started preaching Is there anything else you would like to say the BL members?



I'm really proud of the way the BL has grown and yet maintained its laid back demeanor. I like it that a guys thread can get totally derailed, and nobody gets bent out of shape about it, and the OPs question still gets answered along the way. I think the BL is the most welcoming, least presuming forum on the internet. The guy with a pouch of Capt Black and a corncob pipe is just as credible and welcome as the guy with a custom Rad Davis and 10 year old StoneHaven. I hope the BL always keeps this attitude, and from what I see from the newer guys, it looks promising. I'm honored, humbled, and a bit confused that you'd consider me for an interview, you guys need help!



Thank you so much Jason for taking the time to do this. Let's have a big round of posts for Jason!


I'd like to open the floor to all members now. If there is anything you would like to know please feel free to ask Jason, for this is your only chance

I knew he had to be part Italian.

And an old fellow gear jammer.

Wait. So what's being PIF'd? No matter, I'm in!

Seriously though, fantastic idea for a thread (or series thereof)





...and I'm still in.

Andrew, what an unbelievable concept! Thread of the year, hands down!!!!

Jason-Let me just say it was a pleasure to get to know you a little better!
You were definitely an influence helping me get on the right track after a couple of failed attempts with the pipe.
You sir are a gentleman and a scholar!

Wonderful job, gentlemen!

What a great choice for the inaugural spotlight thread.

Excellent... thank you, gentlemen.

Great article.

True

Interesting. Good stuff!

Jason, I raise a pipe to you and your family. Good health and good times.

Wonderful! Well done.

ouch said:

What a great choice for the inaugural spotlight thread.

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Absolutely! Although there were several very generous members here who helped me get started with a pipe, Jason was singularly most responsible. Always patient, helpful, and very generous...I owe this unhelathy obsession wonderful hobby more to Jason than anyone, and I'm fairly certain I'm not the only one.

A hearty "huzzah!" for my brown leaf godfather, and kudos to Andrew for such a tremendous thread idea.

Seriously good read...I'm not sure if it was coincidence or what but tonight loaded up some capt black in my mm Cobb...both haven't been touched in awhile. But fantastic smoke while reading this. True godfather of our little section of the forums.

Random question but what got u started smoking pipes and cigars anyhow?

Thanks for the kind words everyone, and thank you Andrew for leaving out all NSFW material and making me look classy.

ouch said:

What a great choice for the inaugural spotlight thread.

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I was told he was going in alphabetical order

Price said:

Absolutely! Although there were several very generous members here who helped me get started with a pipe, Jason was singularly most responsible. Always patient, helpful, and very generous...I owe this unhelathy obsession wonderful hobby more to Jason than anyone, and I'm fairly certain I'm not the only one.

A hearty "huzzah!" for my brown leaf godfather, and kudos to Andrew for such a tremendous thread idea.

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Good old Price, my prize pupil! You've been an asset to the BL since day one and I'm still so envious of that Tinsky morta pipe of yours that I lose sleep over it.

Brian, I think you were destined for the pipe, I was happy to be part of your introduction to it. I still have my Tonka shirt, thanks again for that btw!

Boro62 said:

Seriously good read...I'm not sure if it was coincidence or what but tonight loaded up some capt black in my mm Cobb...both haven't been touched in awhile. But fantastic smoke while reading this. True godfather of our little section of the forums.

Random question but what got u started smoking pipes and cigars anyhow?

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To be honest, A James Bond movie peaked my interest in cigars when I was 19. I don't know where I read it, but somewhere I saw that he smoked Royal Jamaicans. So I bought a box of RJ coronas before that was a cool thing for a 19 year old to do, found out from the old coots at the B&M how to smoke them after damn near killing myself inhaling the first one like it was a Marlborough Lite. I didn't get into pipes until after my first children were born. I had just read an article about scents and memory relations and one of the examples they had used was the "dad's pipe" scenario. It was from a young lady reminiscing about her father every time she caught wind of a pipe being smoked. In the emotional new dad state I was in, I decided that I wanted something my kids would always associate with their old man. The next day I went to Walgreens and bought a Dr Grabow and a bag of Smokers pride vanilla. Despite the poor choice of tobacco, I managed to figure out how to smoke it, with the guidance of a couple old farts down at the local shop. There were many other factors that led to my love of tobacco, my mother can attest to my always being drawn to the tobacco shop in the mall as early as 6 years old. Any time she would go into Sears I'd sneak off to the tobacco shop and talk to the old timers that were always there, she assumed I was off looking at toys. I remember thinking that working there must be the best job in the world, in some respects I still do. So that was the short answer to your question Boris. Lol

Great read. Jason, you're a staple of the forum. People always stand out when you join a new forum and Argonaut was one of those ubiquitous characters. Happy smokes, my friend!

A great thread, and a worthy first recipient. Congrats to you, Jason!

Winchester38 said:

Wait. So what's being PIF'd? No matter, I'm in!

Seriously though, fantastic idea for a thread (or series thereof)





...and I'm still in.

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Argonaut said:

There were many other factors that led to my love of tobacco, my mother can attest to my always being drawn to the tobacco shop in the mall as early as 6 years old. Any time she would go into Sears I'd sneak off to the tobacco shop and talk to the old timers that were always there, she assumed I was off looking at toys.

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Can you imagine that happening in this day and age? You might get your kids taken away for letting that happen!

Anyway, cool idea and a great member to kick it off with!

I'm glad you name-dropped me, Andrew!

Was this all over PM? I know Jason doesn't get any cell-reception hiding from "The Man" in his bunker.

Argonaut said:

To be honest, A James Bond movie peaked my interest in cigars when I was 19. I don't know where I read it, but somewhere I saw that he smoked Royal Jamaicans. So I bought a box of RJ coronas before that was a cool thing for a 19 year old to do, found out from the old coots at the B&M how to smoke them after damn near killing myself inhaling the first one like it was a Marlborough Lite. I didn't get into pipes until after my first children were born. I had just read an article about scents and memory relations and one of the examples they had used was the "dad's pipe" scenario. It was from a young lady reminiscing about her father every time she caught wind of a pipe being smoked. In the emotional new dad state I was in, I decided that I wanted something my kids would always associate with their old man. The next day I went to Walgreens and bought a Dr Grabow and a bag of Smokers pride vanilla. Despite the poor choice of tobacco, I managed to figure out how to smoke it, with the guidance of a couple old farts down at the local shop. There were many other factors that led to my love of tobacco, my mother can attest to my always being drawn to the tobacco shop in the mall as early as 6 years old. Any time she would go into Sears I'd sneak off to the tobacco shop and talk to the old timers that were always there, she assumed I was off looking at toys. I remember thinking that working there must be the best job in the world, in some respects I still do. So that was the short answer to your question Boris. Lol

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^Awesome.^

Wonderful Stuff. Thanks for putting it out there.

Dean