What I've learned, 6 mos. after returning to the pipe

[DesertDan]

Got back into pipes at the end of last year after smoking cigars exclusively for the last 15 years.
Since then I've bought a few more pipes and a ridiculous amount of tobacco.
All my pipes are bents of one shape or another, I do not like straight pipes.

 

[Benzadmiral]

Another point: I've discovered that my smokes turn out a little better with non-ribbon-cut tobaccos. Those burn fine, but it seems the cuts like Granger, Half & Half, and Edgeworth are easier to pack into the pipe to achieve a longer cool smoke.

 

[JCinPA]

Seems like I'm not the only one back after a long hiatus. I've finally gotten all my pipes out of boxes from the basement and cleaned these up this morning. I have a few more to clean, and a half dozen cobs, so I'm set for pipes for a while, I guess. I did not realize I had so many until I went hunting for them last weekend. A little vodka on pipe cleaners through the bores, a little olive oil on the bowls, a little Obsidian oil on the black stems. Having fun! It may be warm enough tonight I'll go out front and have an English for the first time in a long time.

 

[Multum in parvo]

Seems like I'm not the only one back after a long hiatus. I've finally gotten all my pipes out of boxes from the basement and cleaned these up this morning. I have a few more to clean, and a half dozen cobs, so I'm set for pipes for a while, I guess. I did not realize I had so many until I went hunting for them last weekend. A little vodka on pipe cleaners through the bores, a little olive oil on the bowls, a little Obsidian oil on the black stems. Having fun! It may be warm enough tonight I'll go out front and have an English for the first time in a long time.


View attachment 1358889

No.3 from the right looks very interesting!

 

[JCinPA]

That's actually my favorite for grain of the briar and colloring. It's a GBD. Here is a better pic of it

 

[Multum in parvo]

That's actually my favorite for grain of the briar and colloring. It's a GBD. Here is a better pic of it

View attachment 1358940

Very nice, and the other No.3?

 

[JCinPA]

I’m actually out at a cigar lounge. Will have to look. But if I recall the 3 that look kind of similar next to each other were the GBD, a Comoy and I’ll have to look when I get home. I’ve posted about budget pipes, but other than the one I finally tossed, I got all mine about 12-20 years ago for between $40-$70 I think. I’m not cheap, per se, but I don’t get into this enough to spend the big Benjamin’s on the custom stuff or Dunhills. But I have those makes plus Savinelli, Pipe Croce? And one or two others. All of these are good smokers. Glad I got them out of the basement again!

What I’m having right now…

 

[JCinPA]

Oh the other 3 must mean the straight, 3 from the right? The straight billiard? Pipe Croce is the name I think.

Pipa Croci, just looked it up

 

[Multum in parvo]

I’m actually out at a cigar lounge. Will have to look. But if I recall the 3 that look kind of similar next to each other were the GBD, a Comoy and I’ll have to look when I get home. I’ve posted about budget pipes, but other than the one I finally tossed, I got all mine about 12-20 years ago for between $40-$70 I think. I’m not cheap, per se, but I don’t get into this enough to spend the big Benjamin’s on the custom stuff or Dunhills. But I have those makes plus Savinelli, Pipe Croce? And one or two others. All of these are good smokers. Glad I got them out of the basement again!

What I’m having right now…

View attachment 1359035

Looks tasty, I keep my humidor tidy but have smoked over the summer only small Italian Toscanos.

 

[JCinPA]

Lito Gomez is a genius of the big Dominican Ligero nic bombs. I’m doing that iFly indoor skydiving thing with my daughter is an hour and I’m gonna have a buzz!

 

[Multum in parvo]

Lito Gomez is a genius of the big Dominican Ligero nic bombs. I’m doing that iFly indoor skydiving thing with my daughter is an hour and I’m gonna have a buzz!

You need some soda, the sugar will set you right.

 

[Benzadmiral]

Well! It's been three years or so since I came back to pipe smoking. I've learned a great deal and spent some $$ (though not as much as if I'd had to start from scratch -- I still had the pipes and gear from the '80s).

I've found I like the aroma and flavor (faint though it is for me) of more "pure" tobaccos rather than the sweet aromatics I knew in the '80s. Back then I'd never tried Virginias; I do like them now, though I still prefer burleys.

My preference now remains straight pipes, though I've bought or been PIF'd a few bent ones that I enjoy. And my collection now relies strongly on vintage/estate pipes, something that was way outside my worldview back then. It's not only to save $$, but from an interest in the history of pipe smoking and the brands of those days.

Most important, thanks to folks here and elsewhere on the 'Net, I've learned to avoid tongue bite and throat irritation by drying my leaf and smoking more slowly -- though I'm still a faster puffer than I should be.

 

[5whiskey]

I can't imagine taking that long of a hiatus. I may be the exact opposite. I didn't start at all until 2 years ago. Smoked cigs my whole life since I was 15. The rattle in my chest had gotten pretty bad, especially laying down at night, so cigs had to go. I found pipes and with Latakia and Va/Per blends and haven't looked back. In fact I wonder how society went from how good a pipe could be to how comparably bad run of the mill cigarettes are for mainstream use.

Best thing is, I've gotten to a point where I can skip days in pipe smoking. On average a bowl or 2 a day does me, but if I don't have time I'm not knawing my arm off

 

[Benzadmiral]

I've learned that while I like the pouch aroma of St. Bruno, and it smokes fine, that it provides me little aroma -- neither the hay/breadiness of Virginia nor the chocolate qualities of burley. Yes, I'm glad I tried it, but I don't know if I will buy it again. Is the flake version better?

On the other hand, the pouch, bought just before Christmas, is almost empty two months later. So I guess I turn to it fairly often -- either by itself or in blending.

 

[Columbo]

I've learned that while I like the pouch aroma of St. Bruno, and it smokes fine, that it provides me little aroma -- neither the hay/breadiness of Virginia nor the chocolate qualities of burley. Yes, I'm glad I tried it, but I don't know if I will buy it again. Is the flake version better?

On the other hand, the pouch, bought just before Christmas, is almost empty two months later. So I guess I turn to it fairly often -- either by itself or in blending.

Straight estates, burleys, slow sipping away ...

At the rate you're going, we'll have you wearing Skin Bracer everyday soon.

 

[Benzadmiral]

Straight estates, burleys, slow sipping away ...

At the rate you're going, we'll have you wearing Skin Bracer everyday soon.

"Buy -- Mennen!"

(Actually I do have a backup bottle of Old Spice on my bathroom counter for when I run out of other colognes. Codger territory indeed. . . .)

 

[ChefJohnBoy-ardee]

Straight estates, burleys, slow sipping away ...

At the rate you're going, we'll have you wearing Skin Bracer everyday soon.

If they didn't get rid of the blue...

Or if I still shaved

 

[PolishDawg]

In the 3rd week in January of this year -- after more than 15 years -- I brought out my pipe collection and its gear, found that I had some smokable tobacco as well, packed one of the pipes and lit up. And I found that there was still pleasure to be had in smoking the pipes as well as the enjoyment of looking at the beautiful briar carvings, like miniature bits of furniture. I've since bought or traded for 5 pipes, purchased some codger blends (of which more in a moment), spent $ on two tins of more esoteric leaf, and been PIF'd some Granger and some English blends to sample.

What have I learned?

I like the codger blends and look forward to smoking them: Half & Half, Sir Walter and his cousin R.O. Matic, Granger, and matches Field & Stream and Edgeworth. Carter Hall not so much, but it works as a mixer. Someday I may get to try Prince Albert. My point? In the '80s-'90s I liked the Tinder Box aromatics, including black Cavendish -- but the bit of Cavendish I have left is uninteresting to me now. EGR I may not buy again, and I'm still uncertain about Gentleman Caller.

I seem to prefer straight pipes now. In the '80s and '90s I bought a lot of bent pipes. Straights, especially billiards, were dull and awkward to smoke in bars and restaurants then. Thanks to the nicotine Nazis I can't do those now, and the straight pipes have come to appeal to me. Of the 5 I've bought or traded for, 4 have been straights and 1, though bent, is a very mild version. The ones I traded away were mostly bent pipes.

Esthetically, too, I've come to prefer a smaller though not tiny bowl; smooth finishes generally (4 of the 5 new pipes are smooth); horn or acrylic stems (I hate refurbishing vulcanite); and some decoration between stem and shank like a trim ring or a military mount. No doubt I'll make exceptions to all these "rules" in the future; I'm eyeing some black sandblast billiards right now.

Though I did it very rarely back then, smoking while driving is off my radar completely, and it's difficult for me to do anything that takes manual dexterity while I puff, like typing. The pipe must get most of my attention. I can watch TV and read, but that's about it.

Though I'll do an evening pipe now and then, I like smoking in the morning when things are quiet. I am not happy with the savage heat here anyway, and now the idea of standing out in it to smoke, even in what is laughably called "shade," is daunting. Better to hold a warm bowl in my hand when it's cooler, or rainy, or cold. I'm glad I restarted this hobby/habit in the winter. I've found too that I like coffee with my morning pipe, since I smoke cooler now.

I've realized I don't care for smoking every day. Part of the pleasure in it is the anticipation, and if it becomes a daily activity it will become ordinary and less enjoyable for me.

Visiting and learning here has been an enormous help. For instance, I'd never have thought of drying my tobacco before smoking it; in the '80s everything was about humidors and moist tobaccos. No wonder I found some of Tinder Box's offerings to smoke hot. Sipping on the leaf rather than puffing as if I were in a competition is another idea I've picked up from you expert pipers. In the '80s I had no one but pipe shop clerks and Mr. Jansen of Ye Olde Pipe Shoppe in the Quarter to ask questions of!

Such is what I've learned in this 6 months. It's been a good start to what I hope is a fun journey!

I smoke on weekends only...it makes it worth it. I was pricing a pound a month, and ironically pipe tobacco is still cheaper than my car insurance...if I decided to smoke a pound a month.

The codger blends are really no longer a good value or bargain. Gawith and Stokkybye are my favorites because they are reasonable priced if you go for a 500 gram bag...the broken flakes are cheaper than the whole flake and are essentially the same.

The Stokkybye Cube cut burley has been decribed by a reviewer as "like half and half without the chemical lacquer applied" Its a great no nonsense burley blend that I think is just old timey pipe tobacco...sweet and simple without pretense and cost effective. Worth a shot if you like the codger burley stuff. Its also some of the cheapest, but what intrigues me is its like a broken flake cut into cubes so it can burn a long time if you are a master sipper.

 

[Benzadmiral]

. . . The Stokkybye Cube cut burley has been decribed by a reviewer as "like half and half without the chemical lacquer applied" Its a great no nonsense burley blend that I think is just old timey pipe tobacco...sweet and simple without pretense and cost effective. Worth a shot if you like the codger burley stuff. Its also some of the cheapest, but what intrigues me is its like a broken flake cut into cubes so it can burn a long time if you are a master sipper.

Been meaning to try it!

 

[PolishDawg]

Seems like I'm not the only one back after a long hiatus. I've finally gotten all my pipes out of boxes from the basement and cleaned these up this morning. I have a few more to clean, and a half dozen cobs, so I'm set for pipes for a while, I guess. I did not realize I had so many until I went hunting for them last weekend. A little vodka on pipe cleaners through the bores, a little olive oil on the bowls, a little Obsidian oil on the black stems. Having fun! It may be warm enough tonight I'll go out front and have an English for the first time in a long time.


View attachment 1358889

bottom left, that's a nice bowl size everything else looks too small I should try to appreciate smaller bowls, but I really like a 20x44 or a 22x55 is just right Perhaps I'll give my older 35mm chamber depth pipes a try with some flakes or something long burning.