Survey
Help us tabulate the number of pipe smokers.
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I have smoked the pipe on and off for nearly 50 years. I have a collection of about 100 pipes and a cellar of over that number of blends to take me through to my old age. Pipesmoking is one of the great secrets of our civilisation; it brings solace and stoicism through all adversity and on occasion transcends experience into a dimension of the spiritual sublime. Its demise in our present time – in England it is almost extinct – is all too evidenced by the collapse of civility and good manners, and bodes ill for the times to come. Nearly all the great English tobacco blenders are gone – pale imitations now made in Germany and Denmark – but at least in the USA the tradition continues with a new generation of outstanding blenders such as Greg Pease to inspire and underwrite a future for this noble enterprise.
Hello fellow pipesmokers. I started out with a corn cob at about the age of 12, and have loved pipes and tobaccos ever since!! I have approx 200 hundrend pipes in my collection, mostly Charatan, Dunhills, with a mixture of Italians, and Danish.
I have been cellaring tins since 1995, I shake when I get the urge to pop one of those oldies open !!!
If anyone would care to write and chat a bit, feel free, email is cherbru@q.com.
Can you belive, ther was a time when a 12 year old could purchase a pipe, a pouch of middleton cherry tobacco, ask for matches, with no questions asked??
Happy puffing, bruce
What do you mean “traditional” pipe tobacco? Is there non-traditional pipe tobacco? I am relatively new to pipe smoking so I just assumed both the tinned tobacco and bulk tobacco I smoke are “traditional.”
I’ve been smoking a pipe for over 50 years and as of now I smoke several C&D blends. IMO they make and distribute the best tobacco that money can buy anywhere.
Replying to Scott, I believe that the word traditional implies Tobacco rather than other substances.
I have been a regular pipe smoker for more than 20 years now. I first asked my mother, at the venerable age of 12, if I could smoke a pipe after reading “The adventures of Tom Sawyer”. As this didn’t quite work, I had to wait for my college and university years to start smoking my pipe and have been smoking it ever since.
I have a modest collection of 20 pipes – my pride are the 2 Stanwell Nanna Ivarsson that I recently purchased- that are mostly Peterson, Chacom, Blatter & Blatter (from Montréal, Canada), Danish Sovereign, Stanwell and 3 Meershaum pipes.
I think that it is really pitiful that the smokers are the object of such vindicative anti-tobacco campaigns. The “No smoking” zones, the Witch hunts against secondary, even tiertary smoke, the laws to forbid smoking in cars with children under 16 (on their way in Canada and in some parts of the US) are ridiculous. If we are to blame someone for something in our societies, or go at war for a just cause, we should address and solves the problems of pollution, hunger, children abuse/molestation, poverty, etc. Indeed, what is worse: a parent smoking in his/her car with the windows opened, or a family stuck in rush hour in a major city for a period of 1 hr? A super tanker grounding herself and spilling hundreds of thousands of tons of crude oil or smoking my pipe in a public place? I read somewhere that smokers represent less than 3 % of the world pollution. While smokers are being targets, 97% of happy campers ruthlessy pollute and poison us.
Pipe smoking is a harmless and pleasant hobby. Anti smoking Nazis, leave us alone.
Okay, I am lucky to live in the town where C&D tobaks are made. I have smoked several of their blends and can find none better. I have met Craig and Patty several times and am impressed with their knowledge. Hail to Craig and Patty for their expertise.
I have used all types of tobacco in my life starting at 16. I only smoke a pipe now and went 20yrs w/o any tobacco before resuming piping.I don’t smoke in the house or in others’ houses when working in them as a carpenter. I think cigs are disgusting, and as a taxpayer i don’t want to pay for the health probs they cause. Nor do I want society to pay for the effects of my piping. I also feel that no one should have to breathe my smoke and would never smoke in a public room even if allowed. We don’t legally have to endure very loud music,naked bodies or unwanted touching so why should the sense of smell be unregulated, not to mention peoples right to breath unsmokey air. I think we smokers have to own up to the fact that its repellent while bad for our health and stop whining about our fate as smokers. Stop complaining and smoke. Just don’t expect others to endure our stinking habit and be thankful that their are people who will kiss us just the same.
I answered the question about “collection” as if it referred to the previous question about collecting pipes, but not for use. All my pipes are for smoking tobacco, so in that sense there is no “collection”.
Generally when i use the term I refer to my selection of pipes as a “collection”, although it has no binding “theme”. It is a diverse accumulation of pipes running the gamut no name to Dunhill. there are probably 60 or so in the rotation, with maybe 24 highly used favorites.
I believe it would help the cause of cigars and pipe tobacco, if they could be separated from manufactured cigarettes.
I agree that cigs should be regulated and taxed. Anyone who has been a cig smoker and tried to quit by pipe smoking will prob agree. Pipe tobacco does not cut the edge of wanting a cig, but your still smoking tobacco. Makes one really wonder what they put in them. I can say I been off the cigs and only smoking a pipe for about two months. I hope I don’t go back to smoking them. I don’t think pipe tobacco should suffer because big tobacco wants to keep people hooked on cigs. Most pipe tobacco manufactures are quit small compared to some of the big tobacco companies. Why should they suffer for the injustice. I beleive one should be able to smoke in their home, car, and under the great blue sky. Public places okay not everyone like tobacco like us. To much of are constitutional rights are being taking away thus far. How far is the general public perpared to let the rest of them go????
I worked at a Tinderbox right after Turning 18 until the Illinois tobacco ban Starting in January 08 (only 76% of our sales were directly related to tobacco the law requires 80% to keep smoking indoors) after smoking between 7-10 pipes per day and a minnimum of 1 cigar the change made me quit. I tried one day without smoking but found myself in the backroom emptying a can of air deodorizer and smoking a Drew Estate Juicy Lucy, not my favorite cigar but not bad either. And now Im stuck in the garage in a lawn chair listening to the intermitent humming of a dying heater. Since everyone else was bemoaning some point or another so I should jump in with my own tale of woe.
I haven’t been smoking a pipe for a year yet but think I’ve found an enjoyable hobby that I’ll stick with. When I fire up some McClelland 925, I just relax & enjoy. I smoked cigarettes for 45 years & weaned myself off them by chewing & then was able to drop that. Smoking a pipe is not an addiction, it’s a pleasure that’s not likely to harm anyone. These crummy politicians seem to think they’ve found a cash cow by doing the popular thing and taxing the hell out of anyone that uses tobacco in any way. Be sure & let these hypocrites know where you stand on this.
Cool idea, to take a survey. Pipe smoking is a dying ,lost art. I live in southern Delaware, USA and there is virtually no tobacconists withing 80 miles or more. Lot’s of cigar and cigarette outlets though. A few sell some crap grade pipe tobacco pretty much equivalent to cigarette tobacco. YUK! I am forced to get decent (McClelland) tobacco’s mailed to me from Tobacco Village two hours away from me. I recently have discovered pipes and tobaccos online more that I realized was there. Where have I been? I don’t know but I’m glad I’m here.
I’ve been smoking since i was 16 on the pipe; my father introduced me to it. I’m now 54 and see the world as moving too fast to even stop along the way to smell the aromas that come from our pipes. Is there a way to educate the public and start some thing? I want to start a pipe and tobacco business but the market and interest seems o be dying or not there.
I am SICk of Bureaucrates and the Anti do-gooders out there who either want to tax us to death or “watch out for us”. It all spells government control and socialism to me. Reasonable constitutional based taxes and civil control are things that the government is meant for – not Big Brotherism. What is worse, id that these ideals are not just affecting the pipe smoker, but everyone. The conmtrol and taxes will not stop with tobacco. We have to wake up as a nation.
I have been smoking cigs for 32 years, wow it has been that long, the whole time I also smoked Cigars, the cheapies Swishers, I used to smaoke camel filters @ 3 pack a day. After our beloved Bureaucraps started to target the 3% of us that smoke with additional taxes and more crap in the cigs I started to roll my own with pipe tobacco, since that itme I am down to less than a pack a day, hopfully soon I will be done with them. They are definitely adding addictives to the cig tobacco. Now I have started to smoke a pipe again, started smoking my dads pipes when I was 15 until he found out and have smoked my own off and on since then. I forgot how relaxing they are to smoke in the evening after dinner, I have a sweet tooth so smoking a pipe full of a sweet English aromatic blend satisfies that craving and helps to lose the spare tire also.
Just started pipe smoking about 6 weeks ago. Always loved the aroma and am just learning the ways to keep the pipe lit. Smoke cigars for over ten years; find pipe smoking most relaxing. Too bad we are the targets of all the hate in the world, as if we cause all cancer. My two neighbors and my oldest friend smokes cigars but I don’t find very much pipe smoking out here in Los Angeles. Keep up your informative work.
I was influenced toward pipe smoking by an older man I much admired; I was fifteen, as I recall.
I just this week turned seventy-five. I’m not yet sure what blends I like, but I am POSITIVE I don’t like
Perique. I can handle Cajun Black, however. I suspect my preference would be a mix of dark Burley,
bright Virginia, and maybe some toasted Cavendish. The absolutely most pleasant pipe ever was a bowl of Best Brown Flake from a freshly opened tin that was more than five years old.
I hope the revolting tobacco tax bill gets DErailed; if not, Canadian tobacco will soon be cheaper.
If it passes, I plan on buying a bunch on my much-abused credit card, and putting it in the cellar.
blessings, y’all! JR+
I a collection of 20 pipes of all kinds. Most were purchased in the 1060s. They include some antique German pipes. I enjoy the smell of good pipe tobacco but only smoke 5 bowels most years. Pipe tobacco should be treated differently than Cigs int he law.
Love the pipe, smoke mostly english and va blends. Couple smokes a day. Have 200 quality pipes of traditional shapes and sizes. One of life’s special pleasures!……Doug Scott
In late August 1959, I was in the U.S. Army at Ft. Dix New Jersey, awaiting overseas transport to Germany. And I was broke. Worse, I was a cigarette smoker and broke. All told, I had less than $10.00 and even at the going rate of less than $5.00 a carton, I could hardly afford one. I was scheduled to sail to Germany on what would be an eleven-day trip and the thought of being half way across the Atlantic and out of Camels was one I didn’t want to contemplate.
Thinking I might find a cheaper substitute for my favorite brand, I walked to the PX (Post Exchange or Commissary for the uninitiated) in search of a two cartons for six bucks deal. What I found instead, was a deal on a pipe and tobacco. It was a large Medico pipe and two pouches of Half & Half tobacco for two dollars. I hesitated… I’d never smoked a pipe before, though my grandfather had, and he seemed to really enjoy it. I remembered the aroma of his tobacco and how I liked it. Frugality soon overcame the desire for Camels so I bought the pipe package and two extra pouches of tobacco for .35 cents a pouch.
Whether it was the sea air, the thought of my grandfather smoking a pipe, or pure necessity, by the time we were at sea three days I was a confirmed pipe smoker. That was almost 51 years ago and my love of the pipe has never faded. I’ve devoted much of my adult life to promoting the pleasures of pipe smoking and in the process became the co-founder of NASPC, its past president and now a current board member. Pipe smoking is one of the sublime and supreme pleasures of my life.
Be well,
Regis
I have been smoking a pipe for 41 years and also smoke cigars. Used to chew until this year when taxes made it prohibitive. I was fortunate to be able to smoke for several years all the classics that are now gone, like Balkan Sobranie 10, 759 and white, Bengal Slices, Copes Escudo, the fantastic Sobranie Virginias, and many other great tobaccos. I will smoke pipe tobacco no matter what the idiots in Washington D.C. do to tax it, I sell stuff on Ebay to fund my tobacco (and wine/sprits purchases). I finally have some high end pipes that I have gotten at auctions for next to nothing. I just had a bowl of C&D’s Blockade Runner in my Dunhill Shell. Wonderful! By the way, first tobacco I ever smoked was Borkum Riff Whiskey. First non-homemade pipe was a brand new Dr Grabow apple. I believe we pipe smokers are a breed apart, somehow calmer, more reflective. God Bless you all, from Dallas, Texas,
R.A. Kobus
I’ve only recently started smoking…err..shall I say ‘puffing’ a pipe for a year now. I’m 30 years old, and I started to spending a lot of time thinking about my late grandfather who passed over 10 years now. He was a smoker of hand rolled Bugler tobacco.
The first time I lit up that tobacco, it was an OVERLOADED rush of memories and emotions. Every time I smell it, it’s a great memory.
I then told myself that liking the idea of puffing on a pipe for the aroma and novelty of it all. I don’t actually inhale *insert clinton joke*. I run and cycle approx 30 miles a week and consider myself in good health to ‘justify’ or allow it.
Here’s a different kind of story. Yesterday morning before 7AM, I found myself sitting on the front steps of the General Store on Rt. 30 just south of Dorset, VT, drinking coffee and enjoying a pipeful of a strong Latakia blend while waiting for scones to come out of the oven. I left the pipe sitting on a barrel away from the door while I went in to get a fresh cup and a hot scone. When I walked out, there was a woman just behind me who turned and asked me if it was my pipe, which I affirmed. To my delight, the aroma had transported her into a memory of how men used to congregate and smoke pipes together when she was a child. We talked about moderation and the relaxation and pleasure that offset the health risks associated with pipe smoking. After conversing for ten minutes or so, she revealed that she was a nurse in a general practice in Manchester Center, and declined to give me “the lecture”. It was a terrific start to my homeward bound day on a short trip that was sort of a pipe shop tour.
I’m 54, athletic and in good health, and am fortunate to have an understanding spouse and family who realize that my tobacco pastime is something that I love, and not a habit that they nor I am victim to. One of my 16 year old daughters gets a puff now and again, and I’ve told her that if she’s going to smoke, I’ll teach her to smoke a pipe and to stay away from cigarettes. I’m very interested in finding ways to help stand against the indiscriminate war against tobacco users in our country. It’s a privilege to find a website like this one.
Thanks,
Scott Stultz
Marietta, PA
I started pipe smoking in 1965. It is a pleasure to smoke a pipe, and consequently, it is also a pleasure to read the many truly fine words posted by numerous pipe smokers. This is a very nice website and the participating pipe smokers make my day just a little bit nicer. Thank you, one, and all.
I’m 68 years old- I’m pretty sure that if I didn’t be a pipe smoker I’d be a wonderfully healthy corpse who expired from stress-related physical and/or mental health issues. I started smoking pipes in my middle teens- Dr Grabows and Carter Hall. Wonderfull packaging idea, buy a couple of packs of CH and get a really good pipe for a really good price. I am not a collector- I’ve own over 100 pipes (I’m afraid to count them). They range from no-names to a couple of Dunhills- about half are petersons. I smoke mostly C&D’s Star of The East, Yale Mixture, Millenium, and Bayou Nights. Obviously I like latakia- Capt Earle’s stuff gets used a lot too. My wife claims that a pipe (well, mine anyway) is an adult male’s pacifier- ie: I pretty much smoke a pipe all day. I have enjoyed tobacco in all forms except snuff beginning before I was a teenager. Chewed when I was fishing. I went from 3 packs a day of Pall Mall red to no cigarettes cold turkey- smoked my last one sitting on the tailgate of my pick up waiting for the ambulance after I had a heart attack 14 yrs ago. I haven’t had or wanted one since. But the relaxation of a good pipe has kept me alive through two high-stress careers and I am sure that I’d not have survived without the briar and lady nicotine. The urrent nicotine nazis strike me as falling into one of three groups: those puritanical souls who just can’t stand to see someone else enjoy themself; those who quit smoking cigarettes which means that no one else is allowed to use any kind of tobacco; and of course, our dear elected officials who see tobacco as just another sin-tax cash cow. OK, off my soap box, happy puffin, oh brethren of the briar.