[Senator]

Filter? I've got some pipes with filters and some without. I like using my Brigham pipes (they use a maple filter system) for when I'm smoking my "wet" aromatics. They're great for stopping the unavoidable gurgle. However, the same aromatics taste just the same in my non-filtered pipes....just have to be more careful when smoking them.

Try one or the other as your first pipe...it really won't matter as it's not likely to be the only pipe you'll ever purchase. I'm sure you'll come down with a bad case of PAD sooner or later. ;-)

If I had to start all over again and had the knowledge I now possess...I would buy a Savinelli (the types that you can use with or without a filter) from Frenchy. This would let you try both methods with the same pipe. Plus, from what I hear, Frenchy will set you up with the basics.

As for tobaccos to try...I started with a drugstore aromatic on the advice of a tobacconist. This almost made me quit. To be honest, I would stay away from aromatics until you've learned the art of pipe smoking..or are at least part way there! Aromatics are not kind to the new pipe smoker. They're wet and they burn if not smoked correctly. They smell great but really do lack the taste that a new smoker might be searching for. I smoke them now because I can appreciate what they're all about and can find the flavour I'm looking for. However, most new pipers want something that "tastes" great with little effort or thought....or at least has some discernable taste. You're more likely to smoke too hard or too hot trying to get some type of taste from an aromatic in the beginning. Start with an "easy" tobacco...one that's easy to pack, easy to smoke, easy to light, and easy to taste. Ask around here for those kind of recommendations.

Just know this:
- you will burn your tongue as a new pipe smoker. Don't think it's like building up a callous...it's not. Don't smoke again until your tongue has recuperated. Treat your tongue like a delicate instrument and smoke more gently than you'd imagine is appropriate. It's better to have your pipe go out too often than to smoke it too hot.
- you will not smoke a full bowl on one light...and you probably never will. That's just part of pipe smoking. You'll come to appreciate this rather than get annoyed by it.
- you will get frustrated with how to properly pack a bowl. I still pack bowls too tightly sometimes...just start over before lighting. A bowl packed in such a manner is enough to ruin the whole experience.
- you will wonder if smoking a pipe is really all it's chalked up to be. Where's the taste...why is it so hard to keep this thing lit...why is my tongue scorched...why does my pipe gurgle...etc...
- you will have bad smokes...followed by great smokes...followed by horrible smokes followed by not so bad smokes...followed by good smokes...etc... (as you learn, the good smokes will outweigh the bad, though...obtaining the perfect smoke is why we all do this!!!)

- if you stick with it long enough, you will overcome all the above!!!! Yea!!! Learning to smoke a pipe is a process. No matter what pipe or what tobacco you use, you can't and won't learn it in your first smoking experience....or your second...or your third. It will eventually come, though. The information on boards like this will drastically reduce the learning curve.

Good luck.