I'm hopelessly addicted...

[agony]

...to pipe smoking. I've only been at it for a month or so, I'm an ex-cigarette smoker who got turned onto cigars a couple years ago. Then recently I smoked the perfect cigar, a well-aged A Fuente anejo Shark. Everything else in my humidors paled in comparison.

Pipes always intrigued me, and with my cigar-a-day habit, I was going broke. I thought that pipes made more sense economically, but boy was I wrong!

Started out with two cobs and a pouch of Carter Hall. Then a pouch of Captain Black White. Recently picked up a couple of inexpensive Savinellis. For the past week I've been diggin' into a bag of CAO Old Ironsides....what a difference!


Just wanted to join the party, and learn from everyone.
If you catch me asking dumb questions, y'all have permission to slap me upside the head.

[Cheeto]

Welcome to the pipe forum! I can tell you from experience that we're all in the same boat, some just don't like to admit it

[olnumber7]

Welcome to the jungle.

[Alyks]

welcome, brother. We're all men of vice here.

[Syekick]

I'm so new here I have Grandkids older than my pipes!

My friends here have taught me three things that have made a huge difference in pipe smoking. I'm certain that I would never have learned them as I have no friend locally or in family that smokes a pipe.

1. Pack using the Frank method. I used to cramp the tobacco in there like I was filling a plastic bag with freshly fallen autumn leaves. The Frank method was right for me and gives a longer more consistent burn that I can smoke cooler than with the cram method.

2. If the pipe gurgles, stick a pipe cleaner through the stem and into the bowl to soak up the water. Wait a few minutes, remove the pipe cleaner, relight and enjoy.

3. When finished with the pipe, run a pipe cleaner down the stem and into the bowl and leave it there. This soaks up residual mositure and cleans debris out of the stem. (The last is important as I don't use a filter.)

I hope one or more of these are of value to you. The old hands here will be a great resource for you.

Enjoy

[EvanS]

Welcome agony!!!

My road to the pipe was similar to yours...cigs to stoges to pipe. I'm off the cigs but now I have a ton of lonely cigars that only see duty once or twice on a weekend.

Anyway, your at the right place, snuggle on in and enjoy yourself here. There's a ton of experience and it's all waiting and wlling to be shared by some great BOTL/SOTL's.

[agony]

Thanks for the welcome guys.

Syekick,
What's the Frank Method? I've been doing the three-stage pack, and I think I got it down pat....though I did have some trouble with the jerky-like strips of latakia in the Old Ironsides (I ended up cutting it in smaller pieces).

And I noticed that different tobaccos pack differently. The Carter Hall packs really easily, as does the Captain black Gold. I was given some kind of crumble cake, which was strange but found it packed much easier than loose tobacco.


Luckily, I haven't had any gurgling issues yet.

[Blaylock]

Originally Posted by agony

Thanks for the welcome guys.

Syekick,
What's the Frank Method?

Here ya go: Frank Method

[SIZE="1"]Search
Advanced Search
Search Titles only...Frank [/SIZE]

Here's the video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kJP0JaNRw6Q

[agony]

Thanks Blake,
Yeah, took me a while to locate the Search button, but I found a bunch of Frank-method threads. There's a good 3-part video on Youtube which I watched a couple times. I've already packed a 'practice-run' through my pipe, and I'm going to do a couple more dry runs before lighting one up tonight.

[dogsplayinpoker]

Just don't get discouraged if you have a bad experience or two. There are no stupid questions, just stupid people scared to ask.

[DubintheDam]

welcome, love your icon and name....agony, It takes about a year to get the hang of it, you really don't need to spend big money on pipes, and my tip for beginners is try to stick with well recommend tinned tobacco rather that packets. enjoy

[agony]

Originally Posted by DubintheDam

welcome, love your icon and name....agony, It takes about a year to get the hang of it, you really don't need to spend big money on pipes, and my tip for beginners is try to stick with well recommend tinned tobacco rather that packets. enjoy

I got a few tins coming in soon. Can't wait! Also been scouring ebay and other places for decent affordable briar.



I smoked a bowl this morning packed with the Frank Method.
Wow!!! Amazing how easy and quick it is, and how much better the smoke is. Smoked the whole bowl without a relight, and minimal tamping. My pipe never got hot!

[Arizona]

Smoking a pipe is without question the most peaceful and relaxing thing... The ritual of filling it, lighting, tamping, etc becomes automatic and once you've got the art of properly packing a pipe down pat then you'll enjoy it more and more.

Welcome to the world of pipesmoking... Once you've got a nice rotation of pipes in your rack the cost of smoking a pipe is negligible compared to other types of smoking. I'd say 6 to 8 pipes is the perfect number for a good rotation that give each pipe a nice "rest" between smokes. At a minimum 3 or 4 is fine, but one for each day of the week is best (the more the merrier however, that's up to you and your budget!).

Enjoy and visit this site daily and you'll learn ALOT from these folks here.

[agony]

One thing I'm still unclear about when it comes to 'resting' a pipe.

Can a briar be smoked 2-3 times a day, then rested for a few days? Or should I only smoke one bowl between resting?