What you wish you had been told when you started...

[DubintheDam]

$50 bucks can get you a damn fine pipe to start with. And. Try Old Gowrie.

[dogsplayinpoker]

Originally Posted by uncballzer

my advice? Re-read all the above.

lazy-ass!

Let aromatics dry out and pay close attention to your filling of the pipe. Fill a third of the bowl, press down slightly. Fille the next third, press down lightly. Fill the final third, press it down a little harder, leaving about 1/16th of an inch gap below the rim and give it a first light. Tamp down the tobacco that will have started to "puff"(your welcome Jon) up and relight. If when you draw(suck) on the pipe it feels similar to a plugged cigar, do yourself a favor, dump the tobacco out and refill.

[joeysmac]

Thanks for all the tips friends! Keep 'em coming...

[Beatnikbandit]

I had a lot of help along the way but i can give some tips i have learned. First get a week of cobs before you start buying briars. This way you will have enough pipes to smoke everyday. You should find a rack on eBay also a good source of estate briars. Before you light your bowl put some spit on the rim so you don't burn it too bad. Next find the way you like to pack your bowl the best there are many threads that say different ways. The way i prefer is the air pocket method, for me it give the coolest smoke. To do this take some tobacco and roll it into a ball larger than your pipes bowl so you have to work at putting it in but not large enough it would fill the bowl, then you press that wad in until there is about an 1/8th of an in below the rim, Making sure there is an empty space below the tobacco. It leaves an air pocket and hence the name. this way takes longer to create cake but its not problem if you try your best to smoke it to the bottom and if your using a cob don't even worry about it.

hmmm now to buying pipes, you probably will get a better smoke out of a cob than a "basket briar" so i would buy only Missouri Meerschaum with the hard wood plugs as they are the best, the Diplomat, The General,Great Dane spool or egg, The patriot, and personally i like the country gentleman although i think i does not have a hard wood plug bottom. It is actually not really needed but it makes it less likely to burn through being a newb smoker although your mouth will take a beating if you are. I like all these pipes and have a couple of some of them.

Personally i have a mini Meerschaum i use for tasting new tobaccos and having a taster pipe might be a good idea being a newb learning what you like. As tobacco goes i am told Lane and Specifically Q1 is a good beginners aromatic it is not too heavily cased and is a golden Cavendish. I have smoked it and i like it i still like it too. Currently i only smoke aromatics and my current favorite is DaVinci Made by Dan Tobacco its a Virginia and black Cavendish blend with a "Tuscan" red wine casing. I like it because it has just enough flavor for me with out being too cased. I would try one of the 2 blends i mentioned or anything from Lane is also recommended. I think i have given you more than enough info although if you like my info feel free to pm me. I am glad to see another pipe smoker to join the fold it is also very nice now that the economy is such s**t a pipe bowl costs cents and you can smoke all you want in a day for about a buck verses cigars which i now smoke more on special occasions (except my daily morning smoke i enjoy with my coffee while surfing the board before work)

Sorry if i told you too much or more than you wanted to know so like i said just pm me if you have any questions. Other than that i think you have a lot of good info on this topic.

Also check out this topic if you haven't already It has some info about almost everything pipe related:

http://www.clubstogie.com/vb/showthread.php?t=175150

Happy smoking

[Hydrated]

Originally Posted by drastic_quench

"Skip the drugstore tobacco. There's a universe of top-quality tobacco online."

Mine would be:

"Skip the universe of top-quality tobacco online. There's some pretty good drug store tobacco right around you."

What I mean is this... you do not have to spend a fortune on 10 year old tins of pipe tobacco to get a nice smoke. When you first take up the pipe, you will be focused on getting the damn thing to stay lit, when to tamp, how hard to tamp, how to fill the bowl, how to avoid cooking your tongue, etc. etc. etc.

Smoking a pipe takes practice, and you probably won't be able to really enjoy those expensive tins until you've gotten the hang of pipe smoking. Smoking really expensive tobacco right off the bat is sort of like buying a Porsche because you got a learner's permit to drive. You can operate it, but you won't be able to drive it like it should be driven.

An absolutely great starter blend is this:
50% Prince Albert + 50% bulk Lane BCA

It burns easily and will not bite your tongue. You can huff it like a freight train and the most that can go wrong is that it will taste ashy towards the end of the bowl (like any burley heavy blend). And it is cheap cheap cheap... I mix this stuff up for about $18 to $20 a pound. Trust me... a pound of tobacco is a lot of smoking.

[drastic_quench]

Hey, whatever works for you. I quit smoking pipes about seven or eight years ago because all I had were drugstore tobaccos, and I didn't enjoy them. I went back to cigars and wrote off pipes. When I returned to pipes, I bought a lot of different 2oz tins (not aged) from blenders like Rattrays, Pease, Gawith, etc. They cost more, but it's something like 50 to 75¢ a bowl at the small tin price - so it's not breaking the bank.

[dmkerr]

Originally Posted by drastic_quench

Hey, whatever works for you. I quit smoking pipes about seven or eight years ago because all I had were drugstore tobaccos, and I didn't enjoy them. I went back to cigars and wrote off pipes. When I returned to pipes, I bought a lot of different 2oz tins (not aged) from blenders like Rattrays, Pease, Gawith, etc. They cost more, but it's something like 50 to 75¢ a bowl at the small tin price - so it's not breaking the bank.

I don't disagree. If all that was available was what I started on, I wouldn't have stuck with the pipe. It was the Rattrays, McClellands, Escudo and the old Ashton stuff that made pipe smoking pleasurable.

On the other hand, I wouldn't recommend anyone start with that stuff. I actually like the Prince Albert/BCA suggestion for newbies.

[Slow Triathlete]

I think that I would say to make a comprimise of what's being talked about above. Try everything!! Drug store tobaccos, more expensive tobaccos, etc. I started out with premium blends but have recently discovered Carter Hall and Prince Albert Choice Blend. I love all of it.

Also, what I tell every new piper is to be Patient. Patience is the name of the game here. When you finally get the technique down it's worth the wait.

[Vrbas]

Be prepared to spend money not only on tobacco, but storage!

I mean, there's nothing wrong w/ double baggin, but IMO if you want a solid collection you need to have some jars around. They aren't expensive, but neither is fast food and you'd be surprised what an average person spends on that in a couple months time

Originally Posted by dmkerr

I actually like the Prince Albert/BCA suggestion for newbies.

I actually like the 100% BCA suggestion for newbies

[Slow Triathlete]

Originally Posted by Vrbas

Be prepared to spend money not only on tobacco, but storage!

I mean, there's nothing wrong w/ double baggin, but IMO if you want a solid collection you need to have some jars around. They aren't expensive, but neither is fast food and you'd be surprised what an average person spends on that in a couple months time

Especially when you discover the Gawith Bulk Blends!!!

[Davetopay]

I will put the cob pipe out there on the list again. They are SO much more hassle free than a nice briar, and MUCH better smokers than CHEAP briar/basket pipes.

Don't be afraid to try different blends, styles, and flavors. You never know what will hit you as a favorite.

The ideas of grabbing some Carter Hall or PA are good advice. They smoke easy, don't offend those around you, and help you develop good technique with out having to waste more expensive 'baccy.

[frankluke]

smoke slow, you'll hear that a million times and it's the best piece of advice i can give, so, smoke slow, it's not a race.

don't over tamp, any bowl of tobacco after the charring light(s) should only be tamped 3 maybe 4 times, if that much.

[parris001]

I'll chime in again and say that in all probability you're going to burn your tongue. I don't know if a newbie burns his tongue because he smokes wrong or if if just happens because he's subjecting his tongue to something it's not used to. It's like when you learned to drink coffee. It scorched your mouth. Today you drink the same temperature coffee but you no longer get burned.

You gotta play through the pain.

[VFD421]

[SIZE=3]Like stated above it takes practice. I became frustrated at first with the tongue bite, the packing and relighting that I almost gave up. Then I found this group. A few searches later I found so much helpful information I began to see the light and things improved. Now I feel I can sit back relax and enjoy a smoke.[/SIZE]

[petewho]

I am a total noob, but here's what's fresh in my mind:

- A cob with PA is almost foolproof.

- Don't be discouraged by tongue bite - just read all the advice (drying your tobacco, don't let the pipe get too hot, if it gurgles run a pipe cleaner down it to dry it out then let it cool a little, don't tamp too hard, sip at the pipe instead of trying to get a big volume of smoke, etc) on here.

- Get a pipe lighter

That's what's standing out to me.