Why did you give up pipes?

[MarkC]

Everywhere I go online (well, at least on smoking sites!) I run into others like me who have returned to smoking a pipe after several (or many) years away from them. I'm curious as to why people gave up pipes in the first place.

Here's my story:

I started smoking a pipe back around 1974 while in high school. My cousin and his friend smoked pipes, and I decided to give it a shot since the tobacco smelled so much better than the Swisher Sweet cigars I was used to in my occasional smoking attempts. I picked up a nice Jobey billiard for $15 and was on my way. I only smoked maybe three or four times a month, so I wasn't in any hurry to build up my 'rotation', so it was a few months before I grabbed another pipe, a GBD bent bulldog (which I constantly look for on eBay now; I miss that pipe!). I think that one was a horrendous $25 back then. My next pipe was the one that really sucked me in: a gorgeous gourd calabash. Suddenly I was smoking more; I had to get that meerschaum bowl golden! This was in late '75, and that pipe became my pride and joy. Anyway, in the fall of '76 I headed off to college, along with my pipes and tobacco. About two weeks into that first quarter, some bozo was clowning around in my dorm room and knocked the calabash and stand off the table. The bowl cracked in half. I was heartbroken, and then and there gave up pipes. I don't know why it was so traumatic, but I just couldn't see continuing with them after that. Over the years I thought many times about 'rediscovering' the pipe, but it wasn't until March of this year that I finally took the plunge.

[Hermit]

I have no idea.
I'm building my lifetime supply with no consideration of ever quitting.

[Mad Hatter]

I smoked a pipe some when I was in my late teens and early twenties but I gave it up/didn't stick with it because of the available tobaccos, OTCs. I still pretty much have no love for those blends and if they were all that was available I'd give up the pipe again.

[Mister Moo]

Originally Posted by Mad Hatter

...I gave it up/didn't stick with it because of the available tobaccos, OTCs. I still pretty much have no love for those blends and if they were all that was available I'd give up the pipe again.

What M'atter sed. I only knew about Middletons Cherry and Borkum Riff. My tongue just wore out and the pipe went in the drawer. And I had no idea that a pipe was supposed to dry out.

[ca21455]

Had a few pipes many years ago and then stopped when I got married. It was just easier along the way to pick up a stogie every now and again so I stuck with that.

Right now my budget will not allow another habit but some day I may pick up a pipe again.

[Zeabed]

Originally Posted by Mad Hatter

I smoked a pipe some when I was in my late teens and early twenties but I gave it up/didn't stick with it because of the available tobaccos, OTCs. I still pretty much have no love for those blends and if they were all that was available I'd give up the pipe again.

Exactly the same with me. Where I lived back in the day, the only available blends were Borkum Riff, Skandinavik, Middleton's Cherry Blend, Mixture 79, and the generic bagged stuff marketed directly by the pharmacy chains. I came to believe that tonguebite was inevitable to pipesmoking. I slowly gravitated towards cigars and soon had abandoned the pipe altogether. I retook the pipe again last March, mostly thanks to forums such as this one and the blends that were now available to me through e-tailer purchases.

[mojo]

Before Al Gore invented the internet, it was like living in the dark ages. The drug store was probably the main source for pipe stuff. Even if there was a tobacco shop around, you were still limited to what they wanted to sell to you. So the selections pipe stuff were pretty bad back then but who knew back then how awful it was.

This forum opened my eyes as to what is out there. Was not aware of the numbers of pipe makers out there or the different tobacco blends that are out there. The local Tinderbox just planned to stock some SG tobacco after some prodding from their long time customers. WTH?

Pipe smoking is more enjoyable now than back then due to better selection & information available. Haven't smoked another cigar since April of this year (stopped initially because of the cost). I like pipe tobacco more than cigars now.

[Hot Stuff x]

I carried a pipe through Desert Storm back in 1990-91. Smoked Captain Black, sometimes Smoker's Pride (the stuff in the giant ziploc), that was about all I could get.

Never knew how to pack the pipe properly, or any of the many other things that I've learned on this site, and gave it up after I returned home. Don't even know what happened to that pipe, which I believe was a Dr. Grabow.

I got into smoking cigars a couple years ago, and ran into the pipe forums on this site. After reading some of the FAQs and 101's, I decided to give it another try. Using the knowledge gained on this site, I have had great success and really enjoy my pipes now.

[MarkC]

Wow. I never realized how lucky I was. The nearest tobacconist was on River Street in Savannah (Georgia) about fifty miles from where I lived, but we'd make a road trip to the place every three or four months. Then, after graduation I ended up near San Francisco, with a nice pipe shop there on Market Street. Personally, I miss going to the tobacconist to look at pipes (from all angles, not just the one the web page shows me!), but as far as tobacco goes, I have to agree that the internet has given us a golden age!

[dmkerr]

I smoked a pipe from 1982 until 1995 when my twin boys were born. I wanted them (and, later, my daughter) to grow up in a smokefree environment. Kids don't get to choose so I chose for them.

When I bought a new house, it had a "study/smoking room" for me and I explained to them that this was the only room in the house where I would smoke. If they chose to come in, they would be enveloped with tobacco smoke. Works for everybody.

[bubo2069]

I started smoking pipes in my late teens, but never really gave them up. It got to the point where I was smoking a bowl every month or so though. Things were just to busy for me to sit back and relax. Now that I'm half way through my twenties I've decided I need something to wind me down daily, especially since I've got a bunch of grey hair already About a month and a half ago I dived head first back into to it and have since purchased 4 new pipes I've never really had a "local" tobacconist, as the first two pipes I purchased were at Churchill's(think half @$$ed Tinder Box) which closed not to long after my "new" hobby got rolling. I'd placed a few orders online for some baccy over the years but not much. Now I'm always looking at ebay and all the other e-tailers, and that could be a bad/expensive thing oh, and you lot aren't helping me much either I've also found some semi-local tobacconists(45mins to 1.5hours drive) which I like to stop in every once and awhile as I like to buy local as much as possible as Michigan's economy really blows.

[SmokinJohnny]

I've smoked pipes casually since around 1982. Mostly drug store and B&M bulk blends. Black cavendish and cherry blends were probably favorites. It's all I really knew. I would buy a pouch or a few ounces of this or that and once gone, I would put down the pipe for months or years. My wife sometimes encouraged me to light up a yummy smelling aromatic. A few bowls of that and I would put it down again. I really didn't know what I was doing either. Nor did I care. I would just stuff and light. Pipe gurgle, constant re-lights, and tounge bite were pretty standard with me.

I smoked cigars regularly throughout the late 90's and that sort of weened off. My wife did not like the way they stunk up the house so I always smoked them out side.

It wasn't until recently when I discovered quality english balkan type blends rich with latakias, orientals, and nicotene, that I took the pipe on a more serious note. I have also taken proper pipe care and rotation on a more serious note. The internet made a lot of it possible because face to face pipe social groups have always been few and far between for me. I am pretty much a regular pipe smoker now. My wife tolerates some blends. Others I have to smoke outside.

[Professor Mike]

Started pipe smoking in 1968,my first year of grad school,and haven't stopped or looked back. Its the only vice I have. Its the only one I can afford.


Prof. Mike

[bxcarracer]

Im almost giving up my pipe, Only reason I have been smoking it is for the nicotine and so I dont have to depend on smoking all my expencive stogies.

[Mr.Lordi]

I've occasional thought of giving up smoking all together, both pipes and cigars, because I was in a rut when it came to them, not enjoying the tobacco. It was less hobby and more smoking just because I spent the money on it.

Then I came to my senses and said "&*#&" that! lol