Drug info - Guide to Pipes/Pipe Tabacco

[Euthanatos93420]

I smoke a tabbaco pipe and Toasted pipe tabacco. Trust, Cigarettes contain very little nicotine and a LOT of extra CRAP that does damage to your body.
Not to mention cost. I spend maybe $30 a month on Tabacco and related products (A new corn cob every other month, filter, cleaners, etc.), smoke twice as much, yet inhale half as much, yet still get twice to thrice as much nicotine. I've smoked a pipe for about a year ago. While I have brands and product I stick to I like to try new things on occaision and have picked up a variety of experience. Since I found absolutely nothing on this Forum about pipes and pipe smoking I thought I'd write a general introduction to pipes for the curious. There is more information about pipes if one just googles. But I thought this would be an appropriate post and contribution to the forums by your truly.

I smoke a pack of cigarettes occaisionally and find even winstons to have extremely low nicotine content as well as finding myself smoking them like a fiend and having my lungs hurt near the end of the day. Something I never experience with the pipe. I SOOOO prefer my pipe since I've switched. It's cheaper. The frequency and amount I inhale are probably a little safer as well as not ingesting nearly as much junk thats put into cigarettes.

I inhale roughly once every 3-5 puffs. There are probably between 15-25 puffs in a well packed, regular sized, and broken-in bowl.

To break in a bowl you gotta burn it hot for a few bowls. This involves heavy puffing and inhalation is not reccomended due to temperature.

Generally smoking, I will light my bowl holding a flame over it for about 3-5 puffs. Puff it up a coupel more times without a flame then take a nice slow smooth draw while inhaling. Hold it almost like a hit of weed and exhale. Sit back for a second, and repeat. The 3-4 puffs where one does not inhale are more to build up the smoldering cherry than anything else and it may take more or less. If you let it go too long you may need to relight or puff it up to 10 times to get it rolling again.

A properly packed Bowl is done thusly:

1. Sprinkle PIPE tabacco over the bowl letting it fall loosely into the bowl until full. then tap the side of the bowl to get it to settle and repeat.

2. When the bowl is full of loose and tapped (or 'settled') sprinlings, take your pinky or a 'tamper' preferably (Which is a three prong tool including an elongated prod whose head is 90 degrees from the arm, flat, and round) and push the tabacco to about halfway down. With a little practice you'll become familiar with the density you prefer.

3. Repeat this process for the second half of the bowl. Filling up the second half with loose sprinkling and tamping it down to about 3/4 full. Then sprinkle just a little bit on the top for a kind of kindling or as I call it 'ignitiary'. If thats even a word...

I'm at the point where I can just pinch a wad of tabacco and cram it into the bowl and have it more or less be the right density. It takes practice and if you follow this extremely lazy practice fo mine you'll find that doing it right is very rewarding and the density of the pack can greatly affect the pleasure of the smoking of a bowl.

Pipe tabacco tastes better (when you the one smoking it, my ex would beg to differ), smells better (90% positive feedback versus the armoa of cigarettes), HELLUVA lot cheaper (Mostly because you're not paying the cigarette taxes...)

Selecting Pipe Tabaccco - The most important point

Not Recommended:

Prince Albert Sucks. According to everyone I have ever spoken to regarding this product and in accordance with my own experience this is the absolute worst product on the shelf.

So does Smokers Pride. I've only had one person differ in opinion here. He liked the way you could just put in in your pocket and walk into a store because it was self extingiushing. If you ask me, relighting is nasty, disgusting and generally offensive to the taste buds.

Note: The above two brands are extremely oily. This makes for a disgusting smoke (IMHO) and is generally bad for your pipe and will cause it to soak faster. Also the oily nature seems to contribute to the smoker's pride ability to self-extinguish. I find it extremely annoying and have had to relight EVERY time I puff it before inhaling. Which, as I have stated, is nasty.

Borkumm Riff - Can get much better much cheaper. Not bad per se, just WAY overpriced.

Middleton: Dry on the other hand is almost like smoking cigarette tabacco out of a pipe (Definately NOT reccomended as I have done this in a pinch and it is miserable and yes, very comparable to middleton). Does work if it's the best/cheapest on the shelf in a pinch.

Highly Reccomended:

Paladin Black Cherry. Hard to find in some areas but definately a STRONG flavor and aroma. If your looking for compliments on the aroma your pipe tabacco makes, burn this stuff. It has great flavor, burns smoothly and is fairly inexpensive.

Admiral's Choice. Usually Carried by CVS. The cheapest I've found yet. Also a very smooth and decently flavorful smoke. If Paladin proves to be too strong a flavor for you this is the route to go. Cheery cavendish variety mixes well with the next product for a cherry cordial flavor. Does have a very light bite.

The Tabacco Center - Blender's Gold - Toasted Cavendish. Unlike most 'black cavendish' cut blends this has the texture of somethign that is ACTUALLY TOASTED. It's a stiff but not brittle texture and when smoked has an excelent and smooth palatte without any bite whatsoever. It has a mild chocolaty flavor that is apparently inherent and not from any flavorings or oils. I've only seen this in Walgreen's and not every Walgreens carries them or even pipe tabacco products. I've only found two that do. I know that there is a Walgreens in Lake Oswego, OR that carries it. Or did a back in may of '07 when I was there and discovered this wonderful product. The other one I know carries this is in my hometown where I currently live, which is nowhere near OR.

Navy/twist/bullseye cut - Often sold as gormet tabacco and tend to be on the expensive side more by proxy of being heavy than overpriced. It's texture and flavor is entirely unique to all of those listed above. I'd compare the flavor to a middleton that wasn't dry.

Half&Half - Probably the best widely available brand. It's a smooth, mild, and inexpensive smoking blend . I would not be averse to smoking this again.

Pipe Care
On the Three pronged tamper tool you will find a pick and a spoon. The pick it use to clear blockages in narrow part of the pipe and the spoon is used to scrape crust out of the bowl. (Or measure 50x Salvia into your bong HAHAHA). The tamper is used to press down the tabacco when packing a bowl. I know some who prefer not to use a filter, that individual is also a rare smoker not a habitual one. Filters serve not only to cool the smoke, but also to absorb excess liquid generate by even the dryest pipe tabaccos. Using a filter will greatly extend the life of your pipe unless you use a cleaner every time. There are two kinds of pipe cleaners. Bristled and absorbant. The bristled are very ridged and will scrape off crusting but I find it's easier to use the spoon and while I keep a pack of these, I rarely use them. The absorbant are cotton and designed to pull the most excess oil/liquid from your pipe. You will find that if you do not use a filter the second bowl you smoke without cleaning will put liquid in your mouth that is nasty, bitter and has a horrible bite. I use one or two absorbant cleaners every time I change the filter. Depending largely on how used the pipe is.

I cannot comment on the difference between Wooden and Corn Cob pipes as I have only used a corn cob. I like it, it's cheap and I tend to lose things so I'd rather not invest in something I'm likely to lose. I may buy one one day for just around the house and have a corn cob for travel. When/if I do I will post about the observed differences. Otherwise Anyone lending their observations int his area would be appreciated int he effort to make this a little more comprehensive. If someone does make a post about this I'll edit the quote into this post.

------Personal Notes-----
I've noticed over the past year or so since I've switched to pipes/pipe tabacco that Price is no judge of Quality. The best stuff is often the cheapest. I have very acquired tastes across the board (Licorice tea, vegetable juice, raw spinach, Strong Made-in-Germany Pilsner, Honeymead, Shiraz etc.) so saying I prefer toasted cavendish (and even pipes/pipe tabacco in general) may not mean much to you. However it can give you an idea of where to start if you are interested in switching to a pipe for reasons economic or otherwise.

Anyone wishing to comment on a brand, Make a brand/product recommendation, or astute personal observations regard pipe smoking in general, I'll edit in quotes if this thread grows.

Reputation Comments on this post:

	Bad drug, but good info :)
	Interesting thread on a less mainstream topic: Thank you