Beginner Pipe Smoker

I'm an occasional cigar smoker (I'm partial to Camacho and Padron) and would like to try smoking a pipe. I need to go about it pretty cheaply and was wondering if any of you veterans had any advice for a first time pipe smoker as far as good tobacco selections and pipes go. If they make them, I'd really like to get my hands on a tobacco sampler with a little bit of it all. Do ya'll know of any vendors that provide such a thing?

 

C&D does an 8 blend sample pack for $40 or a 5 blend pack for $30.
For a reforming cigar guy, I would recommend you include Billy Budd and Old Joe Krantz in your sample pack.
Here's the link to their prices and contact information. Nice folks, great tobacco:
http://www.cornellanddiehl.com/pricing_and_ship.html

 

You might want to look for a tobacco store in your area. Most have bulk tobaccos (usually Lane) and you can put together a sampler yourself. They'll likely have a number of inexpensive pipes as well.

While Lane isn't the best tobacco money can buy, its actually decent stuff and many pipe smokers worked their way through Lane tobaccos at one time or another.

I picked up a pouch of Sir Walter Raleigh a couple of weeks ago when I forgot to order my regular stuff. It's pure burly and very decent in my opinion. Surprised me.

Anyway, enjoy!

 

Jeff and I have visited a pipe shop here in Lakeland that had more of a selection than I thought they would ..being in Lakeland. I enjoy cigars more, especially with Ybor City so close, but our local pipe shop had a nice variety of both tobacco and pipes ... anyway .. you might try your local pipe shops first.

 

+1

Look for a Corncob pipe.

 

I was going to ask if a cheap-o corn cob pipe is recommended for new pipe guys. It is what I have always recommended in the past. Nothing fancy but you can use it to see if you like the pipe smoking in a inexpensive manner.

 

I have no piping experience, I just know that if you want to have a go at it, a corncob is the most economical way to do it.

 

Unfortunately, all the "tobacco stores" around here only market cigarettes and cigarillos. They shouldn't be allowed to call their store that, in my opinion. Anywho, fortunately I know of a great place up in West Point, MS called "The Smokestack" that has tons of pipe stuff and a walk-in humidor filled with cigars. The place has a really friendly owner and he's even got a lounge area where he invites people to just hang out and have a cigar.

On to pipe smoking, is a pipe tool and tamper really necessary? I work with an elderly man who smokes a pipe and he never uses one. Also, I've noticed he doesn't light it twice like I've read about doing. Does anyone have any experience with Missouri Meerschaum corn cob pipes? They seem very affordable.

Thanks for all the advice and help, fellas. I greatly appreciate it!

 

MM are the only corn cob pipes I'd bother with.
They're better made than a lot of the foreign made cobs out there and still a great value.
I have 3 of them, myself, and they are all good smokers.

As far as lighting and smoking, there's a series of Youtube videos out there by a guy named Aristocob (http://www.youtube.com/user/Aristocob). As his name implies, he's practically a salesman for the Missouri Meerschaum company, but he does give some good tips and tricks for making the best use of a corn cob pipe.

 

On the pipe tool: its not really necessary to load the pipe. It is helpful when cleaning the pipe stem or scraping the bowl, but that's not usually an issue until you've smoked a particular pipe for a while. You could probably get by with some pipe cleaners and your thumb for tools, at least for a while.

Missouri Meerschaum's are the only corncob I have as well. They're good pipes and not very expensive. In fact, I've read that even the counisours use them when they smoke a new blend. That way, if the blend is bad they haven't ruined an expensive pipe. I like them because they're cheap, can be smoked multiple times a day (unlike a briar, which will need to cool down between smokes) and they don't flavor the tobacco much. I highly recommend them.

Enjoy your shaves and smokes!

 

Tampers are useful when you light twice. You tamp the tobacco between the first and second light, supposedly to get a more even burn. The top layer of tobacco will puff out and can easily fall out, making a mess. If for no other reason, tamping helps press the loose stuff into the bowl.

 

For around $50 you can buy a decent Savanelli or Stanwell briar pipe. Try this site: http://pipesandcigars.com/ for them; they also sell samplers of tobacco.

 

Hi Nathan,

I'll include a link to some information that helped me a lot when first starting out on a pipe. Whatever tobacco you end up sampling, make sure there's at least one aromatic in there. Those are the ones that I found the easiest to get used to in the beginning. Heh, most experienced pipe smokers don't have much use for that type, but they can be fun to smoke.

Take a look at www.pipedia.org and click on 'Pipe smoking how to'

Martin

 

Thanks for all the info!! I ended up getting a cheap (I mean super uber ultra cheap) Fujima pipe. I'm smoking a bowl of Sir Walter Raleigh as I type this. I'm not crazy about it, but its not too bad either. I do think that I would like to try a blended aromatic next. It took me a while to figure out how to pack the bowl and my first attempts were far too loose and it wouldn't stay lit for long. I think I've pretty much got it down now and tamping halfway through the bowl helped a ton. I think I'm ready for a better pipe with a larger bowl now. You guys are a ton of help

 

That is an excellent resource, thank you.

 

Pipeweed? Is there anything besides Old Toby and Longbottom leaf?

Nah, seriously: Try stuff - only by trying can you find you what YOU want to smoke! As a cigar smoker I'm sure you can smoke some of the heavier 'baccys - I'd reccommend trying a few of the Peterson brand, they're all superb! (But stay away from the flake-tobaccos at the beginning)

 

Funny you should mention that. With me being a huge Tolkien fan myself, I found Tewksbury & Co. last night and the Hobbit's Weed gets a four out of four stars review over at TobaccoReviews.com. Definitely going to have to get myself a long MacQueen churchwarden and order a few ounces of this stuff!!!

 

People suggest starting with a corncob because they're very cheap, and if you end up not liking pipe smoking you haven't spent a lot of money. Just be aware that a briar pipe (in my opinion) is a MUCH more enjoyable smoke than a corncob. I'd recommend starting with a briar, three-way tamper tool (or you can use a nail if you don't want to buy something), and a book of matches, if you're smoking indoors. Read up online for proper smoking technique, if you don't already know. Enjoy!

 

Sorry I'm late on this one... I, too, am a cigar smoker (Padrons? You have expensive taste ) and occassionally dabble with pipes... My best advice is to go to your local cigar tobacconist. Usually they'll have a small selection of pipes/pipe tobacco...

Get a pipe (cheap, hell, a corncob will work just fine, but pull out the filter), get generic Pipe Cleaners, An ounce of tobacco, and a pipe tool... That should run you about 20-30 for a decent pipe (pick one that feels good in your hand, and looks good to your eye, that's the biggest thing for me) (it'll cost about 4 bucks if you get a cob.), about 7$ at most for an ounce of tobacco, 100 pipe cleaners and a pipe tool.

The important thing when I was learning was to NOT do what the online guides said when packing the bowl... Pack it until the draw feels right to you, online guides are all personal opinions used as guides, so do what feels right... Then light it slowly, tamp it, and re-light it.

If you need more tips, shoot me a PM