Should I start smoking a pipe?

Enquiring Mind | 11/14/2001 | MississippiMan

[MississippiMan]

I haven't had a cigarette since January 23rd. Unfortunately, I still crave cigarettes constantly. Some of that is due to the fact that I've remained addicted to nicotene gum or patches or inhalers or whatever my nicotene du jour is. Another part of it is that a small majority of the time, smoking was actually a very pleasurable thing. Only a few cigarettes a day really felt good; the others were sheer, utter habit.

Contrary to all the assurances, I don't feel wondrously better. My breathing has not improved much at all. My sense of taste is the one big difference and that difference is indeed dramatic.

When all is said and done, however, the only factor that keeps me from starting back at this point is the smell. I had no idea I stank like that for 20+ years. Good grief! How rank! It's not so much the smell of the smoke itself, but the smell it leaves on you and anything it touches in an enclosed area.

With that in mind, I've smelled some WONDERFUL smelling pipe tobacco over the years and am wondering if maybe I oughta take up a pipe smoking session maybe once per night to take care of my craving. Any pipe smokers out there? What are those tobaccos that smell so wonderful?

Thanks...

MM

[Benson_Carter]

The absolute best way to quit is to stop using products which contain nicotine, cold turkey, once you've decided that you want to be tobacco free forever. That includes gum, patches, inhalers, chewing tobacco, dip, etc etc etc.

After 3 or 4 days, indeed, the nicotine has left your system and the only cravings you have are merely PSYCHOLOGICAL, meaning you're habitually addicted to the act of sticking something in your mouth and smoking it, or chewing the gum.

Personally, I smoked cigarettes for 8 years and the only way I could finally quit is when I decided I wasn't going to fool myself anymore. "Cutting down" is a lie you tell yourself to postpone you actually quitting. I also tried the chewing tobacco method, and have to say it works -- but only too well. I was addicted to Skoal in 1 day hahahaha.

My advice? Quit drinking coffee a good 6 months before you're ready to quit FOREVER. If you're a coffee drinker, it will be impossible to quit smoking if you don't stop coffee. You can start back up after you've quit smoking for a few months, as long as you are still committed to being smoke-free. Then, when you've made up your mind to quit, DO IT! Chew gum, it works pretty well with the whole oral-fixation thing.

I've quit for about 2 years and only cheated a few times when I was really really drunk and when I went to Sweden on vacation; I had a few cigarettes. Now I smoke cigars! They're aromatic, you can chomp on them, and they're great for bars, concerts, festivals, and other places where smoke nazis and other liberal types congregate!

Good luck!

[Tinman]

How are you, my friend?

Not surprised to see you on a "tobacco thread". 8-) Hope all is well, with you and yours.

Regards

[Age of Reason]

Smoking a pipe may not prove that much healthier than smoking cigarettes.

That said, I found that often the worst smelling pipe tobacco is the best tasting.

But--and though I hate to admit it--after having tried all kinds of expensive pipe tobacco, my favorite tobacco smelled good, tasted good, and was among the cheapest--it's been so long, though, that I can't remember the brand's name. But my smoking that stuff was kinda like passing on a glass of a fine wine in favor of a glass of Gallo from a gallon jug.

Also, if you start smoking a pipe, buy a plain briar pipe--one that is not stained or varnished. Plain wood briar will darken rapidly with use, and not being varnished, the pipe will "breathe" and stay drier.

Ideally, you'll want to smoke no more than one bowl of tobacco in a pipe on any given day, giving that pipe a good 24 hours to dry before smoking it again.

Buy a pipe with NO metal parts and NO filters in the pipe stem.

Learn the proper way to break-in a new pipe, and the propert way to light a pipe and tend its fire.

Learn the proper way to clean a pipe.

I once stayed away from cigarettes by smoking cigars and a pipe. It worked for three years, then I went back to cigarettes.

Some years later, I quit tobacco altogether.

(But I will say that I enjoyed a pack of cigarettes or a nice big fat cigar after a huge weekend breakfast just about more than anything--and I wonder if it wouldn't be better to die young and have enjoyed life, than live to be a century old ascetic. Hey, how many people would give up sex in favor of living to one hundred?)

Proper pipe smoking is probably too involved for most people--taking up cigars might be easier for you.

[MoralSense]

Good to hear from you, Steve. Thought you had given FR a miss. We're in New Jersey now.

[Tinman]

I lurk daily but post infrequently. The board's much busier than it was a few years ago, so am I.

Jersey, huh? Whereabouts?

Regards

[DonQ]

Although pipe smokers tend to smoke fewer pipefuls than cigarette smokers smoke ciggies, you wouold still be getting a whole lot of evil stuff in your mouth, throat, lungs, etc.

My recollection of the brief period in which I tried to cultivate the image of me as a pipe-smoker (inspired by Hefner, a million years ago), was that I needed to fill my pockets with crap: A pipe (which was occasionally still wet with saliva, and in case was bulky and yet needed to be protected from dirt and damage), a tamping tool, a lighter, a tobacco pouch, and possibly a pipecleaner. This added up to a LOT of junk in my pocket, making my pants baggy, and since most of this stuff leaked grains of loose tobacco or ash inside my pockets, my trousers needed a lot more laundering.

I might add that you can't use just any old pipe; there's quite a bit of spending for just the right pipe that fits just so, whose bowl and mouthpiece and so forth are just right for your particular smoking and breathing patterns, with the wood that tastes right - and good ones aren't cheap and once you have one you treat it like your new car.

It became such a bother I gave up the pipe and smoking altogether.

[Just another Joe]

Smoking is smoking. I smoked cigarettes for 20+ years, I smoked a pipe for 3+ years, then went back to cigarettes, and yes - you will inhale some on a pipe.
I now stuff my own cigarettes.
If it's only the smell that you are woried about, there are some flavored stuff-your-own tobaccos out there that smell just as good as pipe tobacco. If you want to quit then do just that - QUIT.
Otherwise, choose what satisfies YOU and go for it.

[Warren]

Depends on what yer smokin. Alcapulco gold tastes pretty neat.

[Warren]

Depends on what yer smokin. Alcapulco gold tastes pretty neat.

[Warren]

Depends on what yer smokin. Alcapulco gold tastes pretty neat.

[Warren]

Sorry for the multiple post. Computer is not responding quickly, got impatient & hit post button more than once.

[freedomson]

In the early 80's we were gettin' a nice supply of dark hashish with 'Freedom for Afganistan debossed into the 1 ounce slabs. I suppose that's all shot to hell now.

[brewcrew]

Multiple posts from a stoner.

"Nuts, man. The freakin' post didn't go through."

[Warren]

Yeah, I remember those. Damn, sure miss those days.

[Warren]

Far out, man. Where the hell is my pipe?

[DoctorMichael]

MY 34 year addiction to NICOTENE: I went from cigarettes to pipe to cigarettes to chewing tobacco to pipe..............now I am on the gum ($30 box @ WalMart lasts 2 weeks).

I LOVE NICOTENE. IT IS MY DRUG OF CHOICE. IT CAN ALSO KILL YOU.

[FormerLib]

I'm sure that the "Alcapulco gold" had nothing to do with it. ;-)

[prambo]

I have smoked cigarettes, pipes and cigars since I was 16. I no longer smoke cigarettes or cigars, but still enjoy a pipe every day or so.

There are negatives - high smoke volumes, flying embers burning holes in fabric, a few more accoutrements needed (reamer, lighter, pipe cleaners, larger ashtrays), and the increased possibility of lip and mouth cancer (I don't inhale).

Pipe smoking is generally an outside activity now, although that is where I enjoy it the most.

The tobacco that smells the best usually "bites" the worst - peach or cherry "blends" are filled with chemicals that make them really harsh.

My favorite tobacco is a bulk blend (toasted cavendish) from a chain drug store (CVS). Cheap, tastes great, smells like, well, burning tobacco.

prambo

[Capt_Hank]

I had my last Marlboro (red) on October 18th at 4:00PM. Cold turkey method. When all hell breaks loose, I didn't want this dependency. I must admit, I do miss the cig after a great meal. I have already gained weight, which I have to work on (non combat ready at the moment). I have two pipes here, if I bought tobacco, I would be right back in the same nicotine mode. Try to do with out it. I wish you the best of luck on this one. That nicotine craving is something else.