Thanks for all the responses. After absorbing them all, I'm not going to take up the pipe habit. Ya'll have also inspired me to get serious about getting off nicotene altogether. Cost was never a factor in my smoking, but heck, the nicotene alternatives are costing me WAY more than the dang cigarettes did.
I've cut back on my coffee consumption from a couple pots per day to 3 cups per day, which is making the nicotene cravings less severe. I'm just such a creature of habit and it's hard to shake the psychological craving associated with certain activities. For example, when writing or doing intense computer work, a cigarette was an essential part of my toolkit and that's been really hard to shake.
Oh well, let me again sincerely thank you all for the responses. There's no topic I've yet found that I can't find help, knowledge, and support regarding here on FR.
MM
I quit cigarettes when I embarked upon a 4 week voyage on a 44' Lafitte Sloop. I took none with me and just dealt with it at sea. Given the weather it wasn't too rough. Once we got close to land again we ran into a longliner and they offered us some smokes which I declined. For me cigarettes were a very compulsive habit. Taking up cigars on a whim some 6 years later was completely different. I enjoy almost every cigar I smoke and it is not compulsive. However one day I will perhaps give them up. Right now, I simply have no desire to quit them. Unlike cigarettes I don't feel any any bad side effects like hacking or high blood pressure. I do not inhale them...the ones I smoke would scorch your lungs anyhow...the few times I accidentally have inhaled have been followed by an extreme bout of coughing and feeling not too chipper.
In any event, it's best to leave it all alone in the first place. But I am human and cigars are my only vice left. I'm married, watch my weight, eat little fat, try not to stress out etc. but I do love cigars. Cancer of the mouth though is a very real concern and it is difficult to determine who will get a pass and who won't. As I grow well into middle age I may rethink all of this.
Best of luck.