My first pipe

[ddandb]

Like they say.. You don't pick the pipe, the pipe picks you.

Absolutely true. And Briars just seem to love me. :wink:

And btw, would Sherlock Holms be the same with a cob??? I didn't think so. :lol: :lol:

Actually Sherlock Holmes smoked a clay pipe. The cheapest pipe of his day (think corncob).
The Calabash that is associated with him was only used by the actors portraying him. It seems it made it easier to deliver their lines with a bent pipe in their mouths.
I think it was William Gillette who first portrayed him with the Calabash.
But the real Holmes.. :wink: , sitting in his apartmnet by the fire or working on a 'three pipe solution", a common clay pipe.

[sagedil]

Umm ddandb, you do know that Sherlock Holmes is not real. He is a fictional character created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. :wink:

[cyrax777]

That Meerschaum I posted above cost me $50

oh wow that is resonable. last i looked they were 100+

[sagedil]

Reason why every estate pipe but one I have bought off of the classifieds in Smokers forums. Folks there re extremely loyal. And when most folks post a ppe for sale there, they seem to be aggressively pricing them cheaply. two other pies I got probably would have gone on e-bay for at least 50% more than I paid

[digitalerik]

i got my corn cob and some cheap sir walter raleigh. i chose to smoke a pipe mainly as a way to cope with my recent disability and torn apart life. i was dissapointed in the tobacco however, it doesnt have that wonderful smell of pipe tobacco that i remember from someone who smoked a pipe. i'm looking for the smell of hot cocoa, i can only imagine the taste. yum. sage help me out here.

[sagedil]

It's a good tobacco just to start, just to make sure your technique is decent. But yes, reson why I moved past it after a few days.


go to tobaccoreviews.com. Look down a bit on the page, and you can search tobacco by ratings. look through the 4 star rated tobaccos and choose a few. Get an English blend, a Vaper (Virginia tobacco and Perique, and maybe just a straight Virginia blend to see what style you are most drawn to.

A good place to buy the tobacco is

smokingpipes.com
www.pipesandcigars.com
www.cupojoes.com

[ron]

Good sources, Sage.

One of my faves : iwanries.com

Great store in Chicago. Very good prices, too. I treat myself to a new one every time I'm in Chi'town.

[sagedil]

Yeah, I actually know about a bunch more as well, but just didn't have them handy. Figured I gave him a good starting point at least.

[lxskllr]

I'm hijacking your thread Sage :^P

I picked up a corn cob pipe today, and a tin of Erinmore flake. Why Erinmore? I have no idea. I wanted to try a flake tobacco, and I wanted something that wasn't an aromatic. The tin looks like it was from 1965. The price had been changed a few times, and it had that old tin in an antique shop look :^D

It isn't bad. It got a little bite to it, but I think it's because it's too dry. I'm gonna stick a humidor disc in the tin, and get it moistened up a little. I'm digging it though, and it should last awhile... It better, it was $17 for the tin :^D I normally wouldn't have been able to afford it, but I got some money for painting fences, so I bought that stuff, and McDonalds dinner :^)

As a side note, that shop got a crap load of snuff in. I didn't study it, as I already have a bunch, but they got a lot of Wilson's and F&T snuffs. That'll be good to know in event of aPACTalypse .

[sagedil]

No, happy happy to see anyone giving a pipe a try, was the whloe reason I started this thread.

Wow, sounds like you picked up a wonderful aged tobacco. Bite is actually usually caused by a tobacco being too moist, not too dry. It is the moisture that gets turned to steam that can hurt. I suggest you just try slowing down you smoking a bit, don't want to huff, a pipe should be sipped.

But welcome to the fun. I finally visited my local tobacconist today as well. Was just great chatting with the owner for 20 minutes. He carries some Wilsons snuff as wll

[lxskllr]

Bite is actually usually caused by a tobacco being too moist, not too dry.

It's dry as a bone. From what I just briefly read about, it seems like most people have to set it out open for a bit to dry it out some. I couldn't even get a flake out of the tin, without it just breaking off in little pieces.

I think you're right about hot boxing it though. It was hard to pack due to the dryness, so I was hitting it a little too hard, and getting tongue bite.

If I keep at it with the pipe, I'll have to try finding all my old ones in a box somewhere. I have 6-8 briers. 1 was kind of nice, but most were unnamed, or Dr. Grabows.

[sagedil]

Dr. Grabows are nice pipes, maybe not the prettiest, but they smoke well.

Yes, for other reasons, taste, definitely rehydrate, but that isn't what was causing the tongue bite, I promise.

Here is a post that talks about rehydrating tobacco. enjoy.

http://glpease.com/BriarAndLeaf/?cat=10

[Qor]

Very neat thread.

I actually have a small little story..

When I was in the U.S. Navy, we traveled to Turkey and set port in Aksaz. During our visit some of the locals came into the ship to sell us hand carved meerschaum pipes. I splurged and spent around 100$ on a dual set of Sherlock Holmes & Watson pipes straight from the people who carved and manufactured them. It came with a beautiful case that fit each pipe perfectly. They were gorgeous, a nice white colored slightly curved pipe, one with a carved picture of the face of Sherlock Holmes, and one with Watson. I bought them mainly because my uncle is a long time pipe smoker. When I arrived back in the U.S. and went on leave I gave him the pipes as a gift. I was a bit shocked when he told me that the set of pipes I gave him would have a value of around 500$.

I have tried searching around the web for ones that look similar, and I have found some, but they are nowhere near the quality of craftsmanship that went into the ones that I bought while in Turkey. We had a tradition, and that was to smoke a pipe with him each time I came to visit from the Navy. I was stationed in Norfolk, VA and we live in Arizona. It was nice. I think I maybe smoked a pipe with him one or two times, but he still has them to this day.

-Qor

[sagedil]

That's a great story, and a great thing you did for your uncle. I recently bough an estate meerschaum that is beautiful, and I smoke it every night before bed.

One place on the net that is VERY highly esteemed is http://bestmeerschaums.homestead.com/coverpage.html

The owner participates on Smokers Forums

[lxskllr]

I always wanted a meerschaum, but I was too young and poor to afford one when I was smoking a pipe. I got out of smoking before I ever got one. Now I'm old and poor, and still can't afford one :^D