Hobby Or Just A Different Form Of Nicotine Delivery?

[pipemike]

I think for me it's mainly a hobby, but the nicotine is an unavoidable side-effect. Having said that, though, the relaxation/meditation one experiences with a pipe in "the zone" doesn't happen with a cigarette or cigar - so there must be more to it than just pure nicotine delivery.
Great thread BTW!

[Vlad]

Can't help but jump in. I never smoked anything before, but got into it because I thought it was cool. I'm in my late 20's, and I like classic, 'idiosyncratic' stuff. I prefer pen and paper to computers, mechanical watches to quartz, fountain pens to ballpoints, books to Kindles. I have no illusions that the nicotine doesn't affect me and increase my pleasure, but that isn't why I started or what brings me back to the pipe.

Vlad

[Gig]

I smoke a pipe for flavour. If the tobacco has no flavour I'm not interested whether or not it is high in nic or not. As for the smoking of a pipe being a hobby, its not for me. I smoke because I like to smoke, I also smoke cigs but the gathering or collecting of pipes is. Researching the pipes history, chasing a particular pipe I am after is what I like

[viper37]

I don't think I would call it a hobby, pipesmoking for me is more of a lifestyle now. It's also another way to get some nicotine. I don't really think about if the tobacco is high in nicotine or not I just smoke what I'm in the mood for at the time. It's mainly a way for me to relax. It's just something I really enjoy and it's pretty rare to see me without my pipe.

[Cobra27]

It's a hobby for me I like to sit & smoke while reading and or listening to music. I also like to smoke in the car on the way to work so it may be a nic. My normal commute is 45 mins so 3/4's bowl of MB Roll Cake along with a Large Burger King coffee has been the norm but I will sometime goto a local Baccy shop arromatic blend instead of the MB RC.

[Muddler]

It's a hobby for me - how else do I justify the number of pipes & storehouse of tobacco I have. But I must confess that the nicotine is important to me. I just don't feel satisfied smoking weak blends. Actually, I don't enjoy very strong blends either. But I need a pipe & two cups of coffee to get me civil & mobile in the morning. Having said that, perhaps it is the ritual of pipe smoking, the accoutrements (sp?), the friendship of pipesters, the lore of pipe smoking that makes it more than a hobby. It is a way of life.

[MasonM]

I don't see smoking a pipe as a hobby. Collecting pipes and tobaccos, yes, smoking them, no. Smoking is smoking. I enjoy the flavors offered by the variety of pipe tobaccos out there, and especially enjoy Latakia blends, but don't see smoking them as a hobby per se.

I still smoke cigarettes as well as pipes. For me it's just a matter of situation. In my line of work there are times when a pipe just isn't convenient for me and I'll have a cigarette instead. Same with drinking in a place where smoking isn't allowed. I'm not going to stand outside for 30 minutes or more smoking a pipe, I'll just have a cigarette instead.

I don't smoke as many cigarettes these days as I used to, and I enjoy the flavor and ritual of smoking a pipe far more than cigarettes. I find smoking a pipe to be extremely relaxing but can't say the same about cigarettes. With a pipe I can take my time, enjoy a good smoke, and reflect upon whatever currently occupies my mind. The old "three pipe problem" as it were. I've done some of my best thinking while puffing a pipe-full of good tobacco.

So to answer your question, for me it's a way to relax more than either a hobby or just for the nicotine.

[acaciavet]

Mason good to see ya again.

[SmokinFool]

Yes, nice to see you back Mason. I always enjoy your posts. It appears that for some, pipe-smoking is an enjoyable hobby, while for others it is an enjoyable way to take in nicotine, and there are also those for whome certain aspect of both would apply.

In any case, I can honestly say that I feel a kinship to all of you. We are indeed "brothers of the briar" (and sisters, if any exist here on the forum).

[Atlas]

I enjoy several forms of tobacco myself. I have tried snuff (not quite my cup of tea), I smoke a hooka pretty regularly, I enjoy smoking certain cigarettes (american spirits and the like), I have been known to enjoy a Cigar every now and again.... But Pipe smoking is by far my favorite. I think I have to call it a hobby for me. I go days or weeks without smoking and do not feel any "need" to smoke. I tend to smoke with friends, and its a good time to sit, relax, and talk about whatever. But I don't think too much about the nic and which blends have more and which have less.

[faithfulpc]

I say for me it is definitely a hobby. I use snuff, smoke cigars, smoke hookah and used to smoke cigarettes. But I feel that pipe smoking is more of a hobby to me. I equate it to fly fishing, some guys sit in there man room and tie flies. I sit in my man room and smoke pipes.

[eric]

So, I guess I am curious to find out if there are any other pipe smokers that enjoy this hobby just for the experience of tasting the vast array of flavors held within the smoke, and for the relaxation it affords you, as opposed to using it as a system of nicotine delivery?

I don't choose tobaccos based on nicotine content so I guess it must be mainly if not entirely for the reasons you mentioned.

[brim325]

I have to admit I do like my nic, but I don't choose a tobacco because of the nic content ,if I don't like the taste I wont smoke it nic or not.

[BillConnelly]

I just don't know why it can't be both. I think of it like coffee or beer/whiskey. I don't drink bad coffee or beer, and I don't drink decaf or low-alcohol beer. I like them both for the flavor and the psychoactive component. Likewise, I think I'm probably a pipe snob, but if a tobacco doesn't have any nicotine, it kind of ruins it for me.

[SmokinFool]

I just don't know why it can't be both. I think of it like coffee or beer/whiskey. I don't drink bad coffee or beer, and I don't drink decaf or low-alcohol beer. I like them both for the flavor and the psychoactive component. Likewise, I think I'm probably a pipe snob, but if a tobacco doesn't have any nicotine, it kind of ruins it for me.

Bill, your post seems to echo the sentiment of probably most of the people who responded. I agree, it can be both. In fact, it has to be both, since you couldn't get away from the nicotine, even if you wanted to. I suppose it's a matter of degrees. I enjoy the flavors of the tobaccos, and the relaxation and contemplative frame of mind the act of smoking a pipe creates, rather than any psychotropic properties of the tobaccos themselves. For some, it's pretty much all about the nic, and everything else is secondary. I would imagine someone trying to quite cigarettes would fall into this category. And, of course, there are many for whom both are of equal value.

[HowlinWolf]

What makes pipe smoking so interesting is all the variety it involves - all the pipe shapes, brands, types of tobaccos and their varied flavors, different brands of tobaccos. Studying up on these things is a fun thing to do.

I don't mean to be a stickler on the meaning of words for no good reason, but IMO the activity I outlined above doesn't fit my idea of a hobby. Stamp collecting, doing crossword puzzles, woodworking, gardening, scale model building, etc. are hobbies. Acquiring a working knowledge of pipes and tobaccos in order to purchase and smoke them is stretching the meaning of the word hobby IMO.

Conversely, I suppose it could be said that the pipe smoker who has varied tastes in pipes and tobacco has in reality simply studied up on the subject to such an extent that s/he has developed a whole smorgasbord of ways to deliver nicotine, but that's stretching a point, too.

If the mission is simply to deliver nicotine, it takes only one pipe and one kind of tobacco to do that. There are pipesters who fit that description, they are a small minority these days, but they probably weren't in the past. I don't think that back in the old days a pipe smoker had dozens of pipes and a couple hundred tins of different tobaccos at home - Glenn Ford and Edward G. Robinson notwithstanding.

http://cache3.asset-cache.net/xc/3233482.jpg?v=1&c=IWSAsset&k=2&d=45B0EB3381F7834DFC2BCA8FCD619D10F4B09EA20FCFC6CA11D40A26B3E28636

[morleysson]

"....I don't think that back in the old days a pipe smoker had dozens of pipes and a couple hundred tins of different tobaccos at home - Glenn Ford and Edward G. Robinson notwithstanding." A cogent comment about our forefathers. I don't think that my grandfather ever had more than 2 or 3 pipes, and one main tobacco. I never saw anybody with more than a few pipes and tins of tobacco until I fell down the hole into Wonderland. I'm not absolutely certain that he didn't enjoy nicotine for its own sake, but I know that when he smoked, he seemed to throttle down a lot, and returned to a state of civility, which sadly was not always present. Sort of a decompression chamber effect. Pipesmoking for him was a way also of connecting with others, socially. Special events and holidays were always reserved for cigars.

[HowlinWolf]

A few years back I was in the Barclay-Rex shop in NYC, the one across from Grand Central Station.

An elderly gent who looked a little like Norman Rockwell walked in and headed straight for the counter. He didn't gaze at the pipes to the left and right. When he got to the counter he didn't cafeteria-select 2 tins of this, 2 tins of that, 1 tin of this, et cetera
...he asked for a tub of Half and Half, paid for it, turned on his heel and walked out.

He wasn't a hobbyist as far as I could tell.

[burro]

Pipe smoking is becoming more of a hobby, especially among "new" pipe smokers, but it will always be a form
of nicotine delivery.

And for those who stick with the pipe, it becomes more of a habit as one settles down with their favorite blend(s)
and realizes you don't need more than a few pipes.

"If the mission is simply to deliver nicotine, it takes only one pipe and one kind of tobacco to do that. There are pipesters who fit that description, they are a small minority these days, but they probably weren't in the past."

I disagree. while pipe smoking is becoming more of a hobby, the majority of pipe smokers are still more likely to only have
a few pipes and smoke only a few brands. you aren't going to find too many of these pipe smokers on the forums, but that
is still the "silent" majority.

[HowlinWolf]

"If the mission is simply to deliver nicotine, it takes only one pipe and one kind of tobacco to do that. There are pipesters who fit that description, they are a small minority these days, but they probably weren't in the past."

I disagree. while pipe smoking is becoming more of a hobby, the majority of pipe smokers are still more likely to only have
a few pipes and smoke only a few brands. you aren't going to find too many of these pipe smokers on the forums, but that is still the "silent" majority.

An interesting point. The pipester who sticks to a few pipes and one or two brands probably wouldn't ever think of looking online for a place to discuss it - from his or her viewpoint, what is there to talk about?