Dunedan

Hi, my three roommates and I have been interested in pipe smoking for a little while, and are thinking of trying it out. Do you guys have any suggestions where we should start, ie beginner affordable pipes, and which tobacco to start with? We're college students so we don't have tons of cash to throw around :)

Brian J. Geiger

Since you're college students, I recommend starting with Missouri Meerschaum corncob pipes.  For the money, they're the best smoke you can get.  Get a few of them for each person.  Later, when you can afford pipes in the $50 range, go for Sasieni, Stanwell, and Brebbia pipes (as well as many more suggestions you'll see from others).

Pipe tobacco is another question.  Since you haven't tried a lot, you might want to go to your local tobacconist and ask for a sampler of all the bulk tobaccos (those are the ones in the big jars, or sometimes boxes and bags).  This will give you a large number to try of many different types, so you'll have a chance to find out what you like.

There are several things to keep in mind:

1. Don't give up.  It will start out a little tricky, but give it a little time and it will be fine.  You'll have to relight the pipe a lot.  As you get better, it'll be less, but even the greatest pipe smokers relight from time to time each bowl.  It's very rare to have one-light bowl.  If it weren't, there wouldn't be such a thing a pipe-smoking contests.

2. You will like the tobacco you like no matter what anybody else likes.  There is nothing wrong with any tobacco you smoke, even if others think it's nasty.  Of course, there's likely something even better over the horizon, so it's worth trying new blends, but just because someone else hates something, doesn't mean you don't like it.  "Like what you smoke, smoke what you like," is the common phrase heard around here.

3. Your tastes will change over time.  Guaranteed.  Sometime over years, sometime over days, and anything in-between.  Go with it; it's a lot of fun.

And keep on ASP to be with a great group of people and to learn more about pipe smoking.  This is probably the best community on Usenet right here.

Jay

I would highly recommend a good English blend like Dunhill Standard Mixture medium blend.  It smokes cool and stays lit with little effort.  It is CRITICAL you learn to pack a pipe properly and the basic rules of smoking a pipe before you start to break in a good pipe.  They are temperamental but if you are patient and careful they will give you years of enjoyment (unless of course some bait chucker steals it whilst you are fly fishing up stream).  A great source for Dunhill is J R Cigars on the net.  I pay 6 dollars per tin and it is always rushed to me via USPS Priority Post.  Look for these sites:

• http://www.jrcigars.com

• http://www.thepiperoom.com

You will find Charles very helpful at the pipe room.

Jon Fia

Corncobs are a good suggestion for a starter.  If you want to jump in for a quality briar at a decent price, go to:

http://www.iwanries.com

Click on the pipe super specials section, then click on the Stanwell section.  There you will find a good quality pipe and a great value at 25.00.

There is a huge assortment of tobaccos to choose from.  One I might suggest to try out for a beginner is Macbaren Mixture Mild.

smokey

For pipes, the corn cobs are a good suggestion. I have one more: Yard pipes from S&R Pipes and Pleasures (www.pipesandpleasures.com). These pipes are made of top grade briar that have small cosmetic flaws. I have two, and they both smoke great. You can get a medium bowl for around $20. If you have a good tobacconist in your town, that would be a good place to start for tobacco recommendations. If you are like me, and live in a rural area with no shops, call up Cornell & Diehl at 800/433-0080. Talk to Craig Tarler and explain your situation and ask him for some recommendations for one of his 5-tobacco samplers. This will give you a range to choose from. This is a great site for information.

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