De nada, maddy.

I've never smoked a meerschaum, so I can't speak from personal experience. My instinct, though, is that your best bet is to start with a normal, briar pipe. That's the baseline for pipe smoking -- the gold standard, so to speak. The other pipe materials -- corncob, meerschaum, calabash, clay, woods besides briar -- can be interesting to explore, but, personally, I think you'll be better off if you establish a baseline with briar, first. Among other things, it'll make it MUCH easier for you to compare your smoking experiences with others'. Plus, briar is what tobacco blenders assume you'll be smoking. I don't want you to hurt your FIL's feelings or anything, but...

A decent Savinelli sandblast can be had for $40 or so. Or, actually, now that I think of it, I can send you a good starter pipe, if you'd like. If you decide you don't like pipes or whatever, you can always send it back.

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I was just curious as to whether you inhale pipe smoke or not?

Mady, I have a couple of pipes, but it's been at least 6 months since I smoked one. I like to explore the different blends, but I've been told more than once that a pipe should be dedicated to only one blend of tobacco. Since I don't know enough to have a favorite, and since I don't have a large number of pipes, I've never followed this advice though.

The problem I always had was that the smoke got very wet, to the point that sometimes I would draw nasty tobacco juices up the stem when I puffed. A Savinelli with the balsa inserts, like Urbi recommended, should prevent this. The Peterson system is also supposed to provide a dry smoke. I bought a Peterson, but have only used it a couple times, and I can't recall how well it worked.

I have a couple of Savinelli's, an Il Ceppo, a Stanwell, a Nording and a few others. Urbino had some great advice such as coating the bowl with honey before smoking the first time. I would like to add that while rusticated pipes are attractive to some, I like the look of the briar. The best ones are the ones with the birdseye at the bottom of the bowl and the grain going straight up the sides very close together. They cost a bit more but they are really nice. I am sure they smoke just he same as most of the others but buying a new pipe is always a treat for me so I get one that I really like. Also, grip the thing before you buy. See how it feels in your hand. I like a bent stem pipe but some prefer a standard straight one. A lot of smokers tend to only smoke one type of tobacco in a particular pipe so the flavor is the same. Also, they usually rotate pipes and don't smoke the same one often in one day. This is to give the briar a chance to cool down and dry out. I bought a $12.95 pipe from my local shop back home and it turned out to be my favorite because I just smoked it whenever I felt like it and ignored all the rules and it has been just fine. It was a Savinelli 2nd and works great. Overall, just enjoy it and forget the rules once in a while.

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I need a bigger humidor...

Big Dean:

I was just curious as to whether you inhale pipe smoke or not?

Nope.

Yeah, moisture and such can be a problem, Scrams. That's part of the craft of pipe smoking -- part I never quite got the hang of, which is why I don't smoke them anymore. You have to learn how to pack the bowl right in the first place (and it differs depending on the cut of the tobacco), and then you have to manage it properly while smoking -- tamping and such -- to keep it from getting too hot or too wet. There really is a craft to it.

I never had much luck with the Peterson system pipes. Peterson makes some nice pipes -- I own a couple -- I just never found their moisture-management system very helpful. When it comes right down to it, I think I just salivate so much while smoking, there'd have to be a tampon in the stem to hold all the moisture.

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Scrambler:

Mady, I have a couple of pipes, but it's been at least 6 months since I smoked one. I like to explore the different blends, but I've been told more than once that a pipe should be dedicated to only one blend of tobacco.

Yeah, I wouldn't pay too much attention to that, especially when you're just starting out. I mean, if you smoke both aromatics and non-aromatics, it'd probably be best not to smoke them in the same pipe for the same reasons you don't keep infused cigars in the same humi with normal ones. Or if you smoke a really light, mild non-aromatic in the mornings, and a darker, richer one in the evenings, you might not want to smoke them in the same pipe.

But as a general matter, I wouldn't pay too much attention to that one. I smoked whatever I felt like smoking in whatever pipe I felt like smoking it in at that moment.

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With all this talk about pipes, I'm gettin' the itch to get mine back out and give them another go.

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Scratch that itch...I've only smoked a pipe a few times (no idea even what end I was even supposed to be smoking) but I enjoyed it.

Sorry I disappeared for a little while, I've been 'out of pocket' as urbs would say. Thanks to urbi's generosity I now have a very nice briar pipe to start off with in my pipe smoking quest. (I also have a very nice calabash(sherlock holmes style) pipe from my Father in Law but I found out that it is actually quite rare and valuable so it will likely be a special occasions only pipe).

To go along with Urbi's generous gift I bought a couple ounces of some house blends, a pipe tool, a pouch for storing tobacco, accessories and pipes, a pipe lighter and cleaning supplies. The adventure begins!

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I don't wanna hold a job down if its just to make ends meet. I prefer rapid rise and faster falls, I wanna die the American dream.
~~ Josh Martinez

To go along with what urb has said, everything I've read has said to have one pipe for aromatics and one for non-aro's when you start out, for the same reasons urbi stated. The comments about a pipe for each blend is later down the road, when you have discovered exactly what it is you like and only smoke a couple of blends.

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I don't wanna hold a job down if its just to make ends meet. I prefer rapid rise and faster falls, I wanna die the American dream.
~~ Josh Martinez

Sounds like you're all set up, maddy -- broom and midget and whatnot. Even a pouch. What kind of pipes and blends did you get?

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Keep us informed on how your venture goes. I've never tried pipe smoking but my great grandpa used to smoke one so everytime I smell one now, it reminds me of him.

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Ron

Too busy smoking now to lookup any good cigar quotes.

urbino:

Sounds like you're all set up, maddy -- broom and midget and whatnot. Even a pouch. What kind of pipes and blends did you get?

Scratch the pipes part. I misread your post. Still curious about the blends, though.

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Well urbi, I bought Captains Delight and Cape Charles. I'm not real sure of the exact blends but they are non-aros and are more or less virginia blends I believe.The Captains Delight is almost all black.

I actually smoked my first bowl last night, Cape Charles. I couldn't keep it going and I'm sure I smoked it too fast but I thoroughly enjoyed it. It was very nice and relaxing. I made sure to keep the bowl cool enough where I could hold it and tried keeping it tamped down but I could never keep it going. I was constantly relighting but it was great. i'm actually going to hit up the B&M at lunch and smoke there, maybe get a little help.

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I don't wanna hold a job down if its just to make ends meet. I prefer rapid rise and faster falls, I wanna die the American dream.
~~ Josh Martinez

madurofan:

I couldn't keep it going ...

this is probably because the tobacco is a bit too wet. let it sit out for a bit before you smoke it when the package is fresh like that.

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