I have been smoking a pipe for twenty years and do not consciously inhale. Yes, a little slipstream or incidental inhalation may occur, but it not of sufficient quantity to affect me. When I do accidently inhale a drag, usually because of indigestion or something like that, I cough like the dickens. It is reassuring to note the findings of the 1964 Surgeon General’s Report with regard to life expectancy of pipe smokers vs. cigarette smokers vs. the general population. I think what most people today would consider heavy pipe smoking (>5 bowls per day) has a negligible effect on overall health and that the benefits to one’s psyche far outweigh the negatives.
Well, I quit cigarettes about 2 years ago… Back then I was smoking 2+ packs a day… When I smoke Dokha, I definitely inhale and hold… But with a pipe… I would venture to guess that most of the puffs taken are not inhaled at all… But at the same time, a few time per bowl, I will draw the smoke in my mouth for a second and then shallowly inhale it. I don’t know… I don’t do a whole bowl that way… Just a few puffs per bowl… and it’s not really something I do with any intention, as it’s just how the course of my pipe sessions work out… also, usually, a couple times a bowl I intentionally snork, so I can get a grasp of the highnote of the tobacco I’m smoking.
I’ve actually smoked some Irish Flake and did inhale, and it was intensely harsh… and moment’s later I was setting down my pipe cause it kicked me in the kiester…Lol…
@darkly Yikes! That stuff kicks me in the kiester just by tasting on it.
Gentlemen of this congregation, if you deem Irish Flake strong I would like to hear what you have to say about Samuel Gawith’s Bracken flakes.
Bracken Flake is about as strong as 1792 Flake (I think its the same baccy with different flavouring) but brown ropes are even stronger!
I think the depth of the inhalation needs to be accounted for. When smoking cigarettes, the inhaled smoke is smooth going down and can get right to the base of your lung. When i do unintentially inhale my pipe, its only to the top.
I’ve been smoking Irish Flake on an average of twice a week. C&D’s Old Joe Krantz packs a bigger punch to me. It’s all in the body chemistry, I guess
My taste came a long way since I first started. I started out liking Virginias, then came Latakia. I thumb my nose up at USA’s OTCs. After having my first bowl of Prince Albert, all that changed. I found out that my favorite blends are made right here at home with the burleys.
Regarding inhaling or not, one must consider the type of smoke in question to determine if inhaling has the desired effect. Cigar smoke and most pipe smoke is an alkaline smoke while cigarette and dokha smoke are acidic. Your lungs can only absorb nicotine from an acidic smoke. To inhale cigar smoke will give you that deep lung burn sensation, which some people enjoy and seek out (more power to you), but you will not get any more nicotine. You absorb all the nicotine from alkaline smoke across the mucus membranes in your mouth and sinuses. The added “buzz” one gets from inhaling these types of smoke is due to oxygen deprivation not nicotine absorption. My personal opinion on inhaling alkaline smoke is that you do the damage to your lung tissue and get very little in compensation (unless of course you simply enjoy the sensation of hot smoke in your lungs). Any pipe tobacco blend containing latakia or cavendish (which is 95% of all aromatic blends) will be alkaline, blends containing only straight virginias and burleys will be acidic.
Ultimately, to each his/her own.
That about sums it up Mr. Nose… right on all counts.
I would start with a corncob pipe and you don’t inhale pipe smoke or at least it’s not meant to be inhaled.
Actually trying to talk to this member on the thread now is rather pointless since she was banned…
Awwww… fail.
@ Harlequin, are you sure about this? If true, may I ask why she was banned?
I’m sure. I asked cstokes4, actually. Apparently it was her rant on “ebonics” that did it because she was bugging the mods after it happened and the thread was closed. Oops, guess I might disappear now too.
I don’t inhale my pipe. I play with the smoke though. And say it’s best to focus a lot on what you’re doing with a pipe. When you are smoking one just right it is a sublime pleasure.
banned? oopsi!
I’m not interested in this one but maybe someone on the forum might be,
for reference anyway, as a pipe smoker, i started on an estate briar, cleaning it out first… not a bad cheap pipe from ebay, good cake too. now i can probably pass it on with whats left of my tobacco for some decent snuff, if anyone is interested.
I had my first real attempt with a pipe last night … (not counting adolescent experimentation all those years ago :-" ) well, kind of two attempts actually. I figured get something cheapo to play with, and appreciate that this will affect my experience, but as a “is this for me” tester it made sense. I used a mega cheap £2 mini corn cob, and a 6mm filtered cherry hardwood bent both from the same manufacturer. The tobacco was Dark Birdseye Shag. First impressions is that it was a monumental pain in the posterior getting the thing lit, and even when it did it would go out very quickly if I wasn’t continually drawing. No real surprises there as I’ll need practice packing the bowl efficiently. Aside from that the taste was extremely different from what I’m used to, but certainly worth trying again. The mini corn cob was a complete fail, and had better luck with the cherry as it had a larger bowl to work with and allowed me to tweak and poke and fiddle to try and get it to function. I did however feel like a Wookie had mistaken my mouth for a lavatory when I woke up this morning, and the tongue is a little tender, so I think I got a bit of tongue bite from battling with them a bit (more with the mini corn cob than the cherry I think). I probably need to try again in a couple of days, and play around with different compression of the tobacco until I figure out the sweet spot
^ practice makes perfect, the key to pipe smoking is to go SLOW or tongue bite is sure to follow