|
Source: (consider it)
|
Thread: Blacke stinking fumes: a pipe-smoking thread
|
Steve H
Shipmate
# 17102
|
Posted
Since it seems to be more or less the done thing on this ship to entitle special-interest threads with a quotation, I've used a phrase from King James I's 'A Counterblaste to Tobacco' for this thread. I disagree with James, being an enthusiastic pipe-smoker. A bit of history: in the 70s and 80s, I smoked both pipes and ciggies, but gave both up 20-odd years ago, giving up the pipes mainly to make giving up the cigs less difficult. 15 months ago, I decided to come back to pipe-smoking, remembering how much I used to enjoy it (I never really enjoyed cigs: I smoked them simply because I was addicted).
I think it's a great pity that cigs, the really dangerous and addictive form of tobacco, have given pipes, cigars and snuff, which are much less dangerous and not really addictive ast all provided you don't inhale, which you're not supposed to, a bad name, and all the sase ott legal restrictions as them.
Anyway - are there any more pipers on board?
I've got quite a collection of briars now, plus three meerschums, two corn-cobs, and an interesting collection of clays, mostly reproductions of historical (17th-19th Century) types. Tobacco-wise, I love Latakia mixtures and flakes especially (I sometimes hilariously call myself a Lat tin lover), especially Samuel Gwaith's 'Squadron Leader' and 'Commonwealth Mixture', and 'Punchbowle'. I also love 'St Bruno', the best over-the-counter (OTC) baccy in the U.K. in my opinion.
[ 14. May 2012, 11:10: Message edited by: Steve H ]
--------------------
Hold to Christ, and for the rest, be totally uncommitted.
Herbert Butterfield.
Posts: 439 | From: Hemel Hempstead, Herts | Registered: May 2012
| IP: Logged
|
|
Steve H
Shipmate
# 17102
|
Posted
Oh, and I'm a member of the Pipe Club of London. My pipes.
--------------------
Hold to Christ, and for the rest, be totally uncommitted.
Herbert Butterfield.
Posts: 439 | From: Hemel Hempstead, Herts | Registered: May 2012
| IP: Logged
|
|
Steve H
Shipmate
# 17102
|
Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Steve H:
Samuel Gwaith
That should be "Samuel Gawith". Incidentally, is it ok to provide links to pipe-smoking forums and pipe and tobacco company's websites, or would that contravene the commandment forbidding advertising?
--------------------
Hold to Christ, and for the rest, be totally uncommitted.
Herbert Butterfield.
Posts: 439 | From: Hemel Hempstead, Herts | Registered: May 2012
| IP: Logged
|
|
|
|
Bob Two-Owls
Shipmate
# 9680
|
Posted
I am an occasional pipesmoker (about once or twice a week). My favourite pipe is my incredibly long scandinavian churchwarden that I can smoke while resting the bowl on the table. Fortunately we still have one local tobacconist who sells loose pipe tobacco from jars, including lovely latakia blends and the blackest cavendish I have ever fumigated a room with. I have yet to find the perfect turkish slipper to use as a tobacco puch though.
Posts: 1262 | Registered: Jul 2005
| IP: Logged
|
|
Steve H
Shipmate
# 17102
|
Posted
A proper tobacconist, near you? Lucky you! I haven't had that for decades. There used to be a small but good tobacconist in Charing Cross Road, in London, which I've visited a few times in the last year when I've been in Londopn, called G.E.Smiths and Sons, but they closed down last autumn, after about 140 years of trading, which is very sad.
Gwai - thanks for the clarification. I won't post too many links, then.
--------------------
Hold to Christ, and for the rest, be totally uncommitted.
Herbert Butterfield.
Posts: 439 | From: Hemel Hempstead, Herts | Registered: May 2012
| IP: Logged
|
|
Piglet
Islander
# 11803
|
Posted
Gentlemen, would you please blow some of your pipe-smoke this way? ![[Smile]](smile.gif)
I'm an ex-ciggie smoker (but being female, haven't had the pleasure of pipe-smoking), but I love the smell of pipe-smoke (at least I did the last time I smelt it).
It has a wonderful nostalgia for me, conjuring up memories of my late Great-Uncle Willie, who had a rack of pipes in the window-recess in his house, and of groups of farmers in flat caps chatting on the piers of the smaller islands in Orkney as they watched the boat come in.
--------------------
I may not be on an island any more, but I'm still an islander.
alto n a soprano who can read music
Posts: 20272 | From: Fredericton, NB, on a rather larger piece of rock | Registered: Sep 2006
| IP: Logged
|
|
Steve H
Shipmate
# 17102
|
Posted
There are female pipe-smokers. If you now smoke nothing, then objectively speaking, you're probably best staying that way, but if you're tempted, you can get ladies pipes.
--------------------
Hold to Christ, and for the rest, be totally uncommitted.
Herbert Butterfield.
Posts: 439 | From: Hemel Hempstead, Herts | Registered: May 2012
| IP: Logged
|
|
Bob Two-Owls
Shipmate
# 9680
|
Posted
My grandmother smoked a pipe for most of her life. A lot of farmers wives used to be seen with a clay pipe clenched between their teeth. Why a clay pipe I have no idea but you rarely saw them with briars.
Posts: 1262 | Registered: Jul 2005
| IP: Logged
|
|
Steve H
Shipmate
# 17102
|
Posted
I've just received in the post, and am smoking as I type, this pipe, a Butz-Choquin 1320 Mirage, which sounds more like a sports car than a pipe. I like the copper-coloured stem, and the walnut finish (though it's made of briar, like most pipes). The photo is from the website of the Pipe Shop in Edinburgh, from whom I ordered it, but it is of this actual pipe. What it doesn't show is the grain on the other side of the bowl, which radiates out rather dramatically in all directions from a point low on the side of the bowl. It's smoking well so far, given that this is its first smoke, so it's not broken in yet.
[ 15. May 2012, 11:02: Message edited by: Steve H ]
--------------------
Hold to Christ, and for the rest, be totally uncommitted.
Herbert Butterfield.
Posts: 439 | From: Hemel Hempstead, Herts | Registered: May 2012
| IP: Logged
|
|
|
|
Steve H
Shipmate
# 17102
|
Posted
What's (or possibly who's) Kuruman?
[ 15. May 2012, 21:48: Message edited by: Steve H ]
--------------------
Hold to Christ, and for the rest, be totally uncommitted.
Herbert Butterfield.
Posts: 439 | From: Hemel Hempstead, Herts | Registered: May 2012
| IP: Logged
|
|
Uncle Pete
Loyaute me lie
# 10422
|
Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Steve H:
What's (or possibly who's) Kuruman?
Check the Ship's directory.
I gave up pipe-smoking 30 years ago when my little girl would stand next to me as I fired it up and say, blue eyes wide open, You're going to die, you know
Cold turkey. Don't miss it either.
--------------------
Even more so than I was before
Posts: 20466 | From: No longer where I was | Registered: Sep 2005
| IP: Logged
|
|
lilBuddha
Shipmate
# 14333
|
Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Bob Two-Owls:
My grandmother smoked a pipe for most of her life. A lot of farmers wives used to be seen with a clay pipe clenched between their teeth. Why a clay pipe I have no idea but you rarely saw them with briars.
My father has a nice collection of pipes. Meerschaums, briars, clay, etc. says clay had the best taste. And they are the cheap. Broke easily though. I suspect your gran smoked them because they were cheap and had a good taste.
Problem with clays is they do not give much conversation.
"I've got a new pipe, Bob." "Yes, what is it?" "Oh, it's a burl." "what type of wood, then? " "it's a rare one from South America. This wood only has burls under certain conditions, you see. When...."
As opposed to "It's a clay." "Oh, yeah they smoke nice." "Yeah. Break easy, though." <crickets>
Part of the experience, the discussions. My father has not smoked anything in a number of years, misses the habit not at all, but will still go on a bit about his pipes. If you ask.
--------------------
I put on my rockin' shoes in the morning
Hallellou, hallellou
Posts: 17627 | From: the round earth's imagined corners | Registered: Dec 2008
| IP: Logged
|
|
Lucia
Looking for light
# 15201
|
Posted
I've never smoked but on the rare occasions I come across a pipe smoker the smell immediately evokes happy memories of my Grandfather who smoked a pipe for most of his adult life. He used to amuse us kids by blowing wonderful smoke rings and normally had his pipe clenched firmly in his mouth especially when concentrating on something. I used to love the smell of his empty tobacco tins. He would give me them to keep and I would open them every so often just to sniff them.
Where I live now the normal pipe for smoking is this kind of thing. You can get beautiful decorative pipes. Cafes often have a variety of shishas with different flavoured tobacco you can order and men will sit round sharing it between them. It's a very communal activity. I inhale as I walk past the cafes as I really quite like the smell. So much nicer than cigarette smoke!
Posts: 1075 | From: Nigh golden stone and spires | Registered: Oct 2009
| IP: Logged
|
|
Steve H
Shipmate
# 17102
|
Posted
quote:
Originally posted by lilBuddha:
Problem with clays is they do not give much conversation.
"I've got a new pipe, Bob." "Yes, what is it?" "Oh, it's a burl." "what type of wood, then? " "it's a rare one from South America. This wood only has burls under certain conditions, you see. When...."
As opposed to "It's a clay." "Oh, yeah they smoke nice." "Yeah. Break easy, though." <crickets>
OR:
"I've got a new pipe." "What is it?" "A briar." "Nice grain..." "Yeah." "Smoke well?" "Yeah, not bad." <footballs>
As opposed to"It's a clay." "Oh - you don't see many of those these days." "No - they're made by a lady in Devon - she does reproductions of old historical ones." "Really? What's that one, then?" "Early 18th Century tavern pipe." "Love the long stem! I wonder how she makes them that long." "Yeah, me too. They colour up nicely, as well, and you get the pure taste of the tobacco with them..." (etc.)
--------------------
Hold to Christ, and for the rest, be totally uncommitted.
Herbert Butterfield.
Posts: 439 | From: Hemel Hempstead, Herts | Registered: May 2012
| IP: Logged
|
|
Ariston
Insane Unicorn
# 10894
|
Posted
This is probably an odd question, but do any of you know what kind of clay (earthenware, porcelain, glazed, etc) should be used to make a good clay pipe? I'm guessing from what I read above that it's probably a rather porous earthenware, but some good, well-vitirified porcelains might also stand up to the thermal shock of burning tobacco as well . . .
Hm. This could be another avenue for my nasty clay habit.
--------------------
“Therefore, let it be explained that nowhere are the proprieties quite so strictly enforced as in men’s colleges that invite young women guests, especially over-night visitors in the fraternity houses.” Emily Post, 1937.
Posts: 6849 | From: The People's Republic of Balcones | Registered: Jan 2006
| IP: Logged
|
|
Steve H
Shipmate
# 17102
|
Posted
Well, it's usually unglazed, but beyond that, I know not. The quality of the clay matters: poor-quality clay sticks to your lips, which is why the mouthpieces is often glazed, but good-quality clay doesn't. Most of mine are made by a lady called heather Coleman in Exeter (the "Lady in Devon" in my imaginary conversation), who uses a high-quality clay. There are glazed, porcelain pipes, such as a type popular in Germany in the early 19th Century, and others made nowadays. The old German ones were huge, with a detachable porcelain bowl fitted to a long stem.
--------------------
Hold to Christ, and for the rest, be totally uncommitted.
Herbert Butterfield.
Posts: 439 | From: Hemel Hempstead, Herts | Registered: May 2012
| IP: Logged
|
|
Steve H
Shipmate
# 17102
|
Posted
German porcelain pipe.
--------------------
Hold to Christ, and for the rest, be totally uncommitted.
Herbert Butterfield.
Posts: 439 | From: Hemel Hempstead, Herts | Registered: May 2012
| IP: Logged
|
|
|
|
Steve H
Shipmate
# 17102
|
Posted
The tavern pipe linked to above is, of course, unglazed, as clays usually are.
--------------------
Hold to Christ, and for the rest, be totally uncommitted.
Herbert Butterfield.
Posts: 439 | From: Hemel Hempstead, Herts | Registered: May 2012
| IP: Logged
|
|
Ariston
Insane Unicorn
# 10894
|
Posted
Hmmm . . . very interesting, especially the tavern pipe. I'm guessing that glazed ones usually have that decal-type decoration—more than just simple glazing, but an extra picture thrown on top? If that is the usual practice, why?
--------------------
“Therefore, let it be explained that nowhere are the proprieties quite so strictly enforced as in men’s colleges that invite young women guests, especially over-night visitors in the fraternity houses.” Emily Post, 1937.
Posts: 6849 | From: The People's Republic of Balcones | Registered: Jan 2006
| IP: Logged
|
|
Steve H
Shipmate
# 17102
|
Posted
Why not?
That particular pipe is made by Lepeltier, in America. Over here, Bewdley pipes and pottery make simpler, plain-coloured glazed pipes.
--------------------
Hold to Christ, and for the rest, be totally uncommitted.
Herbert Butterfield.
Posts: 439 | From: Hemel Hempstead, Herts | Registered: May 2012
| IP: Logged
|
|
Piglet
Islander
# 11803
|
Posted
It seems to me that the whole ritual of pipe-smoking is just as important, if not more so, than the taste. I can understand that; when I gave up smoking ciggies, I used patches, which were fine for making up the nicotine deficiency, but what I missed was the ritual of removing a cigarette from the packet and lighting it.
I used to have a couple of pipe-smoking friends who reckoned they spent more on matches than they did on tobacco ... ![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)
--------------------
I may not be on an island any more, but I'm still an islander.
alto n a soprano who can read music
Posts: 20272 | From: Fredericton, NB, on a rather larger piece of rock | Registered: Sep 2006
| IP: Logged
|
|
Steve H
Shipmate
# 17102
|
Posted
I went to my second-ever meeting of the Pipe Club of London, at the Thatcher's Arms in Great Warley, Essex, yesterday. As on the previous occasion, in April, another member had a small display of new pipes for sale at very discounted prices. I bought this rather lovely Blakemar 'Ball', and another, a no-name bent apple. The linked photo is of me smoking Sam Gawith's Balkan Flake in the Ball, a few hours ago. The main business of the meeting was the annual Radford Cup slow-smoking competition. We were all given 3 gms of Gawith and Hoggarth's 'Red'. I managed 38 minutes, which is a respectable enough time for a first-timer, but nowhere near the winning time of 81 minutes, achieved by an elderly German gentleman, and a new record. Great day, great chaps (and two chapesses).
--------------------
Hold to Christ, and for the rest, be totally uncommitted.
Herbert Butterfield.
Posts: 439 | From: Hemel Hempstead, Herts | Registered: May 2012
| IP: Logged
|
|
Steve H
Shipmate
# 17102
|
Posted
Currently smoking St Bruno in a Butz-Choquin 1320 Mirage, which sounds more like a sports car than a pipe. My latest baccy order has just arrived: 50 gms Sam Gawith 'Squadron Leader', 50 gms Sam Gawith 'Scotch Cut Mixture', and 50 gms Gawith and Hoggarth 'Red'. Gawith and Hoggarth are an off-shoot of Sam Gawith. G&W Red is the baccy used on Saturday, in the Radford Cup slow-smoking competition, mentioned in the previous post, and jolly nice it was too - mild, and slightly swwet, with a fruity hint. I'll try some of the new lot later today.
The Butz-Choquin, which is French, is one of only two foreign-made briars of my 17 briars in total, the other being an American one, made by a gentleman called John Lakatosh, who was an amateur or semiprofessional pipe-maker in the 80s. Mine dates from 1987, but was previously unsmoked when I got it.
--------------------
Hold to Christ, and for the rest, be totally uncommitted.
Herbert Butterfield.
Posts: 439 | From: Hemel Hempstead, Herts | Registered: May 2012
| IP: Logged
|
|
Steve H
Shipmate
# 17102
|
Posted
I see now that I've already made that crack about 'Butz-Choquin 1320 Mirage' sounding more like a sports car, upthread. Oh well.
The Lakatosh.
[ 22. May 2012, 11:36: Message edited by: Steve H ]
--------------------
Hold to Christ, and for the rest, be totally uncommitted.
Herbert Butterfield.
Posts: 439 | From: Hemel Hempstead, Herts | Registered: May 2012
| IP: Logged
|
|
Sir Kevin
Ship's Gaffer
# 3492
|
Posted
My late father would buy a new pipe from time to time, smoke it for a few weeks, then put it away, never to be smoked again. He preferred cigarettes.
That said, I never smoked cigarettes, but took up pipe and cigar smoking seriously in my mid-twenties after I became a father. Before I was thirty, my GP warned me off pipes, telling me I could get cancer of the tongue. I stopped. I resumed pipe smoking and the occasional cigar when I turned fifty. Last year, I found that not only had I managed to bite through the lucite stem of my pipe, but it wouldn't draw well regardless of what I did to clean it. I tossed it into the bin. I expect never to return to it, though I may take up cigars in moderation.
Smoking at work is problematic, because we only have fifteen-minute breaks at the theatre and it often took several minutes to get the pipe drawing well; on my second job, supply teacher, smoking is unequivocally banned anywhere within site of the campus.
I do miss the pipe!
--------------------
If you board the wrong train, it is no use running along the corridor in the other direction Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Writing is currently my hobby, not yet my profession.
Posts: 30517 | From: White Hart Lane | Registered: Oct 2002
| IP: Logged
|
|
Welease Woderwick
Sister Incubus Nightmare
# 10424
|
Posted
Steve H - I can't get that link to work and I've tried for a while - is it working okay for you?
--------------------
I give thanks for unknown blessings already on their way.
Fancy a break in South India?
Accessible Homestay Guesthouse in Central Kerala, contact me for details
What part of Matt. 7:1 don't you understand?
Posts: 48139 | From: 1st on the right, straight on 'til morning | Registered: Sep 2005
| IP: Logged
|
|
|
|
Welease Woderwick
Sister Incubus Nightmare
# 10424
|
Posted
It's working fine now, thanks - I think I came in between you posting and then editing and I didn't refresh.
--------------------
I give thanks for unknown blessings already on their way.
Fancy a break in South India?
Accessible Homestay Guesthouse in Central Kerala, contact me for details
What part of Matt. 7:1 don't you understand?
Posts: 48139 | From: 1st on the right, straight on 'til morning | Registered: Sep 2005
| IP: Logged
|
|
Steve H
Shipmate
# 17102
|
Posted
Currently smoking St Bruno in a Bent Dublin which I won in a raffle at my first meeting of the Pipe Club of London, in April. Dublins have a conical bowl, inside and outside. It's an estate (pipe-world euphemism for second-hand and previously smoked), but it's a rather high-quality pipe, sold by Astleys of Jermyn St, the high-class tobacconist in London, now defunct. St Bruno really is fantastic stuff, for an over-the-counter baccy!
--------------------
Hold to Christ, and for the rest, be totally uncommitted.
Herbert Butterfield.
Posts: 439 | From: Hemel Hempstead, Herts | Registered: May 2012
| IP: Logged
|
|
|
Thread closed
Printer-friendly view
![[Waterworks]](graemlins/bawling.gif)
