I thought I would kick off this thread about making the switch from Cigarettes to Pipe. What I will do is start off with my story, and if you are an ex-ciggy smoker with a pipe instead now, let's hear your story, opinions, tricks/tips, etc. It seems there are people out there that want to make the switch but there doesn't seem to be a ton of resources out there about it, so we'll make one here!
I have watched the price of my cigarettes go up regularly year after year and always told myself how this time I am going to quit, but I never do. With prices nearing $10 a pack, it's getting too expensive to be a pack-a-day man. When my older son got old enough to know what I was doing outside (smoking), I don't want him to grow up into a smoker. I've tried other things... gum, snus, etc to give up cigarettes but with limited success and each time falling right back to cigarettes. So with many reasons to quit ciggs and a renewed motivation, I took to the internet.
I found some articles about the health benefits of making the switch from cigarettes to pipe or cigars. Although you are still technically smoking tobacco, it appears that many of the health risks are cut in half by jumping from ciggs to pipe. Probably because of the chemicals and processed nature of cigarette tobacco vs pipe tobacco, and probably because you generally don't inhale pipe smoke into the lungs. With ciggs it's like a race to burn them down as fast and often to get the nic fix. Pipe tobacco also has less nicotine levels than cigarettes, for the most part. So the switch may help ease back the cravings over time, which would help to quit completely, eventually.
So that was enough to convince me it was worth giving it a shot, for the health reasons at the very least. It was midnight and of course I couldn't wait until the next morning. I wanted to try out the pipe as an alternative, but what I didn't know was I had smoked my last cigarette. I went to the local 24 hour CVS Pharmacy and bought a Missouri Meerschaum corn cob pipe for like $7 and a bag of Captain Black tobacco at $9.50 for the white 1.5oz pouch. I went home, packed a bowl, puffed away. It was good, but I knew I was a hack and I was doing something wrong. My tongue was getting steamed, the smoke was bitter, the corn cob bowl was very hot. It also didn't feel like my nic craving was completely satisfied.
I went back online and read about proper smoking techniques. I then found an article by a published author of a pipe magazine (They have pipe magazines??) who made the switch, and the one trick he advised, if you are to switch over completely, is to occasionally, in the beginning days, inhale the pipe smoke into the lungs, but not all the time. Like once or twice a bowl. Then cut it back until you don't do it at all. This is to help get you that nicotine rush you get with cigarettes to help make the transition.
So the next day (Saturday) I wanted to conduct an experiment... with a bag of pipe tobacco that cost the same as a pack of my smokes, could I smoke the whole amount in one day? So I smoked the hell out of that corn cob until I was so sick of smoking. It was nice out, and I was outside most of the day anyway, so I just went with it. I didn't come close to emptying the bag. So needless to say, once you get the pipe, the tobacco purchases are WAY more economical than a daily cigarette habit.
Also, I did inhale the pipe smoke and it crushed the nicotine cravings. It was usually when first lighting the bowl I took a drag from that first light, then puff normally for the rest of the smoking session. It was harder to get used to holding the pipe differently than a cigarette... if I had the pipe in my mouth I would instinctively go to grab it between my fingers like a cigarette, which lead to a couple of cob fumbles. Whoops!
The next day (Sunday) I went to a tobacconist shop seeking a 'starter' pipe and some good tobacco. He led me to the display of basket pipes and I picked out a nice one for $29. I got also got 2 pouches of bacci for $7 each. Also the pipe tool, pipe cleaners, etc. The purchase came to $49 which was still cheaper than a carton of ciggs that I would have bought that day by $10.
That gave me enough supplies for the first week and a half of pipe smoking. Since then I have picked up more tobacco at a Walgreens Pharmacy and at Hanford Supermarket (Who had Captain Black regular-white pouch for $6.99 and Carter Hall for $3.99 a pouch.)
Since starting on pipe I have not touched a cigarette. Oh, and I had been carrying a fresh pack with me for the first week in case I wanted to go back to ciggs, but I never did, and I let a buddy of mine smoke them, so now I don't have that safety blanket any more.
Also, very quickly I stopped having any phlegm to cough up in the mornings. My throat is not rough or raw, my voice not marred by smoking. But yeah, I don't miss getting up and coughing up junk in the mornings any more!
So I am definitely surprised I have stayed with the pipe faithfully this long. But what's more, I have been smoking FAR LESS! A pack of ciggs a day... that's a LOT of smoking sessions per day. 20 to be exact. When I started with the pipe, I made sure to go smoke whenever I would have had a cigarette. But the last week or so the cravings have been less... so I go out less. The last few days... I have only gone to smoke 4 times in total all day!! I didn't think I would ever get through the morning coffee at 5am or 6am, or the morning commute without smoking... but now my first bowl is my smoke break at work at around 10:15ish in the morning.
I think some of what's helped cut back the amount too is the lazy gene... it's easy to step out and puff away at a cigarette or half a cigarette or whatever, toss and be done. But to get the pipe, grab the tobacco, pack the pipe, light, re-pack, re-light and so on. You need to commit to it and put the effort in. And when you clean the pipe at the end of the night, you may have gone for one more smoke afterwards, but no, the pipe is already cleaned, just skip it and go to bed.
As I discussed the pipe discovery with friends, I was surprised that several people had a father or uncle that actually switched from cigarettes to pipe just to eventually quit altogether. This made me think back to an early memory of my dad smoking a pipe. I remember asking him why he was smoking a pipe, and he told me it was to remind him that it's bad for his health... which to a kid seemed to make sense. Then I remembered seeing pictures of my dad smoking cigarettes way back in the day, before I was born. He had switched to a pipe to quit smoking! So there it is, I am now apparently following a family tradition now.
Of course now I am getting better at smoking the pipe. I am enjoying the subtleties of the flavors, and have found it to be very relaxing and enjoyable. There's a part of me that doesn't want to quit completely... I think my goal now will be to save one relaxing bowl at night, once the kids are in bed, and that's it. I can't imagine getting to enjoy the pipe this much and not staying with it... although I know the health benefits of quitting altogether are the best reasons to give it up. But I do think the relaxation from pipe smoking probably helps the health in some way... at least the mental health. I suppose the argument for quitting altogether is probably a topic to be argued on a different forum though!
So if you have been thinking of making the switch, go for it! With so many reasons to do it, it's silly not to give it a try. I hope others who have made the switch will chime in with their personal experiences, tips, etc to help others take the plunge. I hope my story helps inspire others to try going the way of the pipe. I also hope that anyone with questions about switching over will also post... and remember, this is a post for the people. I am getting the ball rolling, and everyone is welcome to keep it going!
Here are some of the articles I found online. This is a good one from Pipepedia:
http://pipedia.org/index.php?title=Good-Bye_Cigarettes,_Hello_Pipe!
It's a reprint of an article by Steve Fallon published in The Pipe Collector, the North American Society of Pipe Collectors newsletter.
Here's one which is a prospective study on the health benefits of switching from cigarettes to pipe or cigars:
http://www.bmj.com/content/314/7098/1860.abstract
Another interesting article basically by a pipe smoker who researched what to consider for the risks of pipe smoking (although they are less than the risks of cigarettes):
http://graemets.tripod.com/Safer_Smoking.htm
An official looking study about tobacco smoke exposure of pipe/cigar vs cigarettes:
http://ajph.aphapublications.org/doi/pdf/10.2105/AJPH.77.11.1412
Good luck, and see you on the boards, fellow pipers. Cheers!
I have watched the price of my cigarettes go up regularly year after year and always told myself how this time I am going to quit, but I never do. With prices nearing $10 a pack, it's getting too expensive to be a pack-a-day man. When my older son got old enough to know what I was doing outside (smoking), I don't want him to grow up into a smoker. I've tried other things... gum, snus, etc to give up cigarettes but with limited success and each time falling right back to cigarettes. So with many reasons to quit ciggs and a renewed motivation, I took to the internet.
I found some articles about the health benefits of making the switch from cigarettes to pipe or cigars. Although you are still technically smoking tobacco, it appears that many of the health risks are cut in half by jumping from ciggs to pipe. Probably because of the chemicals and processed nature of cigarette tobacco vs pipe tobacco, and probably because you generally don't inhale pipe smoke into the lungs. With ciggs it's like a race to burn them down as fast and often to get the nic fix. Pipe tobacco also has less nicotine levels than cigarettes, for the most part. So the switch may help ease back the cravings over time, which would help to quit completely, eventually.
So that was enough to convince me it was worth giving it a shot, for the health reasons at the very least. It was midnight and of course I couldn't wait until the next morning. I wanted to try out the pipe as an alternative, but what I didn't know was I had smoked my last cigarette. I went to the local 24 hour CVS Pharmacy and bought a Missouri Meerschaum corn cob pipe for like $7 and a bag of Captain Black tobacco at $9.50 for the white 1.5oz pouch. I went home, packed a bowl, puffed away. It was good, but I knew I was a hack and I was doing something wrong. My tongue was getting steamed, the smoke was bitter, the corn cob bowl was very hot. It also didn't feel like my nic craving was completely satisfied.
I went back online and read about proper smoking techniques. I then found an article by a published author of a pipe magazine (They have pipe magazines??) who made the switch, and the one trick he advised, if you are to switch over completely, is to occasionally, in the beginning days, inhale the pipe smoke into the lungs, but not all the time. Like once or twice a bowl. Then cut it back until you don't do it at all. This is to help get you that nicotine rush you get with cigarettes to help make the transition.
So the next day (Saturday) I wanted to conduct an experiment... with a bag of pipe tobacco that cost the same as a pack of my smokes, could I smoke the whole amount in one day? So I smoked the hell out of that corn cob until I was so sick of smoking. It was nice out, and I was outside most of the day anyway, so I just went with it. I didn't come close to emptying the bag. So needless to say, once you get the pipe, the tobacco purchases are WAY more economical than a daily cigarette habit.
Also, I did inhale the pipe smoke and it crushed the nicotine cravings. It was usually when first lighting the bowl I took a drag from that first light, then puff normally for the rest of the smoking session. It was harder to get used to holding the pipe differently than a cigarette... if I had the pipe in my mouth I would instinctively go to grab it between my fingers like a cigarette, which lead to a couple of cob fumbles. Whoops!
The next day (Sunday) I went to a tobacconist shop seeking a 'starter' pipe and some good tobacco. He led me to the display of basket pipes and I picked out a nice one for $29. I got also got 2 pouches of bacci for $7 each. Also the pipe tool, pipe cleaners, etc. The purchase came to $49 which was still cheaper than a carton of ciggs that I would have bought that day by $10.
That gave me enough supplies for the first week and a half of pipe smoking. Since then I have picked up more tobacco at a Walgreens Pharmacy and at Hanford Supermarket (Who had Captain Black regular-white pouch for $6.99 and Carter Hall for $3.99 a pouch.)
Since starting on pipe I have not touched a cigarette. Oh, and I had been carrying a fresh pack with me for the first week in case I wanted to go back to ciggs, but I never did, and I let a buddy of mine smoke them, so now I don't have that safety blanket any more.
Also, very quickly I stopped having any phlegm to cough up in the mornings. My throat is not rough or raw, my voice not marred by smoking. But yeah, I don't miss getting up and coughing up junk in the mornings any more!
So I am definitely surprised I have stayed with the pipe faithfully this long. But what's more, I have been smoking FAR LESS! A pack of ciggs a day... that's a LOT of smoking sessions per day. 20 to be exact. When I started with the pipe, I made sure to go smoke whenever I would have had a cigarette. But the last week or so the cravings have been less... so I go out less. The last few days... I have only gone to smoke 4 times in total all day!! I didn't think I would ever get through the morning coffee at 5am or 6am, or the morning commute without smoking... but now my first bowl is my smoke break at work at around 10:15ish in the morning.
I think some of what's helped cut back the amount too is the lazy gene... it's easy to step out and puff away at a cigarette or half a cigarette or whatever, toss and be done. But to get the pipe, grab the tobacco, pack the pipe, light, re-pack, re-light and so on. You need to commit to it and put the effort in. And when you clean the pipe at the end of the night, you may have gone for one more smoke afterwards, but no, the pipe is already cleaned, just skip it and go to bed.
As I discussed the pipe discovery with friends, I was surprised that several people had a father or uncle that actually switched from cigarettes to pipe just to eventually quit altogether. This made me think back to an early memory of my dad smoking a pipe. I remember asking him why he was smoking a pipe, and he told me it was to remind him that it's bad for his health... which to a kid seemed to make sense. Then I remembered seeing pictures of my dad smoking cigarettes way back in the day, before I was born. He had switched to a pipe to quit smoking! So there it is, I am now apparently following a family tradition now.
Of course now I am getting better at smoking the pipe. I am enjoying the subtleties of the flavors, and have found it to be very relaxing and enjoyable. There's a part of me that doesn't want to quit completely... I think my goal now will be to save one relaxing bowl at night, once the kids are in bed, and that's it. I can't imagine getting to enjoy the pipe this much and not staying with it... although I know the health benefits of quitting altogether are the best reasons to give it up. But I do think the relaxation from pipe smoking probably helps the health in some way... at least the mental health. I suppose the argument for quitting altogether is probably a topic to be argued on a different forum though!
So if you have been thinking of making the switch, go for it! With so many reasons to do it, it's silly not to give it a try. I hope others who have made the switch will chime in with their personal experiences, tips, etc to help others take the plunge. I hope my story helps inspire others to try going the way of the pipe. I also hope that anyone with questions about switching over will also post... and remember, this is a post for the people. I am getting the ball rolling, and everyone is welcome to keep it going!
Here are some of the articles I found online. This is a good one from Pipepedia:
http://pipedia.org/index.php?title=Good-Bye_Cigarettes,_Hello_Pipe!
It's a reprint of an article by Steve Fallon published in The Pipe Collector, the North American Society of Pipe Collectors newsletter.
Here's one which is a prospective study on the health benefits of switching from cigarettes to pipe or cigars:
http://www.bmj.com/content/314/7098/1860.abstract
Another interesting article basically by a pipe smoker who researched what to consider for the risks of pipe smoking (although they are less than the risks of cigarettes):
http://graemets.tripod.com/Safer_Smoking.htm
An official looking study about tobacco smoke exposure of pipe/cigar vs cigarettes:
http://ajph.aphapublications.org/doi/pdf/10.2105/AJPH.77.11.1412
Good luck, and see you on the boards, fellow pipers. Cheers!
