Pipe Tobacco Smokers That Gave Up Cigarettes

[Chef455]

Hello Cigar and Pipe Smokers. I apologize for intruding on your part of the forum. But I am wondering if any of you came from a cigarette background. Let me expound...

I smoke cigarettes. Yuck. Gross. No really, it's disgusting. That being said I don't honestly believe I will be quitting anytime soon. Long story short I enjoy smoking. The ritual and the physical aspects of it.

But just like discovering DE razors I wonder if there is something more rewarding. I get it smoking is inherently not the best habit one can hang onto. But, if done with intention, with the idea that the process can be a forethought to be enjoyed rather than an addiction to be fed will the action be a "healthier " one.

Just a rambling thought. I appreciate any insight, input or comments.

 

[RookieGuy]

Ok, so I'm currently working on that. There's very much to this. There is absolutely nothing, seriously nothing, a cigarette can offer that a pipe, cigar, or almost every other tobacco delivery system available. So in that respect, it really should be a very easy transition, right? Just dial in your pipe nicotine to cigarette nicotine and those Marlboros end up in the same "Very Important Filing Cabinet", the circular one with the plastic bag lining.

But that's not what's really going on. That up there was the fairy tale, the big lie, take your pick. There's soooooo much more extra chemical junk in cigarettes. So in the end, it's not the nicotine you're fighting. It's comparable to deciding to kick your cola habit by drinking coffee. Sure, the caffeine in the coffee will easily keep those decaf demons at bay. But you'll still get those headaches because you're not getting any sugar or riboflavin or yellow number 5 or sodium or......

So in the end, you still have to quit smoking. You just don't have to worry about one of God knows how many you're still withdrawing from.

 

[SharpieB]

Chef, have you tried vaping? Just curious as that is way got me off the smokes after about 35 years of smoking. I still vape a tiny bit to get my nic fix from time to time and I smoke cigars when the weather is nice. Maybe a few a week in the Spring-Fall.

I don’t inhale cigar smoke and can go months the without even looking in my humidors. Cigars are now just a hobby not unlike shaving. I enjoy them and that‘s about it... they didn’t replace cigarettes for me and they never could IME. Too much of a time commitment and I can’t stand inhaling cigar smoke.

As rookieguy mentioned, it is all the chemicals that make quitting hard. I still crave a cigarette the odd time, but it is coming up on 7 years since I last had one.

 

[Chef455]

Chef, have you tried vaping? Just curious as that is way got me off the smokes after about 35 years of smoking. I still vape a tiny bit to get my nic fix from time to time and I smoke cigars when the weather is nice. Maybe a few a week in the Spring-Fall.

I don’t inhale cigar smoke and can go months the without even looking in my humidors. Cigars are now just a hobby not unlike shaving. I enjoy them and that‘s about it... they didn’t replace cigarettes for me and they never could IME. Too much of a time commitment and I can’t stand inhaling cigar smoke.

As rookieguy mentioned, it is all the chemicals that make quitting hard. I still crave a cigarette the odd time, but it is coming up on 7 years since I last had one.

I really need to take a hard look at my relationship with smoking. I do recognize a dependence on nicotine and who knows what else is added into my cigarettes. And there are certain times of the day I can feel that. That being said, a good chunk of that part it is habit. I am a weird smoker???

I have my patterns throughout the day but when it comes down to it, I think, I just really like smoking sometimes.-

I smoke at certain times of the day but if it falls outside of my "pattern/habit" that time of day is inconsequential.

I really like the ritual of smoking...
the physical packing of the pack of cigarettes, the lighter in my pocket, lighting the cigarette, the curl of the smoke as I exhale... some of you may get me.

So I'm just thinking, maybe I'm doing it wrong. If I am not going to part ways with smoking perhaps I should spend more effort on making my ritual more worthwhile.

 

[AimlessWanderer]

I had already dabbled with pipes before I kicked the cigs, and moved to vaping. However, I didn't want to live in fear of never having another smoke in case I got hooked again. Vape still handles the habitual side of things, while the pipe lets me have the occasional smoke (2 to 3 per week typically) without me craving another an hour later.

 

[Benzadmiral]

. . . I really like the ritual of smoking...
the physical packing of the pack of cigarettes, the lighter in my pocket, lighting the cigarette, the curl of the smoke as I exhale... some of you may get me.

So I'm just thinking, maybe I'm doing it wrong. If I am not going to part ways with smoking perhaps I should spend more effort on making my ritual more worthwhile.

There is a considerable ritual to pipe smoking for sure. I was never a user of the white sticks, so I can't say what they are like, but the pipe is a very involving ritual. The variety of tobaccos, the variety of pipe shapes and colors and textures and contrasts (between the briar of the pipe and the vulcanite or acrylic of the stem), the physical involvement of loading and lighting, cleaning and caring for the pipe, blending tobaccos . . . all very entertaining.

And each smoke, even in the same pipe with the same tobacco, can be a little different from the previous one. It's like that chaos theory that Dr. Malcolm expounds on in Jurassic Park: Little things can make big changes.

 

[EclipseRedRing]

I have never smoked a pipe but was a cigarette smoker for many years. For me personally, I smoked most of my cigarettes almost unconsciously; two or three every waking hour to keep the nicotine levels topped up. Only one or two cigarettes each day gave me any real pleasure, and that was simply ending the craving caused by the previous cigarette in an endless cycle. I get the idea that pipe smoking is a more refined, considered, and deliberate activity, that provides longer periods of satisfaction and relaxation, rather than simply a short nicotine hit to end a craving. I can also well believe that the tobacco used in pipe smoking is more pure with fewer chemical additives. I would certainly recommend switching from cigarettes to a pipe. Good luck.

 

[8 Track]

Cigs to pipe requires a completely clean break with no turning back for maximum effect IMHO.

 

[CapnCrunch]

Never smoked cigarettes, but I have smoked a pipe for almost 40 years. I think pipe smoking and wet shaving have a lot in common; I think we are a bit nonconforming, we take an old fashioned approach and make it new again, and, in my case, I am always searching for the "ultimate" tobacco blend and the "best" soap/cream. I enjoy the hunt I guess. I don't know if these are hobbies exactly (I don't collect pipes or razors) but it is nevertheless a kind of obsession.

 

[nico.gtf]

Hello Cigar and Pipe Smokers. I apologize for intruding on your part of the forum. But I am wondering if any of you came from a cigarette background. Let me expound...

I smoke cigarettes. Yuck. Gross. No really, it's disgusting. That being said I don't honestly believe I will be quitting anytime soon. Long story short I enjoy smoking. The ritual and the physical aspects of it.

But just like discovering DE razors I wonder if there is something more rewarding. I get it smoking is inherently not the best habit one can hang onto. But, if done with intention, with the idea that the process can be a forethought to be enjoyed rather than an addiction to be fed will the action be a "healthier " one.

Just a rambling thought. I appreciate any insight, input or comments.

Personally I smoke cigarettes and pipe, but they are so different that I don't think I would be able to do just with one.

Have you ever thought/tried rolling your own cigarettes?
I smoke Mac Baren's rolling tobaccos (the #No Name line), of course less convenient than the Lucky Strike/Camel cigarettes that I sued to buy, but no doubt the tobacco looks way better.
And it's great in terms of the ritual, too. Cheers!

 

[RookieGuy]

Personally I smoke cigarettes and pipe, but they are so different that I don't think I would be able to do just with one.

Have you ever thought/tried rolling your own cigarettes?
I smoke Mac Baren's rolling tobaccos (the #No Name line), of course less convenient than the Lucky Strike/Camel cigarettes that I sued to buy, but no doubt the tobacco looks way better.
And it's great in terms of the ritual, too. Cheers!

A guy at work does that. A pound of Great Stuff and 100 tubes gets him set for a while at under $35.

 

[ChefJohnBoy-ardee]

Hello Cigar and Pipe Smokers. I apologize for intruding on your part of the forum. But I am wondering if any of you came from a cigarette background. Let me expound...

I smoke cigarettes. Yuck. Gross. No really, it's disgusting. That being said I don't honestly believe I will be quitting anytime soon. Long story short I enjoy smoking. The ritual and the physical aspects of it.

But just like discovering DE razors I wonder if there is something more rewarding. I get it smoking is inherently not the best habit one can hang onto. But, if done with intention, with the idea that the process can be a forethought to be enjoyed rather than an addiction to be fed will the action be a "healthier " one.

Just a rambling thought. I appreciate any insight, input or comments.

As another chef... I never did cigs really. At one job I could take 20 minutes in the middle of the day once my PM crew showed up and I made sure they were set for service to smoke a partial pipe. I also smoked a pipe on the drive to and from work. I was good.

Moved on to a place with a no smoking policy on campus. Smoked a pipe in my car but couldn't get that longer break. I started using snus. I called it chef's attitude adjuster. Now I'm addicted. I don't mind. Being short staffed and running around the kitchen between the event kitchen and main line for the restaurant keeps me moving. I figure snus is better for me than the numerous energy drinks out there and too much coffee kills my stomach.

My two other chef's both used to smoke. They went to Juul. Now they switched to Glim. They are happy. They also use Zyn or On nicotine pouches on occasion but they also drink multiple Bangs a day...

Jakkobson snus last a long time for me. Talking 90 minutes so I go through two during a busy dinner service.

Just some anecdotal ramblings from another brother in a funny looking coat and ninja pants.

 

[LMcC]

I am a pack a day smoker and have been for at least 25 years. I’ve tried a couple times to smoke a pipe to reduce my cigarette consumption and it did not help. Same with the vape, I just made myself dizzy on vape juice. This is not to say other people will have the same experience. I do roll my own, and use American Spirit tobacco, which theoretically has no added chemicals, but I started smoking at 15, no 12 if we’re being honest, and it’s so much a part of who I am, that I don’t know how or what quitting would look like. That said, I started drinking at about the same age, and I’ve been sober for the better part of a year, so anything’s possible. A note about pipe tobacco - most of it is highly flavored, and flavor = more chemicals. I tried rolling my own with Good Stuff and a few others, and the results were not great. After a couple months I couldn’t breathe.

 

[Kentos]

I get my main nicotine fix from On nicotine pouches. Tobacco wise only pipes and cigars now.

 

[steveclarkus]

I gave up cigarettes by vaping and still get my nicotine hits that way.