not also fond of using that one..

taking up the art of pipe smoking for sometime now but lack the kindly uncle to guide me through the mecahnics and accompany me to buy my first ever pipe. Surely a milestone in any (smoking) man's life.

I intend to take up pipe smoking full time. Frankly, I can't wait.

Myself and some friends all decided to take up pipes when we were in sixth form. We'd already done cigars, cigarettes and snuff. So we obtained a pouch of Clan and some pipes from assorted grandfathers and uncles. And smoked our pipes. We found that: They're difficult to keep alight. They stink when they're not alight. They do not lend you an air of gravitas if you're seventeen. And, most importantly, girls are not impressed by them.

We went back to Silk Cut. We still failed miserably with the girls but we didn't smell as much.

When I was at university, I astonished to find that Ben, the coolest and trendiest guy I knew, smoked a pipe in his room in secret.

He swore me to silence. And kept the pipe hidden out on the window-ledge.

and doing a mechanical engineering apprenticeship, I ended up doing a couple of months in the companies technical drawing dept. It was a mysterious room hidden away at the back of the workshop, well away from prying eyes.
I had a scream for a month, and a massive skive, and also got into pipe smoking. Both of the blokes who worked there smoked pipes continously, whilst i smoked my bensons (gitanes when i was feeling pretentious), they regarded cigarette smoking with disdain and advised me on the best pipe and tobacco to buy.
I joined in pipe smoking with these blokes whilst at work, out of work I was back on the ciggies, and whilst not an unpleasant experience, I realised it was not for me. However as lennylaw says, it really stunk and was a nightmare keeping alight, and not a particularly cool look.
You don't see people smoking pipes anymore

As a pipe smoker I can tell you now. From reading above most of you have tried smoking a pipe with the wrong approach. You can not pick up a pipe and instantly smoke to high standards straight away. Certainly not in a month. And that's smoking 3 times a day.

One point mentioned above is it keeps going out and doesn't stay alight. This comes down to learning to pack the tobacco properly in the pipe. That can vary from pipe to pipe and even tobacco to tobacco. Each has its own preference. Another thing is the actual pipe! The reason also that pipes go out. Is because pipe tobacco isn't pumped full of chemicals to keep it alight like cigarettes. So smoking a pipe is better for you!

Also mentioned is cheap pipes or second hand pipes. Bad idea. They could be damaged or bad smoker why there original owners got rid of them. A pipe isn't just a pipe. When buying a pipe. More important than price is construction. The most important thing is the draw hole should come out centre middle of the bowl at the bottom, not wall. The more expensive the pipe the better the fit and finish. Some cheap pipes are good smokers. But you got to now what your looking for!

From above aswell. It sounds like they were given poor advice on tobacco choice. Most tobacco kiosk in the uk do a very mediocre choice of pipe tobacco. Some of it truly terrible stuff. Just google pipe tobacco to see what's out there. The smell of a pipe tobacco is down to the tobacco blend your smoking and flavoring. If you get caramel, then it will smell like it. A beginner should smoke a mild aromatic. Like the american styles. You can get any flavour our there from fruit to caramel or rum or whiskey. The best advice is to find a proper tobacconist! Tell him your new he will ask you questions and advise you on tobacco choice and pipe choice.

Whoops sorry

Whoops posted 3 times

Surely no one under the age of 50 smokes a pipe? It reminds me of my late Uncle Gilbert, mean maths teachers and menacing newsagents. All pipe smokers generally look like Patrick McGee.

Do they still award Pipe Smoker Of The Year?

Very popular here in the middle east. A bit more social than a pipe and available in most bars.

un pipe