Why do you guys smoke?

I have very few outlets as I don't drink, rent movies, play sports, or travel. The pipe provides me with enough enjoyment to take the edge off the worst of days.
Of course, I can't leave out the fact that I enjoy the taste and nic hit as well.

The serenity of the smoke ring, and the company of these fine folks.

but I won't take time to write about all of them here as the post would be so long no one would take the time to read it. I will comment briefly however.

I like feeling unique, somehow different than the average Joe. I never saw myself as a smoker. In fact I really don't see myself as one per sey now. I see myself as a throwback to an earlier time when things were simpler and life was better. I see my pipes as a piece of that earlier time and when I smoke them I feel somehow better about myself. I'm a mechanical engineer by trade and you don't have to look too far back in that history to see photo after photo of engineers working out a design issue with a pipe in hand. Then again, some members of my family were pipe smokers and when I think of them I somehow connect with them even beyond the grave. My pipes keep me grounded in the past while letting me explore the future. Then again, my pipes help me relax after a long hard day at the office. Together we unwind (not that they're uptight!) and somehow life makes sense again. They slow me down. They put a controlable ritual (the methodology of smoking - light, tamp, puff, tamp, etc) in place in the middle of an out of control world. And, back to my original point - the fact that I smoke a pipe makes me stand out in a crowd of cigarette and cigar smokers. Lets face facts: there simply are not that many of us left anymore. And, to a certain extent they let me feel a bit rebelious in the face of the anti-smoking idiots - I love to flaunt my pipes in their faces and thank God for the freedom in this great country where I still can flaunt to my heart's content.

Am I a smoker? No. Am I a Pipe Smoker? You bet and darn proud of it. Thats my take (in it's shortest form).

I would agree with all of my colleagues' responses. They were all solid, well thought out, and clearly expressed opinions. To me, and for me, pipe-smoking is the most pleasant process through which to enjoy whatever benefits there are in tobacco. And, I am a smoker, and have been for about 45 years.

There is a correlative thought regarding whether there is a discernible difference between smokers of pipes, and pipesmokers. This discussion might be better left for another time.

And helps me cope with the stresses of everyday life. Pipesmoking is a contemplative activity, it's no accident that some of history's greatest minds, like Einstein, have been pipe smokers. I'm also bi-polar and pipe smoking helps me cope with the problems of this disease. My family on my mother's side has a long history of Alzheimer's and nicotine has been shown to help with this.

Smokey

I don't drink, rent movies, play or watch sports nor do I travel.

The pipe, and on occasion, some female companionship is what makes differ from the dullnes that would overshade the world.

There is not one reason I smoke a pipe. I was a cigarette smoker for a time, so I substituted - but only after I'd stopped smoking, he he. A great deal of it has to do with an approach to life. Smoking a pipe is an unhurried affair & promotes contemplation. I love to contemplate. My grandfather & flyfishing mentor smoked pipes. That's good enough for me. And there IS the aspect of being different & not giving a damn. The quiet revolution. Not to stand out, but to say Up Yours, Society At Large. And pipes are beautiful - they're crafted wood. And it's tactile. I like tobacco - the nuances of it's taste. I like the choices it gives me. It provides little celebrations through the day. I've reached a stage where pipe smoking defines a great deal of my life - & that is not a too unpleasant state of affairs.

Many reasons. Most I won't go into here. I suppose, though, the core of it all is identity. A remember, as a teenager, trying to visualize who I wanted to be. I was a weird kid who took all the dialog from Kung Fu movies to heart and truly believed that you become what you want to be.

Now I wanted to be a scientist. I wasn't good enough at creating crack-pot theories and kissing ass (can you tell I've published?) and became an engineer instead. So, growing up, I tried to figure out what a scientist (and later, an engineer) was like. School showed me the work part, but Hollywood gave me the image of the lab filled with glass and weird equipment and the enduring image of the "hero" scientist or engineer with a pipe. Or course, images on Einstein with a pipe didn't hurt matters.

So, to pull all this together, I smoke now because the pipe is part of how I see myself. It'd seem strange to me *not* to have a pipe somewhere on my person. Now granted, I don't smoke that much (if it's a *really* stressful week, I'll smoke a bowl a day), but I've adopted and made the pipe a large part of how I present my personality. It's not a crutch or a prop, but a part of expressing *me*, relaxed and unpretentious.

I have smoked a pipe and only the pipe. I smoke all day long. I don't inhale and probably smoke ten times a day average.

I liked the idea as a youngster and it stuck with me. I am age 58 now. Never had the nasty cig habit nor the nasty habit of inhaling.

I am atheletic, walk two miles per day (while I smoke). I am an avid downhill skier in the winter (every weekend) so I must stay in shape, and I do.

Pipesmoking is an enjoyable and calming pastime. I shall take the pipe to my grave and fight for smokers' rights all the way!

Honestly, I have no idea. There are a lot of things that I enjoy about it, but I cannot say, "This is the reason why I smoke: [fill in the blank]."

Actually, when I think that all I am doing is taking a hollowed out chunk of wood and sucking the smoke of a burning weed through it, it seems a little odd. Of course, I also like to drink a liquid that is the result of yeast cells pissing alcohol and farting CO2. So there ya go.

haha, an interesting way to look at things.

I just like to smoke......
i hate cigarettes and it seems the pipe is an excellent alternative that seems to fit my lifestyle.
some of my friends dont get it.....but then again i dont expect them to.
if i enjoy it thats what counts....

just my two cents

I actually wrote a lot about this in two places...if you want to rad about it...you can look to the originals...

http://www.my-pipes....

and

http://www.my-pipes....

but the basic jist is

I think that about sums it up...

Cheers,

Josh

... it's my pacifier. I always sucked my thumb as a kid.

I love the smell, the taste and the nicotine. Pure and simple.

I am not very susceptible to nicotine but when it gets through I hate the buzz. Pipe aesthetics does not make me shivering. The social aspect... well, I mostly smoke at home and often nobody can see me. I love the taste of tobacco, though. Always liked but never thought that pipes can give an access to it. When I saw that they do I jumped to pipes immediately.

Pipe or Cigar smoking is always at the end of the day for me. It rounds out the day. I don't miss it during the day. It relaxes, helps me put everything into perspective. Why? My family has been in the biz since I was a boy. In those days, the pipe was king and cigars were for gangsters.

Well, I started at about 15, like others have said, I pictured myself thoughtful enough, studious enough and dignified enough to smoke a pipe. It was the me that I wanted to present to the world. But that's only a piece of the puzzle. There were long periods in the years since where Copenhagen snuff won the tobacco tug of war for top billing. When I came out of the military I became more a pipe smoker than ever before. Pipe smoking for a few years was my only tobacco. Now, Copenhagen makes occassional appearances but I doubt it will ever take top billing again. My life just isn't that fast (by both necessity and desire) anymore and taking the time to enjoy a pipe is more and more a nose that is properly thumbed at the hustle and bustle world that most of us move around in most of the time. The pipe is versatile; equally at home as a morning kick in the pants or as a cool down after a good meal or prior to retiring for the evening. It can help you to focus on a problem or forget about everything entirely and just relax. It is a wonderful and affordable luxury of life in a world where few such things still exist. And besides, I've now got the required years and experience to make pipe smoking look like the natural part of my identity that it is. Back when I first started, pipe smoking seemed like a big deal, I had to make sure everyone knew I smoked a pipe, tree stump hand mades and goopy aromatics that would fill a bowling alley with the pipe smell were what I was all about. It's what distinguished me from the average Joe and I made sure the world knew it. It still does distinguish me from the average Joe but with the blase' of middle age, pipe smoking is something I do for me, it's not a big deal that I insist the rest of the world acknowledge any more it's just part of who I am, what I do and how I look at life. After all, what self- respecting codger would be without a pipe and easy chair?

I think it goes back to my youth, when most of my favorite people were pipe smokers. Some teachers, a neighbor, all fine human beings that today would be known as "bad influences" for giving me the inspiration to smoke a pipe. I consider them good examples.

I'm a neurotic insecure and pessimistic little runt with a screwed up mind that can't think clear unless clouded by smoke sucked from burning weed. I also enjoy clouding annoying people around me with toxic foul smelling smoke.

And besides...........I like the taste and smell of it.