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Retrogasm

Retrogasm

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Aug 10, 2014
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...a newborn pipe smoker.

Hello everyone. I picked up a pipe for the first time only a few weeks ago but I've been steadily immersing myself in all of the minuatiae of the craft ever since. I'm still getting more duds than winners when I smoke but every now and then I hit paydirt with amazing tasting bowls. With all the variables in a smoke (pipe, tobacco cut, pack, wind, etc), I'm hoping to iron out the results a bit with time and experience.

I've been Reading the board for a while but figured I'd sign up in order to tap you guys for knowledge and advice as this hobby progresses. I already have something of a Frankenstein that I need to post in the Pipe Rack section and see if you guys can figure out its' constituent parts.

See you folks around the board  :D 
 
Retrogasm":ban9zv9s said:
...a newborn pipe smoker.

Hello everyone. I picked up a pipe for the first time only a few weeks ago but I've been steadily immersing myself in all of the minuatiae of the craft ever since. I'm still getting more duds than winners when I smoke but every now and then I hit paydirt with amazing tasting bowls. With all the variables in a smoke (pipe, tobacco cut, pack, wind, etc), I'm hoping to iron out the results a bit with time and experience.

I've been Reading the board for a while but figured I'd sign up in order to tap you guys for knowledge and advice as this hobby progresses. I already have something of a Frankenstein that I need to post in the Pipe Rack section and see if you guys can figure out its' constituent parts.

See you folks around the board  :D 
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Who's There?

Welcome sir!
Just remember to take your time and not rush a bowl and to have patience.
And if truth be known, not all my bowls are wonderful but, I always look forward to the next that will be near perfect.  ;)
 
Welcome!  I hope you start finding blends you enjoy more often.  

"T"
 
DrT999":9g0pcx8x said:
Welcome!  I hope you start finding blends you enjoy more often.  

"T"
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Well, it's probably not the blends as much as it is the man. I guess I'll find out over the course of the week, I just picked up a package from across the pond: Early Morning Pipe, Presbyterian, Escudo, FM On The Town and about 17.5oz of SG Balkan Flake.

Reminds me of when I was 6 and went to the candy store for the first time  :bounce:
 
Welcome! I have found a wonderful community on this board and I hope it will be the same for you!
 
Good tobacco choices. If you run into problems these are the boys for answers.
 
Welcome. May I ask how you got into flakes so early? They are amazing but also a fairly complex variable for a new pipe smoker. There is so many guys here you can talk to about tobacco preparation, don't hesitate to ask.
 
Thanks everyone. As for the why of the flakes Juan, that just seems to be a byproduct of the types flavors that I'm looking for and not a conscious decision. I'm trying to get a baseline for what I can get out of a tobacco by comparing what I taste when smoking it compared to reviews like the ones on this board, so that means I pick up tins that have made the rounds among the more veteran smokers who seem to favor flakes.

I confess that I cheat though, I mostly rub them out rather than smoke them whole. Much as you say, I find it difficult to get a good bowl through folding or the likes, and at the same time I'm still figuring out my pace and draw in order to get the most of a tobacco. I figure next level techniques can wait for a while yet, but yeah, feeling pretty confident you guys can adress whatever questions pop up along the way.

Looking forward to being able to post outside links here on the board so keep an eye out for a PAD&TAD post in the near future  ;) 
 
I generally rub my flakes out pretty well too. I also dry all my tobacco fairly thoroughly. I'll sometimes leave it a broken flake but I barely fold and stuff anymore. The big reason probably being I smoke mostly British or American flakes which are irregular or a little thick. The first flake I used fold and stuff on was Mixture Flake. It's a really mild flake by MacBaren. It's really thin. Like Navy Flake or Dunhill's Flake. Plugs, I generally cut to flakes then rub or shave them to a shag. So i don't really smoke flakes as flakes and am pretty much doing what you were remarking. Some of the guys talk about throwing a chunk of plug or those spun medallions in their pipe and just smoldering them but i can't get that going to any real satisfaction.
 
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