Taboo?

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Irish Mike

Irish Mike

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I am a former cigarette smoker, therefore I am accustomed to inhaling when I smoke. When smoking a pipe I sometimes will inhale lightly a couple of times during the course of the bowl. Is this considered a piping taboo? Do any of you occasionally sneak an inhale when enjoying you favorite tobacco?
 
Especially with the first 1/3 of the bowl when it's so mild & sweet. Not much towards the end.
 
I don't think it's entirely frowned upon, but not very common in most countries. A lot of tobaccos I smoke would make me cough and choke if I inhaled, even though I inhale cigs. Milder things like Prince Albert don't bother me, but I still don't inhale them unless I really feel the need for a nic fix. If you want to do it, that's fine, but I spare my lungs the agony. They take enough abuse already.
 
The other night one of my friends who smokes cigarettes asked to try one of my pipes. He of course inhaled it...through the entire bowl. But I could tell the first one was a doozy. As for if it's Taboo or not, I'm sure it depends on which circles you run. I certainly wasn't offended when my friend inhaled. I just thought he was crazy :D
 
I suppose as far as the practice is concerned I fall somewhere in the middle. I was a cigarette smoker for a long time and certainly inhaling is par for the course. When I smoked cigars with regularity, I did find myself inhaling at random intervals, though thankfully never a whole stick. When it comes to pipes, I can't say as I have ever inhaled a drag. I do tend to inhale the smoke that seeps out of my mouth in through my nostrils, but that's it. Now to the more important part of the question... Is it taboo? I have to echo the sentiments of the other brothers here in that who cares? Genuinely, there are old school pipers and new, there are more preferences and pecadillos than you can count, and for everyone who says you're doing it wrong, you'll find someone who says "me too". In the end, it is your pipe and it is your experience that matters. Do what you love, smoke what you like and above all, enjoy yourself.
 
I am still a cigarette smoker and do inhale pipe smoke often. I really don't enjoy it more but do it for the nic.
If I am trying to not smoke cigs I will fire up some Prince Albert or Carter Hall.

Just don't inhale Royal Yacht unless you let it cool very well in your mouth first trust me on that.

 
CigarKen":bo23hfvh said:
I am still a cigarette smoker and do inhale pipe smoke often. I really don't enjoy it more but do it for the nic.
If I am trying to not smoke cigs I will fire up some Prince Albert or Carter Hall.

Just don't inhale Royal Yacht unless you let it cool very well in your mouth first trust me on that.
Click to expand...
NAAAAH ! Suck that smoke down and get the BIGGEST nic hit of your life ! :twisted:
 
Your lungs!
Of course you know meat is bad for you, caffeine is bad for you, alcohol is bad for you, sugar is bad for you, TV is bad for you, sitting in front of a computer screen is bad for you, driving is bad for you, owning guns is bad for you (just kidding on that one), drinking too much water is bad for you, more than ten minutes of sunlight is bad for you, not enough exercise is bad for you, not listening to your mother is bad for you. I probably missed a few but you get the idea!
 
As a cig smoker going to the pipe, inhaling is almost automatic at first. After a little time at it, though, the technique will naturally modify itself to accomodate the best flavor. You don't really have to think about it, it'll start to happen as you follow what gives the best taste with less burn. That usually ends up meaning smaller, slower puffs. Inhaling as you would a cigarette wont be as reflexive nor will it make as much sense. JMHO.
 
I smoke a few cigarettes a day and I suppose because of that I retain the urge to inhale while smoking the pipe. But the saving grace of pipes is that they are not customarily inhaled. I tell myself that I'll live longer to enjoy smoking more pipes if I don't inhale, and thus I almost never do.
 
I simply can't smoke a bowl of DFU or DFS without inhaling. I love the stuff.
Inhaling a good hit of Condor is fantastic. Revor Plug is even better.
I figure that spaced out over the entire bowl, I probably inhale 20-30% of the time.
Gotta watch it towards the very bottom. Gets pretty hairy. I think I coughed up a toenail one day.
 
I used to smoke cigs, and my lungs thanked me when I quit.

I developed a revisit of asthma and allergies about five years after the cigarettes (which I had in childhood, but stopped with cigarettes, oddly), and merely took it as "that's the way I worked." Enter the pipe, and the ambient smoke and random wisps that likely enter my lungs, the allergies diminished and asthma went away again. My lung function actually seemed to increase, contrary to smoke-free (or hooked on deathsticks), as being "totally clean" meant my lungs just rebelled against everything else unavoidable, from dust, dander to pollen. Maybe it works 'em out a bit. *shrug*

Cigarettes are a quantity-over-quality thing. I think lungs can sometimes benefit with a little smoke, but not too much, so pipes for me are "having my cake and eating it, too." As for wanting to inhale pipe smoke? I figure, why bother? My lungs can't taste much anyway.

So taboo? No. Like Yak said, your smoke, your choice, brother. :) As long as you're healthy and happy.
 
 
Smelled about the same way.

There were two kinds of it.

The hydrogen sulfide was the gaggy one.

The mills ran 24/7. People in the neighborhoods spent their lives immersed in it from the cradle on up.

The late night movie on TV used to be called "Swing Shift Theatre." One day a month the shifts "swung" so that instead of working 12 hours, you worked 24.

:face:
 
Thanks for the replies guys,

good stuff Yak, I love photos of Americas great industrial past.
 
I pretty regularly do what I believe is called the "French Inhale" method of inhaling the smoke thru my nose after letting it pour of of my mouth. It's the only way I inhale pipe smoke, and I believe it adds to the tobacco's flavor and overall nicotine "hit" you receive. I do this occasionally throughout the bowl, but with pretty much all of my tobaccos. Some are definitely stronger than others.

 
The reverse is called "snorking" or "retrohale," where a bit of smoke in mouth is forced gently through the nasal cavity and out the nose. Really opens up the flavor receptors and dynamics of one's smoking, too, you suddenly find things you only thought were there or didn't realize existed.
 
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