Who's right?

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My sympathies brother. I guess you have your latakia pipe there. Enjoy you smoke when nobody else is around to look at you with it.
 
Rob_In_MO":p9peks5n said:
Who is right?

Over the years, i've developed a simple and preferred method. Try different techniques and then use the one that works for you. Whether it comes from a Master or not, if it works for you and you enjoy your smoke - then it works...
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AMEN!!! I could not have put it better! I am curious as to just EXACTLY what denotes an an "expert" though. I've smoked a wide variety of pipes, both size, quality and shape as well as variety's of tobacco over the past 40+ years and DO NOT consider myself any sort of EXPERT. I'm just a guy who has and does smoke a pipe. I'm really no different than someone who has been smoking for 2 years other than my total amount of smoking experience . I've always wondered just WHAT designates an EXPERT. I guess if you make your living in this tobacco industry, this would designate such a level? If I use this for a definition, a recent MBA grad who just went to work for Phillip-Morris would be an expert?
 
As far as so called "experts" go I also have to say that I don't believe there are any. Even if there are a handful out there, i believe they'd be humbled enough from the years of piping to see themselves as no different from the next smoker. You see, to me at least, pipe smoking is an ever changing thing in the fact that there is ALWAYS something more to learn, something else to try. There's no possible way anyone has experienced everything this hobby of ours has to offer, for that reason among others you can call me a nay-sayer. Especially in this day and age, pipe smoking has seen a resurgence, which may sadly lead to a bit of hierarchical though in some peoples heads leading to a whole chiefs and indians mindset, along side a greater array of pipes, tobaccos and any combination of them. This little renaissance we're experiencing is a good thing, but it's important to remember there's always more out there to learn, in fact the learning aspect is the part of smoking I enjoy most.
 
If you want a black belt in martial arts, all you need do is buy one off the Internet.

If you want to earn a black belt in martial arts, you need quite a few years of dedicated practice, failure and success.

Who an "expert" really is at that point, is up to whoever is receiving the information, not the person giving it.

I see pipes in a similar fashion. Except no one punches you in the face for not blocking properly. Well, a fella or two here might, just for laughs. :lol:

8)
 
My dad's definition of an "expert"---

'That's a person that can put their mouth to a mule's butt and blow the bits out of its mouth.'

Jim..thankful for his many words of wisdom
 
monbla256":w4qsjxz7 said:
I've smoked a wide variety of pipes, both size, quality and shape as well as variety's of tobacco over the past 40+ years and DO NOT consider myself any sort of EXPERT. I'm just a guy who has and does smoke a pipe. I'm really no different than someone who has been smoking for 2 years other than my total amount of smoking experience.
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To a newbie or a relative newcomer, that would make YOU the Expert that they would come to for tips/suggestions/advice.
 
Seems to me that the actual practice of smoking a pipe is pretty simple. There are a few techniques that can help avoid problems but given enough time most people can figure this stuff out on their own. I think expert status is more applicable to the knowledge which surrounds the practice itself. Some are collectors of specific pipe brands and have encycolopedia-like memories for nomenclature, dating, rarity, etc. Others master blenders who understand tobacco, it's varieties, and can use them in an artful and controlled way to create tasty blends.

Saying I'm an "expert" smoker, however, is a little like saying I'm a hopscotch "expert". :p
 
The advice you get from a B&M expert is in most cases in the best interest of the B&M. But then if she's got massive cleavage, I'll do whatever she tells me to do whether she knows anything about pipes or not.
 
jlong":eurp4gvz said:
The advice you get from a B&M expert is in most cases in the best interest of the B&M. But then if she's got massive cleavage, I'll do whatever she tells me to do whether she knows anything about pipes or not.
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By a previous definition, she should blow into one end of your pipe, shouldn't she?
 
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