Purchasing a Pipe

The first thing you need when you take up pipe-smoking is a pipe.  There are a few options for obtaining a pipe, but ignoring theft or making your own out of papier-mâché and chewing gum, i'd recommend getting one from a reputable pipe shop or tobacconists.

The common advice on the Internet is to buy a corn-cob pipe because they're apparently easier to smoke and you don't have to spend too much money to get one and get started.  If, like me, smoking is more about the aesthetics than the nicotine, then you don't want a corn-cob pipe, you want a sophisticated-looking briar wood pipe, and you don't care that it's going to cost a bit because, frankly, that's sort of the point.

 

Really good tobacconists, i.e., not the sort that also sell deodorant and soft drinks and that can be found in train stations, will be more than happy to explain to you what constitutes a good pipe and fill your brain with all sorts of information on how to get started.  Don't be afraid to say you haven't smoked one before.  Their job is to sell pipes so if they don't get you to buy one, by explaining how it all works, then they aren't going to sell many pipes.

Your other option is to buy online, but i think the in-shop experience is hard to beat.  i went to the world-famous Davidoff shop in Geneva and the staff there were extremely helpful and friendly.  This is possibly one of the best and certainly one of the most famous tobacconists in the world, and if they were prepared to help me, your tobacconists should be keen to help you.

In Geneva, it's reasonable to spend CHF120 to CHF200 (£60-100) on your first pipe.  Go too cheap and the pipe will be made with a poor quality of wood and may have tiny holes in it, usually filled with silk, which will show up in the light under careful examination, and which will change the way the pipe smokes.  Go too expensive and you'll have a big hole in your pocket for something you might hate.  i got into pipes from cigars, but there's no guarantee that if you like one, you'll like the other.

Also, try to get a pipe that already has a charcoal layer in the bowl.  This saves you having to smoke it in, which is very hard for a beginner when you're already overwhelmed with just trying to light it.  The pipe-shop-man that sold me mine also recommended a straight pipe.  He just said it was easier to smoke but i haven't heard that anywhere else.  Apparently a straight pipe is more modern and looks more elegant.  i'd have to agree.

Next there's the pipe size.  That's the diameter of the tube running from the bowl to the mouth.  The greater the diameter the more smoke you get.  6mm is a good start.  9mm is too much smoke for a beginner.  Again, this is pipe-shop-man advice, which seems sensible.

And then there's the filter.  Nowhere on the Internet-based research i did for beginner pipe smokers said anything about filters.  Pipe-shop-man told me that he always protects his mouth with a filter and that he changes the filter with every smoke.  Again, this seems sensible.

My first pipe, a Savinelli Appia, which is handmade, but of a predetermined form, comes with a balsa wood filter and there are a few filter options: paper, wood, meerschaum, or charcoal.  Basically, pipe-shop-man wasn't keen on paper or wood filters, and recommended the meerschaum which absorbs a lot of the moisture from the smoke and also cools the smoke.  Pipe-shop-man was keen on the charcoal filter as well, which he claimed was more effective than the meerschaum.  Regardless he still set me up with the meerschaum to start with.

It's certainly easier to just pick a cigar, snip, and light up, but i'm hoping the pipe, with all it's sophistication and choice of tobaccos will be worth the rather steep learning curve.