A Better Pipe Smoking Community

I went through an almost identical process - both with pipes & tobacco. Started on aro's, went through the entire gamut of varieties & am now fixed on Va flakes as a core with more English coming into the mix during winter. Pipe-wise, after accumulating every manner of shape & size, I settled on Italian makers for a while. I too thought Dunhills were plain. Then I started collecting GBD's, with a few Dunnies as well. Now it's classic shapes for me. And I still love my Pete's through it all. Yes, it is funny.

I'm also a sewer rat but don't post there very often. I do like to see some of the very beautiful custom pipes but will probably never end up collecting them (although I have a few customs). Classic lines & old wood is what I appreciate most. I also love Pete's, not just the old English pipes - they have a unique classicism about them that I find very appealing.

While Petes were my first love I decided that I have enough and that I prefer the wood in the Italian pipes.
That was before I got my Barling, now I know what a really old pipe feel like, and I can tell that there is a huge difference in holding a 1990 (possibly) Savinelli and a 1960's Barling, I could tell which is which just by touching the wood (without feeling the shape).
I wonder what was the "life" of that pipe from the factory somewhere on England to a flea market near my house.
But I think that my major taste change was from bent pipes to straight. While at first I loved the OmPauls and other full bents, right now I prefer the Canadians, Lovats and other types of long sranked pipes.
While I don't care much for the big names like Dunhill or Castello I want to get some artisan pipes, specially from the ones that we can talk with, Sparks, ckr, Askwith, Quagliata and others.

I found the old site in September of 2008 when I first moved to DC. Having a bunch of time on my hands, as I had not found a new job. At that time, I spent most of my afternoons smoking two different aromatics. One called Saint Nicks, an aromatic cherry blend, the other blend was similar to 1Q.

During October of those years 1OldGI always mentioned Codger Burley's (PA, Carter Hall, Half and Half, Edgeworth) and Heritage Blends (Old Joe Krantz, Pegasus, Haunted Bookshop). I followed the burley kick for many a month, and in spring of 2009 I found english blends, by way of Penzanze. I later discovered all of the Frog Morton series.

A month ago I VA blends, and VA/Per blends. But I am now on an aromatic kick again.

But this is one place I can't be wrong. Borkum and Captain Black to start out 30+ years ago along with several from Tinder Box. About three years ago when I got serious, I started sampling. I still smoke mostly aro's, but am pretty solid with my 'Island Selection' of eleven that I've had for a year.
Pipewise, I always enjoyed freehands in a bent dubby shape. I lean tward capped bent dubby's now as they hang well and are easier to scoop into the pouch with. I've got lots of Pete's and find them predictable and worth the money. My wiley's are lovely, smoke well, but a tad heavy. I don't know, maybe I'll look into estate's soon, pretty happy with my choices though...

I'll still be doing overtime trying to pay off this third grandchild's opening to the new world. Then it's Christmas and both taxes again. My hope is to get in a hunt next year. I still have a dozen one pound jars to fill for this year, but hopefully that's it for PAD/TAD until 2011. I said 'hopefully' so don't all jump.

I don't just smoke 'mild aro's', but I reserve the serious tobac's for MY TIME which, again, I make very little of. 2015, 5110, Dark Star, Milan's 965 and Squadron Leader are for great books, great movies, great friends and to celebrate great times. I have five out of my forty or so pipes and of those straights, only the 'cool as hell' little Stanwell Vario poker get much use. Just not as comfortable the way I smoke'm. Hey, Bishop's Move could be voted on to the 'Island', very nice weed. Aro's for being around people just seem to work out better and around my wife, (not that she's not people, well.. she's really not to me, ah hell, let's not go there).

Thanks for the offer, but I can't. Really sucks because SoCal appears to be one of the SUCKIEST places for us. It's probably a good thing I treasure my own company.

I would like to get one more poker...

Come to NY state where the gov is worthless and on the way out after the last gov Elliot Spitzer put himself out, the county executive just changed from Dem to Repub to seek the GOP nod for the guv race; and the local town is bankrupt and the MTA (all NYC bus subway and suburban commuter rail service like the Long Island Railroad) is bankrupt, school districts are out of funds and laying off teachers.....etc. My run on sentence is intentional. And just imagine for a moment, that I live in an affluent upscale university town with "renowned" schools. There are not enough votes in the rest of my lifetime to vote out all the wrongs that have taken place for the last 40 years that have brought us to the place we find outselves today. And when we vote out all the people in Washington, who is on deck to move in? I really feel between a rock and a hard place. That is why I retreat to my pipe and the hope of a home in the Vermont countryside where nobody can find me. Even the landline phone sucks. All I get are automated robo calls from political action groups and scams of every conceivable nature. I too am on blood pressure meds so I am going to shut up now.

But I still do not have any Penzance. We are all sh!t out of luck one way or the other.