Tobacco for former cigarette smokers

J.S.

I have a friend who wants to try a pipe to help stop the desire to smoke cigarettes. I suggested G&H's Kendal Kentucky as it has OK nick and full flavor but not as much bite as a rope would have to a beginner. Any other suggestions?

kuzi16

for most people this approach of quitting cigarettes is not successful. Cigarettes deliver nicotine in a very different fashion than pipes or even cigars. it is such a different way of getting nicotine that often times people who smoke both cigarettes and pipes/cigars will stop mid cigar/bowl and light a cigarette.

when nicotine enters the lungs it gets to the blood faster and in higher, but shorter, doses. these higher shorter doses release the chemicals in the brain that then cause addiction.
since a pipe/cigar is a longer slower system of nicotine delivery the brain never gets the amount needed to really release the addiction level or craving satisfaction level.

im not saying that it wont work for anyone but i have found that it does not help quitting.

i dont wanna discourage enjoying premium tobacco products but i do want to state that pipes/cigars and cigarettes are not equivalent in any way shape or form.

J.S.

Kuzi,
Nice to see you over here on the pipe forum!

I agree completely that they are very different and I too have told him that it may not work for the reasons you have listed.

I think his issue is he likes the taste more then the addiction itself or so he thinks and he wants to keep the flavor and the movement to the mouth more then the buzz.

He had stopped smoking for 5 yrs and just started again and is thinking about alternatives but the e-thing is not what he wants.

J.S.

I should say also that the desire to smoke for him never stopped so he is really looking for something else to fill in the gap because he is just tired of fighting it.

Gray4lines

Maybe some good burley blends? I like Cornell & diehl burleys, also solani aged burley flake is awesome! The c&d burleys will definitely still have a kick, and I find them very satisfying for a more full flavor smoke.

Rain

Cigars helped me quit, but they were not the only reason. You have to want to quit because YOU want to quit. Cigars just kind of helped the "smoking" part, if that makes any sense. The bright side is I'm done with cigs and enjoy cigars now!

J.S.

Gray4lines:

Maybe some good burley blends? I like Cornell & diehl burleys, also solani aged burley flake is awesome! The c&d burleys will definitely still have a kick, and I find them very satisfying for a more full flavor smoke.

I love Solani, that is a great smoke. I have not tried the C&D burleys yet but they sound great. Thanks for the suggestion. I will point him toward these too.

xmacro

Great thing about pipes, you can also mix tobacco's to get whatever you lke. Burley leaf (nice recommendation by Gray4lines, the Solani Aged is pretty popular) is a pretty common "base" tobacco that a lot of pipers start with when mixing their own blends. If you can't buy or find something you love, you can just buy what you like and experiment/mix and match until you get something that you love

The three Luxury blends are a commonly recommended Viriginia dominated blend, Peter Stokkebye's Luxury Bullseye/Navy/Twist. Samuel Gawiths 1776 and Squadron Leader give a real nicotine kick (relatively anyway; strong kick for a pipe tobacco), and McClellands Orientals (IIRC, there are 7 or 8 of them) are very fragrant and delicate; great for retrohaling for hours on end.

Amos Umwhat

It's been my experience that I can give up all tobacco for anywhere from 6 months to 2 years, but that I'll always return. I LIKE to smoke. At times when I smoked cigarettes regularly, pipes and cigars didn't "do it" for me. The habit of the cigarette, the way it's smoked, doesn't translate well. You inhale, and that doesn't work.

For me, the answer is; quit the cigarettes first, for at least a few weeks.

After that, he just needs to find out what he likes. I'm smoking Captain Black Royal, the blue pouch, pretty much every day in the morning. After lunch I often smoke either Frog on the Town, which I've just recently found and come to seriously love, or the 221-B. Both are from McClelland, and if all their blends are this good, I don't see how you could go wrong.

I've also recently tried the Orlik flake, which isn't bad, but it reminds me too much of cigarette tobacco. I don't know if this would be a good recommendation, therefore, as it may simply prolong the addiction to cigarettes, or at least provoke the recent memory. I think that if I were still smoking cigarettes, I'd probably break that stuff up and make one out of it, and that's the road to return.

Tell him to keep at it, be patient. Before I quit cigarettes I had smokers hack every morning, wheezed on exertion, coughed up brown/black crap on a regular basis, and needed more than one blood pressure medication. Now, one or two pipes and/or one or two cigars a day, never think about a cigarette, and have none of those cigarette symptoms.

J.S.

Thanks for all the suggestions here. I think they are helpful.

mgk2020

Amos - totally off topic - how do you compare that Frog on the Town to Balkan Luxury? Took your advice and got it, enjoy it. I have the original Frog but haven't managed to try Town, Bayou, etc. yet. Just curious as to your thoughts on Town comparatively. Thanks. Mason

Amos Umwhat

The Frog is sweeter, more mellow, the Balkan Luxury is spicier, smokier if you will, and stronger. It pretty much has to be the last smoke of the day for me, because I'll be tasting it until tomorrow. Sometimes, I'm in the mood for just that experience.