Hello, I'm Jeff.

I'm a teacher, a gun collector, an outdoorsman (camping and fishing), a motorcyclist/biker, a really nice guy, and a long-time pipe smoker.

My grandfather smoked a pipe when I was a kid. My parents have always been militant anti-smokers, and in the early '70s they bought my cigarette smoking grandfather a pipe since it isn't as bad for you. After that, he smoked a pipe for about 10 years before going back to cigarettes. So, my earliest memories of him (and his car and home) involved the smell of pipe smoke (I think he smoked Sir Walter Raleigh).

When I was 17 or 18 I picked up my first pipe myself. It was some kind of Dr. Grabow with Borkum Riff tobacco. I loved it, but... Back then it wasn't taboo to smoke in public, but as an 18 year old with a pipe I got all kinds of weird and nasty looks and after a few weeks I got tired of it. Plus, back then I hid from my parents that I smoked (well, I thought I did, how can you hide the smell of it) and the pipe and assorted accessories were a lot harder to hide than a pack of cigarettes. So, I threw it away.

At 21, while in college, I picked it up again. I bought a Dr. Grabow and a tobacco store basket pipe or two (one of the basket pipes was actually a really nice pipe- smoked and looked terrific). I got into some of the bulk aromatics at a local tobacco store. I only spent a year at that school, but kept with it when I returned home. Over the next couple years I picked up a decent collection of pipes, luckily only one or two wasn't a "basket" pipe (I no longer remember the brand). Why luckily- because I was also a cigarette smoker back then, and when I tried to quit at around 23 I also threw away my pipes.

Well, quitting only lasted a few months and when I went back to cigarettes I also started buying pipes and cigars again (I started the cigars at 22). When I quit cigarettes for good (at 25) I did not give up my pipes or cigars, so I still have those pipes.

Now, I am 40 so I have been smoking my pipes for around 19 years. I have a collection of pipes that runs north of 20 pipes. One Grabow, several basket pipes, but more and more they are good pipes- 4 Petersons, several Savinellis, Karl Erik, Stanwell, a meer, and some good, but more obscure names as well (one of my favorites is a nice sandblast Fe Ro from Italy). I am into English blends (love Latakia, hate Perique though), Virginias, and aromatics. I went through a few years where I blended my own.

Sometimes when I light up my pipes, it still brings back memories of my grandfather when I was a kid (the olfactory sense is very strong when it comes to invoking memories), but now it brings back a lot of other good memories from the past 20 years as well

A big howdy and welcome to BoB!

Jim

Welcome Jeff!! Hope you enjoy your stay!

A hearty deep-south welcome from a Born Virginian.

Decent Bio.

You can stay.

Nice introduction....welcome to the forum...be sure to search the fishing thread on here too.

Welcome, Jeff, you history sounds very similar to mine; teacher, Dr. Grabow first pipe in college, even your name. Too young to be me, though.

Hope you share your experiences and opinions often on the board.

Natch

Hey, welcome man!

Thanks for all the welcomes and for the thoughts on my bio.

Blue Max, which Savinelli 320 is that in your profile pic? I love that shape and really want one myself. While I do have a few favorite series for that shape (if I buy new it will be in one of 3 or 4 styles), if I buy on Ebay I could go with any style if the price and availability is right, I just want that shape.

Natch, a fellow teacher? What do you teach? I teach high school special education and social studies (social studies in a special ed classroom, not separately). I also often end up teaching our study skills classes and the classes for seniors covering transition issues. Our kids are normal in their cognitive abilities (from low average, to well above average) but either mildly "on the spectrum" (mostly Ausbergers when on the Autism spectrum), LD, or ED (we mostly have students with emotional disabilities).

Welcome Jeff! Which Petersons do you have?

Welcome!

Hmm, I was looking at my list of Petersons and I just noticed something...

They are all bents. Even the new (to me) Sherlock Holmes coming to me is a bent. I think I'd better get myself a Peterson in a straight pipe, just so I can have one. Maybe a Canadian or a Lovat, or a straight Bulldog. Darn, just what I need, an excuse to get another Peterson

Welcome. I'm a nice guy too. The wierd looks while smoking in public never goes away. I'm almost 54, and I still get all kinds of nasty looks and responses. Well, sorry, I got to be me. Glad you are here.

Ken

Welcome to the forum!