Hello all,
The name here is Jay. I’m a new member and this is my first post. Some of you may know me from other forums such as Smokers Forum, Grayfox and Pipes.org but for those of you who don’t, sit back, spark up a pipe and let me bore you with the details…lol

I started smoking a pipe at the age of 18. My first pipe was a $15.00 wall pipe that had a tobacco leaf carved in the side of the bowl. I thought this was the best pipe in the world. It wasn’t until I gained more experience that I realized the area where the bowl and the shank meet was nothing but a big glob of wood putty. The funny thing is that this pipe is still in service to this day. With my second pipe, I broke the bank at $20.00 for another wall pipe with less wood putty. lol

By this time I was hooked on collecting pipes and figured it was time to upgrade to something much better but money was still an issue. In my town of North Providence, R.I. a good friend by the name of Roger Bacon, owner of Jolly Roger’s Smoke Shop introduced me to a new line of pipes he was starting to carry. Boswell. I bought my first Boswell for only $45.00. I was a standard bent with a tan finish. I smoked this pipe constantly. Maybe even too much but I loved it. For those of you who have no or limited knowledge of Boswell pipes, J.M. has his own special coating that he puts on the inside of every bowl to help the break in period and provide a cool smoke from the first light which is especially helpful to new smokers afraid of tongue bite. Within a few months I bought my first freehand. My wife thought I was crazy for paying $80.00 for a pipe, (actually I did too) but now realizes what a good deal this was. I packed that thing with Vanilla Cavendish and started puffing away.

I am now 35 years old and have been married to my high school sweetheart for 15 years. We are both originally from Rhode Island but decided it was time to raise our two daughters in a more stable, family friendly state so we hopped over the state line and bought our first home in Connecticut where we have been for the past 3 years now. I have been a correctional officer for the state of Rhode Island for the past 7 years now and my wife is a medical technician for a hospital here in Connecticut and currently working on getting her nursing license.
Due to my limited finances I tend to stick to moderately priced pipe makers such as Ardor, Armellini, Brebbia, Bjarne, Butz-Choquin, Don Carlos, Peterson, Il Ceppo, Mastro de Paja, Nording Peterson, Pipa Croci, Radice, Sasieni, Savinelli, Ser Jacopo, Paul Winslow and others of such however my favorite maker is J.M. Boswell. I’ve always been attracted to larger freehands with a mix of smooth and rough texture and colorful acrylic stems which is just what he is known for. Not to mention his prices, although have gone up a bit within the past few years, are very reasonable. Plus the customer service is second to none. Even though my current collection is small I’d estimate about 80% are Boswell’s.
As far as tobacco’s go I started out like many new pipe smokers do and enjoyed aromatics only however my tastes have changed over time and now I enjoy many different blends. In fact I have a very broad palate if you will. I could be in the mood for a nice mild aromatic at the moment and then a few hours from now crave a strong Virgina or creamy Latika laced English. I just recently started a cellar and have about 30 cans of different blends maturing some of which with very respectable dating.
Because of my hectic work and home schedule I seldom find the time to chat and post on my favorite forums as much as I would like to however I’m going to try and reserve some time within the next few weeks to photograph my collection and post it on a photobucket account. When I do I’ll be sure to include a link in my profile.


Well by now you’re probably tired of hearing me so if you’ll excuse me I’m going to spark up a bowl of Frog Morton and dive into a good book. I bid all of you happy smoking!!!

Oh by the way, while browsing the site I noticed we have some amateur radio hams in the house. Being a technician I would love to chat with you guys sometime. Feel free to contact me anytime! N1TNT

Welcome, Jay!

Which hospital is your wife at? One of my good friends is also getting her nursing training and cert. in CT, at Yale-New Haven Hospital.

Thanks for the welcome Doc. My wife currently works for Backus hospital in Putnam.

Welcome Jay!
We're always glad to welcome a fellow pipe fanatic, It helps us when justifying PAD & TAD to our spouses.
on Bro!

Ah, up in the "Quiet Corner." Beautiful up there! (I was born and raised on the shoreline.)

Welcome to the board Jay!

Hello and welcome!

LtMac

welcome from one boswell lover to another!

Welcome aboard Jay!

Welcome !!

Welcome, always happy to see another member of the law enforcement community. The Frog Morton and a good read are another thing we have in common. Merry Christmas

Hey from Canada Jay! Welcome to the boards.

A warm welcome Jay.

Paul