Opinions on this inexpensive cob for a newbie testing the waters

[dj1340]

I think Zippo's are a bit of nostalgia. They have butane inserts to replace the fluid one for older lighters. I have a Zikar that looks
very much like yours. Works great.

You may need to get a straight blade knife or something to scrape the sides of the pipe down after a bit. The sides will slowly build up and need to be scraped down.
After I do that i put a tip in some rum and wipe the inside down after cleaning it. Gives your pipe a nice flavor for a bowl or 2.

Start with an aromatic tobacco I think. Hell I started with Captain Black from the drug store many years ago.

One thing I can suggest is when you get tobacco check how wet it is. If it's wet it can be difficult to keep lit. Also it will give you a bit of tongue burn as you smoke it.
I leave mine on a paper towel for up to a day to dry out a bit. Buy pipe cleaners in bulk on ebay or amazon. You'll go through them fairly fast depending how much
you smoke. Over time I've become a sipper of the pipe and not drawing heavily on it. Gets hot and not very enjoyable in my book

[jrfoxx]

I think Zippo's are a bit of nostalgia. They have butane inserts to replace the fluid one for older lighters. I have a Zikar that looks
very much like yours. Works great.

You may need to get a straight blade knife or something to scrape the sides of the pipe down after a bit. The sides will slowly build up and need to be scraped down.
After I do that i put a tip in some rum and wipe the inside down after cleaning it. Gives your pipe a nice flavor for a bowl or 2.

Start with an aromatic tobacco I think. Hell I started with Captain Black from the drug store many years ago.

One thing I can suggest is when you get tobacco check how wet it is. If it's wet it can be difficult to keep lit. Also it will give you a bit of tongue burn as you smoke it.
I leave mine on a paper towel for up to a day to dry out a bit. Buy pipe cleaners in bulk on ebay or amazon. You'll go through them fairly fast depending how much
you smoke. Over time I've become a sipper of the pipe and not drawing heavily on it. Gets hot and not very enjoyable in my book

Thanks. Great information.

Had forgotten about the Zippo butane inserts as both of mine have the Navy logo and have never been used. They are display pieces along with various Navy themed/banded cigars, as a display of crossover items of 2 things I love and are/were a big part of my life and who I am.

Everyone seems to have their own method of drying the tobacco a bit I've noticed.

I was thinking an all Spanish cedar cigar box, just like is done for cigar dry boxing. I would think the dry cedar would do a good job at sucking moisture out, especially set in the sun on my windowsill.

I'm not a fan of any flavored, infused, sweetened, etc tobaccos. I Smoke cigars because I love the taste of good, unadulterated tobaccos. I have tried flavored, infused and sweetened tips cigars and they just weren't for me.

Based on that, and advice from numerous long time pipe smokers, here is what I thinking to start out with (1oz each):

Cornell & Diehl Red Virginia Ribbon Pipe Tobacco
Cornell & Diehl Bright Virginia Ribbon Pipe Tobacco
Cornell & Diehl Autumn Evening Pipe Tobacco
Newminster No. 702 Light Burley Pipe Tobacco

For $2.50 an ounce, if I don't like something, I won't cry over it, and just move on.

I friggin love cigars

[jrfoxx]

I think Zippo's are a bit of nostalgia. They have butane inserts to replace the fluid one for older lighters. I have a Zikar that looks
very much like yours. Works great.

You may need to get a straight blade knife or something to scrape the sides of the pipe down after a bit. The sides will slowly build up and need to be scraped down.
After I do that i put a tip in some rum and wipe the inside down after cleaning it. Gives your pipe a nice flavor for a bowl or 2.

Start with an aromatic tobacco I think. Hell I started with Captain Black from the drug store many years ago.

One thing I can suggest is when you get tobacco check how wet it is. If it's wet it can be difficult to keep lit. Also it will give you a bit of tongue burn as you smoke it.
I leave mine on a paper towel for up to a day to dry out a bit. Buy pipe cleaners in bulk on ebay or amazon. You'll go through them fairly fast depending how much
you smoke. Over time I've become a sipper of the pipe and not drawing heavily on it. Gets hot and not very enjoyable in my book

As for the straight blade knife for scraping, do you think that's what the slightly serrated straight tool in my lighter is for?

Seems to make sense as I can't think what else it would be used for.

Here's a closeup of it:

I friggin love cigars

[dj1340]

That will work. It will be a bit before you need it. Takes some time to build up a cake in a pipe. I have several diffent blends of different kinds of tobacco so if you'd like some samples
send me a PM and I can send you some. A lot of it is aged 10 to 15 yrs.