I also posted this in cigars, but...) Thanks for the welcomes. The response has been great. I always loved the community on this board while reading it. All or most of the interactions were with knowledge in mind. I love gaining knowledge. Teach me Teach me!!

I just started with pipes. I have 3 so far. 1 Cob, 1 from a basket, and 1 Churchwarden which I have not tried yet. The basket pipe has a decent cake on i, but it was rough going the first couple of smokes. I have had a few good bowls though, with only a few relights towards the end. I like pipes better than cigars for now, because it new and there seems to be a little more ritual involved, which I like. The shorter time commitment helps. I have just smoked house brands (I think) from the local tobacco shops. A few aros and a couple of straight blends. Still getting used to the lingo. I will probably head towards the straighter blends, but we will see.

I see at least 1 Portlander responded, I am guessing there are more on the board, since it seems like a very smoke friendly place (relatively speaking). Looking forward to learning stuff!