No matter what, pipe gives you a huge bang for the buck. You can buy a tin of really good baccy for the price of one premium smoke.
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... and, to translate that a little further into cigar speak: the HTF stuff people chase is like $15, for a tin that is good for five separate hour long smokes at least. also, storage is mason jars. seriously, long term archival storage is $5 a dozen mason jars. or just leave them in a sealed tin if they come that way. further, most tins are like 1.5 ounces of net weight tobacco. if you can find a bulk blend you like, it is like $28-58 a POUND, translated into at least fifty separate smoking experiences. so, yeah, cheaper.
it is REAL easy to get lost on the gear, but a pipe will last you decades and more unless you completely go out of your way to ruin it. if you start with a cob and give it a few months of slow trial, and get a feel that you may enjoy the pipe, a decent new briar can be had for under a hundo if you look, and easily for a buck and a half. which most all of us have easily dropped on boxes before. you get even better deals if you have a place, or are willing to dig the net, for estate pipes; a little work to clean up, and you have yourself something someone already did the hard work to break it in.
in all, i REALLY like what hoshy said, about a pipe being like the good middle part of a cigar: i have yet to see the dynamic range of change and evolution in a pipe that i have in a great cigar, but a good tobacco well cared for and well packed in a good bowl, smoked at a good pace, can give you that nice reassuring richness of when a cigar really starts to open up for you.
is it for everyone? nope. but it is just as valid, yet different, an exploration and celebration of the leaf as a good cigar is. and, to be clear, this is being typed through a cloud of padron anny smoke; i am REALLY disinclined to pick a side. but i really do like pipe smoking as a good enjoyment while you hunt or wait for something amazing.
oh, and all the cool kids are doing it. so you have to now. o)
