A college finance professor piqued my interest in smoking pipes, and I started collecting them in my 30s. I currently own about 60 handmade pipes, predominately from two American pipe makers: Mark Tinsky and Paul Bonacquisti. I don't smoke as frequently as I once did, but I never smoked very much. I'd guess I smoke a couple times a month these days, but I do plan to take pipes with me to Africa on each safari. Have done so twice to date.
I smoke a little of everything - but my go-to's seem to be English blends, VA flake tobaccos, and Escudo.
I also have about 300 tins of tobacco and over 10 lbs of the bulk stuff resting in sealed mason jars. I could smoke the rest of my life and never exhaust my supply of tobacco. I can smoke tobacco that's over 20 years old at this point exclusively, since I've been aging the stuff myself - like wine, as long as its kept properly it ages and matures over time.
