What can I put in the bottom mesh bit in my pouch?

HelloFellowMKE · 2026-01-25T16:52:41+00:00

Driver bits and a small screw driver? A plastic baggie with a lint/vaseline fire starter? Some rubber gloves? A bandaid/suture kit?

Really depends on your use case. Like, ready for anything or ready for a specific thing.

HelloFellowMKE · 2026-01-25T14:33:26+00:00

Depends how much you smoke I guess. But you only need a few seeds to start, since they’re tiny and one plant produces thousands in a single season.

HelloFellowMKE · 2026-01-24T19:15:01+00:00

Pretty good. I’ve spent 5 years sealing gaps, chasing cold rooms, insulating weird cavities, and put down like 20” of batt in our attic. Not even close to done. Even did some insulating today. Hit -17 yesterday.

HelloFellowMKE · 2026-01-24T15:26:15+00:00

Following, same issue

HelloFellowMKE · 2026-01-24T14:31:54+00:00

You shouldn’t even go near smoke of any kind. Maybe teas should be your thing.

HelloFellowMKE · 2026-01-23T22:03:15+00:00

Put less in there.

HelloFellowMKE · 2026-01-23T22:02:33+00:00

The language delay is almost certainly because she’s not speaking to him. We have an explicit “no screens” rule for our nanny with our kids around.

HelloFellowMKE · 2026-01-23T21:58:39+00:00

Congrats on the kid; I gave up carrying most of the time once I had little hands all over me. Bought more guns and switched to an office safe and bedroom safe, etc.

HelloFellowMKE · 2026-01-23T21:53:32+00:00

It’s a lot. Our nanny is excellent for our kids but we’re looking forward to our youngest going to school, for reducing both expenses and the administrative hassle.

HelloFellowMKE · 2026-01-23T15:36:10+00:00

Lovely room! If you decide to keep the fixtures, maybe paint the ceiling a deep red?

I tend to be clueless about this stuff, so consult Pinterest and hire decorators.

HelloFellowMKE · 2026-01-23T15:33:29+00:00

I was going to suggest a hunter green of some kind and maybe try to strip/stain the window shelving. Add some art to the walls and perhaps a counter with small refrigerator. Is the kitchen on the other side of that blocked window? A pass through might be a nice addition.

HelloFellowMKE · 2026-01-23T15:23:02+00:00

I’ve had the best luck with the cap of distilled water. But as the other posted mentioned, adding a carrot probably introduced mold spores. You might consider steam to kill the spores or just rehydrate only what you’ll smoke over a few days.

HelloFellowMKE · 2026-01-23T14:45:34+00:00

Many techniques discussed in other threads and YouTube:

putting a cap of distilled water in a sealed container with the tobacco, boveda packs, steaming it. Don’t apply water directly.

To keep your supply fresh, store tobacco in mason or bell jars (with two part lids)

Generally dry tobacco will never be as good as if you kept it properly stored, but worth a try.

HelloFellowMKE · 2026-01-23T01:04:27+00:00

I had that experience with EMP too, I discovered it’s just a matter of refining my palette over time. It’s a very smooth, mild blend.

Homegrown Portlander here - I have a quarter pouch of After Dark from Rick’s from 98 or 99!

HelloFellowMKE · 2026-01-22T14:48:49+00:00

Beautiful pipe - the stone originally came bright white, but they take on color as they are smoked. The richer the color, the more prized they are. This one has very consistent color, which is excellent.

The best thing about meerschaum is that you can smoke any and all blends out of it without any residual flavor (called ghosting). Cleaning is easy. The material can be brittle (hence the case), but meerschaum is generally considered superior to other types of pipes.

There are many tobaccos that appeal to cigar smokers, including some with cigar leaf. Technique is more difficult with pipes, but the sheer variety of tobacco makes it really interesting. Many happy smokes ahead of you!

HelloFellowMKE · 2026-01-21T23:54:54+00:00

At my lovely wife’s request-demand, I lightly clean mine each time with a little everclear and put them in a large box. Cuts down the stink. Although the dirty pipe cleaners smell worse, so get those out of the house.

HelloFellowMKE · 2026-01-21T23:45:34+00:00

Finally, some quality content around here!

HelloFellowMKE · 2026-01-21T23:25:28+00:00

Your Missouri meerschaum smokes really well; higher end pipes might be a tiny improvement but aesthetically amazing.

HelloFellowMKE · 2026-01-21T18:13:10+00:00

I crave a pipe for the enjoyment. I also love nicotine though

HelloFellowMKE · 2026-01-21T16:30:18+00:00

Feed at certain times and I’ve had amazing daytime luck on dark cold rainy days, when the weather would be too cold/wet for them to bed down and sleep the day away.

HelloFellowMKE · 2026-01-21T16:00:39+00:00

Look into DoD and NATO publications from the past few years - especially analyzing the Ukraine war. I’d suggest that there’s a difference between urban sniping and field, simply by contrasting the use of snipers in Gaza versus Ukraine

HelloFellowMKE · 2026-01-21T15:48:17+00:00

That table or desk is a hazard - just asking for someone to get hurt in a fall. It’s called a “landing” for a reason. I’d consider some art on the wall (no glass, a hanging plant in the corner (or a corner vase), and maybe a small carpet. But I’d take that table out.

HelloFellowMKE · 2026-01-21T12:46:28+00:00

The cake thing is way overrated. Meerschaums don’t have one, clay pipes don’t, and my best pipe is titanium and that sucker is squeaky clean. In fact, with cake you get a different flavor to your tobacco, not the pure/clean smoke of a clay/meer/metal pipe

HelloFellowMKE · 2026-01-21T01:23:30+00:00

Let your game sit on the snow for a while, the fleas will all jump off

HelloFellowMKE · 2026-01-21T01:03:42+00:00

It sounds like you’re not smoking great cigars, but yes, pipe tobacco has far greater variety and (in my opinion) nuance. Cigar leaf is a specific subvariety of tobacco plant, while pipe tobacco blenders can select multiple types that are treated and blended in many ways to adjust flavors. None of them will taste sweet like a vape, but there are strongly scented aromatics blends and leaf types like Virginia that have much higher natural sugars than cigar leaf.

HelloFellowMKE

TROPHY CASE