Ok, so I'm friggin in love with pipes now! Had a friend of mine give me some help and let me smoke a few different bowls. This is what I ended up with my first purchase:
          
Falcon Bent Stem w/ Apple Smooth Bowl (this thing is so friggin cool! The bowls are interchangeable!)
Falcon pipe dry rings - Bag of 25
Castleford Pipe Couch
Cork Knocker
Softie pipe bits - 2/pack
Cornell & Diehl BLACK DUCK 2oz. (loved it)                      
Cornell & Diehl EPIPHANY 2oz. (loved it)

$98.25 w/ shipping

Already have the 3 way tool and lighter. Anything I missed or that you guys can think of?

thats a good start! epiphany is a very nice american english blend.... you get cleaners?

Ya my buddy hooked me up with a couple of different kinds of pipe cleaners, the little 3 way tool shaped like a pipe and a quick little class on cleaning. He's also going to go over that Falcon pipe with me when it gets in. I tried 4 of his blends and the Black Duck and Epiphany were the 2 I liked the best and he said stick to 2oz for now on my buys.

One thing I still don't have set in my head real good. Now he says he loves that falcon because he just rotates the bowls he has for it and it's super easy to clean. What is the complete purpose of ROTATING the bowls?

So much for baby steps. I'm glad you're happy with your purchase. As far as that pipe is concerned, I know if you smoke a pipe too hot/to fast you can burn holes in the briar or even crack them. It's probably interchangeable so you can smoke the pipe multiple times in a sitting without causing damage to the bowl.

Quotemetalhead y cigarguy - 2/28/2012  8:04 PM

So much for baby steps. I'm glad you're happy with your purchase. As far as that pipe is concerned, I know if you smoke a pipe too hot/to fast you can burn holes in the briar or even crack them. It's probably interchangeable so you can smoke the pipe multiple times in a sitting without causing damage to the bowl.

since when has anyone on here done baby steps? we all just jump in and hope for the best  

yeah some guys really love falcons. my understanding is their appeal is the exchangeable bowls, and i believe there is supposed to be some sort of condensation chamber and stem design that helps provide a cooler drier smoke. and they are supposed to be practically indestructible. i cant get over their looks though.

Ya looks to me don't really matter. As far as the bowl rotation or any of that goes I honestly don't see this being more than 3-4 times a week. I do really like the though especially those tobacco's. But don't see it pushing my cigars out of the way anytime soon so this stuff should be good for me a long while. Really think the pipe will fit best in the morning and the 30-45min blocks of time I have during the day on occasion. But who knows I might get hooked  

Quotemetalhead y cigarguy - 2/29/2012  12:04 PM
 It's probably interchangeable so you can smoke the pipe multiple times in a sitting without causing damage to the bowl.

Letting your pipes rest is one reason for rotating. Pipes get wet from condensation when you smoke them and need time to dry out.   Another big reason for pipe rotation is because some tobaccos cause "ghosting".  That means that you can taste some of the flavor from a previous tobacco in the bowl you're smoking now.  A lot of veteran pipers will use one pipe for aromatics, another for non-aromatics.  Also some non-aromatics have strong tobbacos like Perique or Latakia that don't play well with others.  Having a pipe arsenal lets you dedicate a pipe to a particular type of tobacco.

While I'm thinking about it, you may want to study up on pipe break-in.  There is some good info on the internet.  Probably even some youtube videos on it.

Now that makes sense thanks. Ya Justin was just talking about his rotation he has like 8 bowls for his pipe but I had to leave last night. Have been watching youtube videos on the whole process but still having problems on how tight to pack the bowl but guess that's just my inexperience.

When you get in there you get in fast and heavy.....

Ya I'm a habitual collector/enthusiast    Honestly if it hadn't of been for my buddy showing me all the stuff in hand and letting me actually smoke those tobacco's I wouldn't have went that far. Especially since the owner of my local B&M gave me a La Rocca pipe for free.

Now I am continplating on getting back in to pipes, God help me

Good! This is me getting even with you for the Lancero's  

Ya did good, Jeff!

You may want to add a pipe lighter at some point (although a lot of folks just use matches).

The Xikar Pipe Lighter is $60 MSRP, can be found on line for $40 or less and has a lifetime warranty.

Sounds like a good deal. Honestly I was trying to keep everything under $100, get everything I needed as a newb and get good enough quality that it would upgrade with me. Now I have to budget the pipe in with my cigar purchases I have planned  

yup, I've jumped in the pipe game as well.. I picked up a nice MacKenzie Dart Briar, estate pipe, on feebay. The owner of my local b+m started me on some super good medium body blend, very nice tobacco, just a bit too light for me. I also ordered some Gawith Hoggarth Balkin Mixture, now thats some smoke there! I too am still getting the packing thing down, it just seems like Im not getting enough smoke. I've read that its a good idea to let some tobacco blends air out for 20-30 minutes before packing. Maybe to dry it out a hair? I will be looking for the black duck and epiphany, right now I want to try as much as possible, so happy this section is here!!