Why Buy More than One Pipe?
-
Kevin Godbee - Sep 15, 2009
- 5 min read
I remember back when I bought my first pipe … I hunted high and low for one that felt just right and looked good too. I knew that it had to be a genuine briar and for some reason I wanted one that looked just like the pipes my father and grandfather used to smoke.
When I found the one that was right for me I thought that I was set for life. I had the perfect pipe and I was sure that, baring accidents, this was the pipe that I was going to use for the rest of my days. Sure I’d heard of guys who had a collection of pipes and used them all but besides being a collector, why do you need more than one pipe, and how many do you need?
If all my grandfather needed was just one pipe then why should I be any different? Of course, back then just about everyone who smoked a pipe had only one pipe and it may well have been because the huge selection that’s available today wasn’t quite so available back then.
Of course there were plenty of different pipes around back then but maybe tobacco stores just didn’t stock them in the country towns where my folks lived. And then there was the fact that my forebears didn’t see the need for more than one pipe. As far as I can remember both my father and grandfather only ever smoked one blend of pipe tobacco and I don’t remember seeing all those different blends that we have today.
However things are very different now. We have access to an incredible selection of tobacco blends that my forebears would never have imagined and we also have access to far more pipes than they would have dreamed of. But just because we can buy all these pipes is that any reason why we should?
If you’re a very logical disciplined person that needs a reason to justify the purchase of another pipe, there are couple of good strong reasons why you should. You should have at least a small selection of pipes … and who knows, maybe your ‘selection’ will eventually turn into a ‘collection’.
For many people like myself, once you start getting a few pipes you like, it gets easier and easier to acquire more. They are like little friends that you love equally, but then you get some special favorites, and then the special favorites can change when you bump into a gorgeous specimen that just must have.
But let’s get back to the technical reasons why you need more than one pipe.
Taste
As I said before, there is a huge range of tobacco blends that we have access to with a broad range of tastes and special nuances. When you smoke a particular blend of tobacco and you want to get the real taste, you don’t want it to be spoiled by the lingering hints of the previous blend that you smoked in your pipe.
All briar pipes are porous and that means that some of the resins from the tobacco you’re smoking will find their way into the wood and remain there even after you’ve thoroughly cleaned your pipe. Now if you go on smoking the same blend there’s no problem but when you change to a different blend those resins that linger in the bowl of your pipe will come back to haunt you and the resulting taste of those resins and your current tobacco may be nothing like what you were hoping to taste.
To avoid this problem there are some who suggest that you should have a separate pipe for each blend that you smoke. Some people do this, but that may be going a little too far.
While some of us have more pipes than tobacco blends we smoke, or even if it’s vice versa, I think it’s a little too much to try to keep track of which pipe goes with which specific tobacco blend. However, what many people do is reserve certain pipes for certain types of tobacco. Some people just go as far as having some pipes for aromatic blends and other pipes for English style blends. You can go further by divvying up pipes for different types of English blends. For example, some pipes can be for Latakia blends only, since this is a tobacco style with a ‘smokey’ taste, while other pipes can be for a "VA/Per" (Virginia and Perique blend) which will be a little more sweet and tangy, and so on.
Rotating your pipes
These days I’m sure most experts would have been horrified to see my grandfather smoke just one pipe numerous times throughout the day, seven days a week. For him there was no such thing as rotation but these days it seems that it’s advisable to allow a pipe to rest between smokes and some would suggest that you really need to have a separate pipe for each day of the week.
The common wisdom today is that a pipe should not be smoked more than once in a day. Actually, you should let it ‘rest’ for a few days before smoking it again. A pipe gets extremely hot while being smoked. The heat causes the wood to expand. If you keep smoking it without letting it rest, this can cause problems like cracks and burnout – where a hole will burn through the pipe. Resting a pipe also helps the moisture that the briar absorbs to evaporate out. This helps prevent the tars and oils from causing the pipe to have a sour taste.
Some manufacturers offer "7-day pipe sets" with the idea that you will smoke one pipe each day of the week.
In many ways, how many pipes you have in your selection depends on your lifestyle and on how far you want to go to enjoy this pleasurable pastime. It’s also going to depend on how easy it is to convince the love of your life that you really do need to purchase just one more pipe to add to your selection. My trick is that for each new Dunhill or other high-end pipe I acquire, she gets a new piece of jewelry. Another one of my tricks that is less expensive is to just hide some of your pipes.
See if you start to experience what many of us have as we’ve evolved from smokers to also being collectors. There are just so many beautiful pipes and such a large variety of different shapes, sizes and designs. I think I’m going to go look at some pipes right now.
If you want to peruse pipes online, check out these sites:
PipeTobacco.com
MeerschaumStore.com
Tobacco-Barn.com
Written by Kevin Godbee
1 Response
Recent Posts
Welcome to The Pipes Magazine Radio Show Episode 640. Our featured interview on tonightâs show is with Ben Rapaport. Ben has been known internationally as an avid pipe smoker, antique pipe collector, and book author. His first book on pipes was published in 1972, and his latest book – his 10th – is out now in very limited quantities. The distribution has already sold out, but you can still get a copy of “The Wide World of Wood Tobacco Pipes. Two Centuries of Craftsmanship and Creativity” by contacting him directly at ben70gray@gmail.com. At the top of the show we’ll be turning the tables on our recurring Ask the Pipemaker segment. This time, Jeff Gracik will ask the questions, which Brian will answer as a pipe collector, and you can give your answers too.
Welcome to The Pipes Magazine Radio Show Episode 639. Our featured interview on tonightâs show is with Per BillhĂ€ll. Per is the owner of Scandinavian Pipes, which is an online retailer of high grade pipes. He started smoking pipes in the 1960s. His first high grade pipe was made by Hans “Former” Nielsen, who is one of the living legends from Denmark. That led to Per becoming a huge pipe and tobacco collector, and show attendee where he became well known. Along with pipe book author Jan Andersson, they started The Pipe Club of Sweden in 1991. Then in 1999, Per started “Scan Pipes”. He is now one of the pipe retailing legends from Sweden. At the top of the show Brian will talk about holiday blends, and other special pipe tobacco blends.
Welcome to The Pipes Magazine Radio Show Episode 638. Our featured interview on tonightâs show is with Fae “The Sassy Pipe Lady” Simmons. Fae is the owner of Tobacco Treasures, which sells new, vintage, & estate pipes, and smoking accessories on Etsy. She has been in business since 2017, and has been surrounded by pipes and tobacco most of her life. Her father and his brother smoked pipes, and so does Fae. Her husband is also a retired tobacconist that worked all over the industry from coast to coast for several different companies in the industry. She has a great story of how her business got started with a great inventory of unsmoked vintage pipes. At the top of the show we will have an Ask the Tobacco Blender segment with Jeremy Reeves. Jeremy is the Head Blender at Cornell & Diehl, which is one of the most popular boutique pipe tobacco companies in the USA.
Ok, so itâs that time of year, as we all know. Family feasts, houses, yards, and big trees festooned with lights and dangling ornaments, just high enough to keep the cats from reaching a paw into the greenery. Itâs also the time of year when your pipe-smoking-significant other makes vast hints about a new pipe. Thatâs to be expected since he or she was a good boy or girl during the year. Yes, ladies smoke pipes, too. Oh, you want an example? Okay, try Actress Greta Garbo, Millicent Fenwick, Mary Frith, and my late grandmother (who died when she was 93) dipped snuff and smoked a cob occasionally. So now that we have settled that the gentler side of life will puff a pipe too, letâs move on to the upcoming biggest holiday of all. Of course, that huge event is brought to us by the hefty fellow in a red suit, puffing his pipe all the way in a sled filled with presents, being led by a reindeer with a red nose. Or some such. Thatâs Santa Claus, of course. Becoming a bit more serious, Christmas is such a wonderful time for families and friends. Itâs also quite special for pipe puffers. For many of us, this brings up a nostalgic look back to our pipe-smoking or cigar-smoking friends who have died during the current year. A great journalist pal whom I often joined in a local brick-and-mortar pipe and cigar shop. I puffed my pipe, and occasional cigar, as he enjoyed a cigar. He died in October and will be missed. On the happier side of things, Christmas is also a time when mind workers of the world renew their collections with fresh additions. Pundit included. A French passion has overtaken Pundit, from reading more Albert Camus, a heavy cigarette smoker, as were many French intellectuals of a certain time. Instead of cigarettes many of us prefer the more relaxed enjoyment of pipes for that âcalm and objective judgmentâ in the comings and goings of the world. This brings me to French pipes. While visiting France once in the long ago, I happened by a âTabacâ shop in Paris, Tabac Des Vosges. I purchased a beauty of a Chacom bent. I also later bought a Ropp made from ancient briar. To learn more about the dawn of briar pipes and beginnings, take a peek at a well-done piece by Davin Hylton in Pipe Line on April 12, 2023, on Saint-Claude, France, the birthplace of briar. Also in the long back when, on a cold Christmas afternoon, Pundit wandered into an Atlanta bricks and mortar pipe shop to look around. There, resting in an enclosed glass counter was an exquisite Comoy. An older gent, smoking a beautiful bent, asked me if I wanted to look at that pipe. It had a $100 price tag. A college student working for a grocery store chain to help with college tuition at the time, Pundit didnât have one hundred cents, let alone a C note! I declined and found a $5 basket pipe. A Christmas tradition had just begun. Since that early time, Pundit has made it a holiday ritual to either reward himself, or a special friend, with pipe or tobacco. A Claudio Cavicchi would be nice. Just sayin.â And now for a couple of December-born Pipe Smokers of the Past: Joseph Rudyard Kipling was born on Dec. 30, 1865, and died on Jan. 18, 1936. I always prefer to believe the best of everybody; it saves so much troubleâRudyard Kipling. Martin Van Buren, born Dec. 5, 1782, and died July 24, 1862, U.S. President, 1837-1841 As to the presidency, the two happiest days of my life were those of my entrance upon the office and my surrender of itâMartin Van Buren. And one more note to recall a deceased World War II veteran who loved William Somerset Maugham, the author. Maugham, a pipe smoker, was born in Paris, France, on Jan. 25, 1874, and died on Dec. 16, 1965. One cool afternoon as the veteran and I talked while sitting in his backyard patio, he looked off into the distance as if studying something. Nothing in particular. Just looking. He turned to me and said if I wanted to learn about life, âread Somerset Maugham.â I did. It wasn’t until late in life that I discovered how easy it is to say, ‘I don’t know’ âW. Somerset Maugham And now a Parting Shot: Any day with an old friend with pipes and tobacco is a good day.
Welcome to The Pipes Magazine Radio Show Episode 637. Our featured interview on tonightâs show is with Nate King. Most people know of Nate as an excellent pipe artisan. He also has an honorary Master of Pipes degree from the Chicagoland Pipe Collectors Club, and is a member of the prestigious ConfrĂ©rie des Maitres Pipiers de Saint-Claude. To be inducted into the ConfrĂ©rie, this past May Nate travelled to Saint-Claude, France with master tobacco blender G.L. Pease, who was also inducted. It was quite a time in France, and at the ceremony. We’ll hear all about those adventures on the show. At the top of the show we’ll continue the virtual tour of Brian’s pipe collection with six of his Satou Dublin-shape pipes.
Welcome to The Pipes Magazine Radio Show Episode 636. Our featured interview on tonightâs show is with Barry Kane. Barry started smoking a pipe in 1961 when he was 14-years old. Back then it seemed like everybody smoked, and you could buy pipes and tobacco just about anywhere. Barry is a true old-school pipe smoker, sticking to just one blend. See if you can guess which one before listening. At the top of the show Brian will give his take on Scandinavian Tobacco Group’s purchase of Mac Baren and Sutliff Tobacco and their announcement that they will be shut down.
completely agree… Ive become a pipe collector. In the starti was only looking for that “holy grail” but soon i started looking at pipes as more than an object, its a piece of art!! It became worse when I found custom pipe makers! đ now I have a pretty big collection….