Does Pipe Shape Effect How It Smokes?

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mechanic

Starting to Get Obsessed
Dec 1, 2018
242
2
Looking through all the diffrent style pipes. I was wondering if being a new pipe smoker i would be best to get a certain style. Im definetly gonna get some cobbs as reccomended but also wanted to purchase a briar in the 150 to 200 price range. Any advice would be greatly appreiacted thank you

 

mikethompson

Lifer
Jun 26, 2016
11,287
23,315
Near Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Honestly, to me there is no difference in how a pipe smokes in regards to its shape. BUT, it may make a huge difference to you. Such is pipe smoking. It is so deeply personal that what works for me might be a hot mess for you.
I would take that $150 and buy a few estate briars of various shapes and see if you like one more than the other.

 
The outside sculpting of the pipe has no real impact on how a pipe smokes; however, the shape of the inside of the bowl chamber does... as well as the design of the inside drilling of the draft, inside the stem, the briar, and button.
It may not be dramatically different with each difference, as we have some forum members who cannot detect any differences. But, those who can better differentiate taste and flavors within tobacco varieties seem to be able to better detect differences between pipes.
As to which pipe fits your preferences... well... you'll just have to try them and see.

 

techie

Part of the Furniture Now
Jul 20, 2018
589
10
As to which pipe fits your preferences... well... you'll just have to try them and see.
Which means you've got a lot of pipe purchases in your future! :D

 

mechanic

Starting to Get Obsessed
Dec 1, 2018
242
2
Thanks for the info il have to be sure to get to mailbox before the wife to get the cc bills :)

 

crashthegrey

Lifer
Dec 18, 2015
3,810
3,566
41
Cobleskill, NY
www.greywoodie.com
Make sure your first briar has thick walls. You know, so it stays cooler on the outside for your sensitive hands. Or so it doesn't burn out. Heh. Take your time, pick a pipe you like, and get it. Worry about shape and chamber shape and depth when you know what you are doing.

 

midwestpipesmoker70

Can't Leave
Nov 28, 2011
431
433
IL
I would suggest staying away from "nose warmers"...a very short pipe. The reason being until you really get experience in how to smoke, these pipes can smoke hot and cause tongue bite. At least that is what I have experienced. I prefer a longer stem for most blends without latakia, especially Virginias. I like a cool flavorful smoke with Virginias. I usually smoke blends containing latakia in my nose warmer pipes. They tend to be more forgiving for me. I don't notice much difference in a bent longer stem compared to a straight longer stem. Calabashes smoke nice and cool and reverse calabash do as well.

 

midwestpipesmoker70

Can't Leave
Nov 28, 2011
431
433
IL
And I could be wrong but I do have a pipe or two that are very short nose warmers that do seem to burn hotter especially with Virginias, VaPers, etc. Could just be my experience so disregard my prior statement. :D

 

crashthegrey

Lifer
Dec 18, 2015
3,810
3,566
41
Cobleskill, NY
www.greywoodie.com
I personally don't find them to burn any hotter. But I disagree with you; I don't discount your opinion. They may burn hot for you and it is valid to tell someone this. Especially someone new. Best they are informed by multiple people.

 

cigrmaster

Lifer
May 26, 2012
20,249
57,280
66
Sarasota Florida
A thick walled Billiard is going to smoke differently than a thin walled Belge.
A pipes dimensions are also going to effect how a pipe smokes as does the quality of the stem, the size of the shank, the drilling of the pipe. There are a myriad of things that makes one pipe smoke differently than another.

 

spartacus

Lifer
Nov 7, 2018
1,022
795
Mesa, Arizona
As a newbie I don't notice a difference in the taste of my tobacco between a 6" Savinelli, a 14" Churchwarden, or a 4" Devil Anse. They taste the same to me. Maybe my palette isn't as refined as others on here.

 

seldom

Lifer
Mar 11, 2018
1,035
940
Heavily edited. You asked about shape and I went off about bowl size (wider bowls good for complex blends and etc). Apologies. Carry on.

 

jpmcwjr

Moderator
Staff member
May 12, 2015
24,565
27,065
Carmel Valley, CA
A very wide bowl can be nice to get the full effect of the more complex blends
I've seen this stated dozens of times, but, in terms of physics as I understand them, it doesn't pan out: The smoke from wherever in the bowl gets funneled down to a small airway and well mixed before it reaches the taste buds.

 

seldom

Lifer
Mar 11, 2018
1,035
940
I think it is surface area that is producing smoke at any given time. So a blend that has a bunch of different components can have more different components burning at a point in time in a wide bowl and funneling down into the small airway together. A smaller diameter may only have a single component burning at one time.

That is probably the worst explanation in the history of the forum!

Of course I may be wrong and/or the effect may all be in my head.
And I edited that post before I thought anyone responded. Apologies again!

 
Jan 8, 2013
7,493
733
Does pipe shape effect how it smokes?
I'm a pretty strong advocate of the shape alone having very little if anything to do with how well the pipe smokes.... unless it's a Savinelli 320. All of mine smoke like a dream! But honestly, it has more to do with the drilling and chamber size, which certainly plays a larger part in how well the 320 smokes. That doesn't mean a different pipe with different drilling wouldn't smoke as well. I have many pipes of different sizes and drillings and most smoke very well. But among all those pipes, those of the same shape will vary in how well they smoke. I think the age of the briar used may also play a role.
For the price range you're looking for, you should be able to find a Savinelli 320 that will smoke wonderfully. If you want to save even a bit more, look for a Rossi 8320. Savinelli makes Rossi and the 8320 is the same as the 320.

 

georgebmcclelland

Starting to Get Obsessed
Nov 27, 2018
270
24
If I were a new smoker with 200 bucks to spend, I would spend about a third of it on a few decent estate pipes of different shapes and sizes, then spend the balance on a bunch of different tobaccos.

 

georgebmcclelland

Starting to Get Obsessed
Nov 27, 2018
270
24
I would also answer your inquiry regarding the dynamics of pipe shapes, and their impact on smoke distribution, but I'd need to go get a doctorate in physics first so it may take a while.

 

saltedplug

Lifer
Aug 20, 2013
5,194
5,097
Once the smoke enters the mouth the palate and its associated mechanisms, but more importantly the personality, shape it in many unmeasured/immeasurable ways such that it becomes quite impossible to describe any correspondence between the palates of said smoker and any other smoker's. Bowl geometry and drilling unique to a maker making the pipe smoke differently never made themselves known to me in my smoking, but I cannot contradict other smokers who make this claim.
Bur claims that a billiard with thick walls and a belge with the thin walls smoke differently, that long-stemmed pipes smoke cooler than short, are, to me, irredeemable bilge.
We have measured nothing in pipe smoking, not the influence of wall size, not the length of the stem, not the origin of the briar or the length of its cure, not clenching vs. hand-held, not the efficacy of sipping vs. huffing, not the rate of burn of the tobacco families or by cut. No, nothing. Yet on boards such as this we are free to say whatever has struck us, and it's great fun, but its in too many cases misleading.
I've done all of the above and no doubt will continue to do so. But I really don't know very much objectively, and I would put it to you that you don't, either.

 
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