Pipe Resting?
- Thread starter mcluvinmypipe
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I was always told (again back in the day) that a pipe was good for multiple smokes in a day, so long as it was cleaned a bit between smokes. The reason to own 7 was that you had one for each day of the week and that was the rest period. Between days, not between smokes. This has been my plan this time (I currently sit at 6 plus several cobs). Is my thinking that far off?
No your thinking is not off. I've seen many old pipe racks that hold seven pipes and are even marked with each day of the week. The thought is to smoke Monday's pipe all day Monday and then let it rest until next Monday. The thought isn't to let it rest between smokes but between days. That's if you believe in resting pipes though.
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I just signed on to the pipe smokers club about a month ago. I'd been rolling my own cigs for years and had discovered that certain papers caused me to hack. One day, a light came on and I decided to pick up a pipe to smoke the cheap bulk "pipe" tobacco I had on hand. Got me a KY Legend @ the corner drug store and found the tobacco I had was not really good for a pipe. So..I got some other backys and smoked the crap outta that cobb. It developed some exterior cracks...but still draws nicely. I'm learning. I started looking around sites on the webb and found some pipes to bid on on Ebay. Now I've got three nice cobbs and I'm rotating them. I find that each bowl will get to a point where I feel I need to let it go out and come back to it later. So, I start another one...and so on...finding one's pace, and rhythm seems integral to enjoyment. I've stopped clenching already. I found that the bit in my first cobb had become pinched due to my continued clamping. It restricted draw and inhibited cleaning. I put the stem in a pan of hot water for a few minutes and with small flat blade screwdriver, I was able to open the bit nicely and it's almost better than new.
I have been smoking the same pipe for about two weeks now daily. Each time I am done I run a cleaner through it and let it sit outside and it dry by the time I come back. If it is not then I smoke a 1/8 size bowl amount just to run a hot cherry without the excess moisture and that dried it out so I can pack a full bowl and smoke a dry pipe. I have only been pipe smoking for two weeks so don’t take this as gospel I could be doing horrible long lasting damage to my pipe but it is only a Dr Grabow so I can always run up to CVS and get another.
I haven't been smoking as long as many of these guys and don't smoke as often. I have about 6 pipes in my rotation, some I like better than others. I just cleaned my pipes with whiskey last week and here is how I've been smoking my most recent pipe:
Wed. I had two bowls of Irish Flake in a row, Friday I had a bowl of Dunhill Navy Rolls, and today I had a bowl of Navy rolls followed right now as I write, of Irish Flake, and every smoke has ben great (all with the same pipe). I wkill probably rest this pipe for a few weeks now.
Wed. I had two bowls of Irish Flake in a row, Friday I had a bowl of Dunhill Navy Rolls, and today I had a bowl of Navy rolls followed right now as I write, of Irish Flake, and every smoke has ben great (all with the same pipe). I wkill probably rest this pipe for a few weeks now.
I rarely smoke a briar more than once a day (but I have on occasion) and usually end the days smoking with one of my cobs. Over the past weekend I smoked 6 bowls from the same cob with no issues. I can detect a difference in the smoke if I re-use a briar even with judicious use of pipe cleaners. With a cob, not so much. They just keep puffing, and I like that about them. This is just my experience, ymmv.
I believe that for a pipe to perform at it's optimum level it needs rest. Sure you can smoke the hell out of it, but if you want to get the most flavor from your tobacco, I recommend resting your pipes. Another important thing to consider is that the Pipe Gods also want you to rest your pipe so if you don't want to piss them off, let em rest.
Mcluvinmypipe,
Do what you need to do to smoke when you want and within your budget. If you're using a pipe heavily, make sure that you clean it well and thoroughly.
If you notice that it's not smoking well then give the pipe a rest. It's just common sense and there are no rules.
Would it taste better with regular rest, probably. Pipe smokers add, upgrade and change pipes all the time. Do so when you can and when you know what you like.
Do what you need to do to smoke when you want and within your budget. If you're using a pipe heavily, make sure that you clean it well and thoroughly.
If you notice that it's not smoking well then give the pipe a rest. It's just common sense and there are no rules.
Would it taste better with regular rest, probably. Pipe smokers add, upgrade and change pipes all the time. Do so when you can and when you know what you like.
Mcluvinmypipe,
Do what you need to do to smoke when you want and within your budget. If you're using a pipe heavily, make sure that you clean it well and thoroughly.
If you notice that it's not smoking well then give the pipe a rest. It's just common sense and there are no rules.
Would it taste better with regular rest, probably. Pipe smokers add, upgrade and change pipes all the time. Do so when you can and when you know what you like.
Do what you need to do to smoke when you want and within your budget. If you're using a pipe heavily, make sure that you clean it well and thoroughly.
If you notice that it's not smoking well then give the pipe a rest. It's just common sense and there are no rules.
Would it taste better with regular rest, probably. Pipe smokers add, upgrade and change pipes all the time. Do so when you can and when you know what you like.
You don't "need" more than one pipe.
A pipe that sees 4-5 bowls per day will sour much quicker than a pipe that is smoked once a week, simply because chemical deposits will build up much faster, not because the pipe is not resting.
Just clean and sweeten your pipe properly and there is nothing to worry about. And if you want to get the purest tobacco experience - smoke from a meerschaum.
A pipe that sees 4-5 bowls per day will sour much quicker than a pipe that is smoked once a week, simply because chemical deposits will build up much faster, not because the pipe is not resting.
Just clean and sweeten your pipe properly and there is nothing to worry about. And if you want to get the purest tobacco experience - smoke from a meerschaum.
There are no rules for resting a pipe except this one: a pipe needs to rest. It isn't a question of what one believes or doesn't believe about briar needing to rest – this isn't a religious disputation on matters of faith and belief. Briar, being wood, will absorb, and the more you tax it's ability to do that the sooner the taste will be compromised. I went through that stage long years ago when I was an undergraduate, and I enjoyed my one good pipe so much that it eventually soured on me. Because it's a slow process, it's rather insidious, but it happens nonetheless. I was able to bring it back, but I learned a valuable lesson from a master Pipe maker about allowing my pipes to relax between smokes.
These days with over 100 briars in my collection, I try and allow at least a week's rest after I've smoked a pipe – even if the smoke was so spectacular that I want to repeat the experience. I also have about 20 corncob pipes and eight mirror's arms to allow my briars to get all the rest they need. And here's the point, if cost is an issue, and you can't afford a full stable of briars, buy a corncob pipe. They give a first-rate smoke, and are not in the least bit déclassé. Before my retirement when a suit and tie were normal working attire, I had no qualms whatsoever about smoking a cob. I've been a fan of Missouri Meerschaum for over 50 years, I now have fallen in love with the new entry in the market: the Old Dominion Cobs, a truly superlative smoke that will give a briar a run for it's money any day of the week.
As time passes, you will increase the number of pipes you have, but at the very beginning, the best advice I can offer is let your pipes rest, and invest in a couple of corncob pipes, they can take the abuse, and if they should wear out, burnout, break, gets lost or anything like that, you're not out big bucks.
These days with over 100 briars in my collection, I try and allow at least a week's rest after I've smoked a pipe – even if the smoke was so spectacular that I want to repeat the experience. I also have about 20 corncob pipes and eight mirror's arms to allow my briars to get all the rest they need. And here's the point, if cost is an issue, and you can't afford a full stable of briars, buy a corncob pipe. They give a first-rate smoke, and are not in the least bit déclassé. Before my retirement when a suit and tie were normal working attire, I had no qualms whatsoever about smoking a cob. I've been a fan of Missouri Meerschaum for over 50 years, I now have fallen in love with the new entry in the market: the Old Dominion Cobs, a truly superlative smoke that will give a briar a run for it's money any day of the week.
As time passes, you will increase the number of pipes you have, but at the very beginning, the best advice I can offer is let your pipes rest, and invest in a couple of corncob pipes, they can take the abuse, and if they should wear out, burnout, break, gets lost or anything like that, you're not out big bucks.
Pipe resting is good advice. Of course, it can be used as a rational for "building a rotation." One's rotation may be the seven, for the days of the week or it may be twelve, or even more- say, thirty. There are no fixed rules. And, as you have seen, nearly everyone has an opinion about it. -bw
I swear, I meant to only buy enough pipes to have one for each day of the week. I wanted rested pipes, so that I could keep getting the most flavor "wows" each time I smoked. Then a few more to dedicate to blends types, like aromatics or latakias. That is what I told myself, over and over. Just one more will do the trick, one more... And, now I have two racks with 36 pipes on my wall, with drawers and a few boxes full of the first beaters that I bought. I have some that rest between puffs, some rest days, some will just rest in peace in the drawer, ha ha.
+1 cosmicfolklore that is to funny! I bet that hits close to home every where across the country. I remember my first pipe I rotated it amongst itself. It stuffed it hot or cold it did not mater I couldn't leave it alone. It's first rest came when I got a dose of tongue bite. 
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