Resting Pipe

[numbersix]

OK - sorry for the newbie question here but..... why? Why rest a pipe? What actually happens when it's resting (or when not getting hot again so soon). I'm only smoking about 1 bowl a day and not even every day. Thank you for your patience here.

No worries Zonomo. I am also a newbie. One reason is that briar's can hold onto moisture, and may need extra time to fully dry out.
Some people rest their pipes a week, which I thought was overkill when I first started. But then I noticed that one of my pipes still had moisture in the stem even after 5- 6 days. That's when I realized that there was a method to the madness!

 

[zonomo]

Thanks num-b. That makes sense.

 

[cigrmaster]

I smoke one bowl in a pipe and then rest it for at least 24 hours but many times longer. When I am breaking in a pipe, I will smoke it every other day until a nice cake has been formed. When I dabbled in aromatics for a short time, I noticed it took days for the pipe to dry out.

 

[cedeks]

since I read numbersix post about the pipe being sour if over used during short period of time, I did some tests on my collection and used one kind of tobacco for each pipe in the test. The taste of tobacco changed and became sour as you said after two or three bowls in the same day. Then rested them till the second day, some of them smoked regularly again and others needed more time (guess the cheap ones were made of lower quality wood and needed longer time).

Anyway after this small test, I think resting the pipe will help in better smoking experience. It is just my test I am not sure if anyone has different results.

 

[spartan]

The less you smoke the pipe the longer it will last. The more you rest it the better; anything over a week is overkill. The more you smoke it without allowing it to dry the more damage you do to it.
Do some tests yourself on a pipe you don't care that much for and make your own conclusion.

Any pipe consists of several parts (at least two)

Clay pipes are one solid piece. *zing*

 

[spartan]

@rothnh
Are you saying that older briars need less rest than newer briar pipes?
It's totally possible that the trees' roots from which older pipes were made were cured (or were just very much older) for a longer period of time before becoming pipes. Resulting in a superior pipe?
Every pipe smoker will adhere to his or her own "groove" and find it works perfectly for them.
Take note. And modify to fit your needs.
Happy Smoking.

 

[austinxpipe]

Now that I have a few more pipes in my collection, I try not to smoke any particular one more than a few times a week. I don't follow a strict rotation but usually don't smoke a pipe more than twice in the span of 2 to 3 days.