Are Pipes Getting Heavier?

Weight is one of the first things I look at in an online listing. 50 grams is my upper limit on pipes. I only have a couple that are over that, and wouldn't consider buying anything heavier.

How do you feel about weight?

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It's one of the things I like a lot about cobs ... even my larger Country Gent can be easily clenched.

Apples to apples, I'll always choose the lighter pipe, the older I get the more it matters to me to have a light pipe. I've walked away from some beautiful pipes and really good deals due to the pipe just simply being too heavy, lighter pipes smoke better to me and even though I don't clench, they are more comfortable to smoke as well.

I don't know about pipes. I've certainly been getting heavier.

I've never been a clencher and I've never minded a heftier pipe. If I'm not taking a sip then it's in my hand but I see no reason for unnecessary weight. Size and shape aside, I would assume it's a product of wood density and moisture content. So I'm not sure if it's any indication of wood quality but I can see why it would be important to clenchers.

I think a lot of artisan pipes have thicker bowls than do Dunhills, for example, as well as the English factory brands like Comoy, GBD et al. Older pipes were a lot smaller, in general, than many of today's handmade pipes. Of course, the 70s and 80s saw a lot of BIG freehand style pipes, so there's been some come and go in terms of size.
I think a lot of people like the sumptuous feel of having an extra thick bowl. I'm sure the factories have a more fine-tuned sense of what is going to be cost effective in terms of the amount of briar used.
In any case, I think there are a lot of variables involved, rather than a general trend toward larger pipes.

I agree with pitchfork, you see much heftier bowls on some artisan pipes and quite frankly I don't find them harder to clench but I like holding a pipe in my hand too, especially in the winter. I won't turn my back on a heavier pipe because it isn't always in my mouth.

I prefer light pipes, that I can clench. I usually look for sub 2 oz. I do have a couple of larger pipes (Cavicci) that are great smokers though.

My sweet spot is 45-50 grams and they are all group 4-5 sized pipes. I have a couple that weigh 60 but they are bent and clenching is no issue. I have not really paid much attention if pipes are getting heavier. When I see a heavier pipe I just pass and look for lighter ones. I remember the days when weight was not an issue and I had pipes that weighed as much as 100 grams, back then I was not clenching so it was not a big deal.

Weight is important to me in the pipe I smoke for a couple of reasons. One, I often smoke while working so I clench and a lighter pipe is much easier to clench. And two, a lighter pipe tends to be drier and better processed wood. Typically, if you take two pipes of equal shape and size, the lighter of the two is more likely to have better smoking qualities. I have noticed in the last few years that the briar I have been getting is getting more and more wet. I have a feeling that it's due to the recent increase in pipemakers especially in North America. I have a feeling the increase in demand means the cut blocks don't sit at the briar mill for long after they've been cut. If their stock isn't sitting, it isn't drying. Wet blocks are heavier than dry blocks. I know a lot of pipemakers who use this wood as soon as they get it. I don't. I let mine sit and season for at least 3 years before I make a pipe out of it so it can dry properly. You can tell if a block is wet when you pick it up. They are heavier and cooler to the touch when wet. A dry block feels light and dry to the touch. I wonder if this may be contributing to heavier pipes. I get comments often about how light my pipes are and that's my secret which really isn't a secret at all. Another trick to getting pipes even more dry is to drill the airway and tobacco chamber then let them sit on the pegs for a week or two so the wood can dry from the inside and the outside. I'll do this if a block still feels a bit heavy even after three years which doesn't happen very often.

I don't know about pipes. I've certainly been getting heavier.

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Well said Sable !

Wayne makes a good point about drying briar before it's turned. I also think the overall size of handmade pipes is typically larger than factory made pipes. One other thing to consider is the venue we have these days, where all the stats of a pipe are posted along with the online listing. How often did you see the weight of a pipe for sale 20 years ago unless you put it on a scale ?

I say buy a few packs of Charleston Chews and start conditioning that jaw!

Weight is very important to me. I worked with an artisan that made me three pipes, given the bowls weren't huge but of decent capacity, that weighed less than 1 oz each. 1 oz is pretty much my weight ceiling, unless it's a monster sized pipe that I know I would never clench anyway. I do have a couple of those.
There's plenty of pipes I have fallen in love with, but had to stoicly walk away from due to the weight.
I'm also moving more towards corn cobs with lucite stems for the weight advantage. They smoke great.
Maybe some day I'll have time to just sit and smoke my pipes more often, but for now, I like having my hands free to do work.

My pipes were mostly a bit heavy because I've typically chosen larger pipes with thicker walls on the theory they smoke cooler or at least cooler to handle. In addition, I favored Danish pipes, such as Ben Wades. As a result, I haven't done much clenching.
But more recently, my tastes and preferences have change. I now seem to prefer smoking more classical shapes such as authors, pots, bulldogs and others with slight bends. Rather than smoking one pipe for an hour or more, I now carry two pipes with me.
In the process, I've discovered the virtue of lighter pipes. Besides being easier to handle, it appears that the smaller, lighter bowls don't burn that much hotter than larger pipes. Perhaps because there is proportionately the same amount of fuel in the sizes?
I do avoid clenching too much. I recently cracked a tooth and leveraged out a filling while clench smoking. I can't say with certainty the clenching was responsible but my dentist said clenching could have bee the cause.

Wayne, great post and thanks for sharing that info. I can say that all of my artisan pipes (32) all smoke cool and dry and all but 2 weigh in under 50 grams. I totally think that artisans who know what they are doing can make a cool smoking pipe even if it weighs as little 35 grams. What I see when it comes to very lightweight pipes are walls that are too thin. I believe the walls of a pipe have to be at least a certain thickness or the pipe can burn hot if not smoked incredibly carefully. The lightest pipes I owned was a Rad Belge at 28 grams and while it smoked cool if I really paid attention, it was too much of a pain in the ass. Another thing I love about my artisan pipes is that many have really thick walls but the pipe weighs less than 50 grams. As an example, this pipe has really thick walls but weighs only 50 grams.


I used to be a huge fan of Winslow pipes and owned a number of higher grade ones B's, C's and D's. All were great smokers but a smallish group 4 Apple would weigh 75 grams. Many of my group 4 Apples artisan pipes weigh less than 50, and smoke just as cool. I believe that it is the artisan's choice of briar and how they engineer their pipes that makes such a big difference. I finally learned that just because a pipe has huge walls and weighs a ton, it does not guarantee a cool smoking pipe.