Bad smoking pipes

Per your definition I haven't had a bad pipe. Gurgling doesn't bother me. I've tossed three pipes over the years. A Savenelli just never fit my bite. The other two were, I think, house pipes. They were straights, purchased early in my smoking and I grew away from them, all my pipes are now bent to some degree or another. As the straights just were relegated to rattling around in a drawer I finally tossed them when the desk was replaced.

There has been a basket pipe or two (covered in lacquer) over the years that gave poor results but my stats mostly look like yours.
Out of my 32, or so, Cob pipes ... not one bad smoker.
The 25 to 30 Briar pipes ... not one bad smoker.
I think it was Sablebrush in another thread that made the comment, "25% pipe, 75% smoker" and I agree.

Yo r
Actually the 1 pipe that stood out as tasting bad was a Danish pipe that I bought new. 15 bowls later, it turned into one of my best VA puffers. It may have been a stain issue - I don't recall if the bowl was precoated.
hp

les

The only pipe, to date, that has ever been a complete loss/regret was a Calabash style basket pipe that I picked up once, at a local B&M, because I enjoyed the aesthetics; however, come to find out, it was a Chinese made pipe that tasted like burning plastic, no matter what I did, in order to "fix" the problem.
Besides that -- I've only had one other pipe give me any issues, and it's another unbranded basket/kit pipe. After the first smoke, while breaking it in, a pea-sized divot developed near the draft hole. Since talking with fellow forum members and gathering advice, I've been babying the pipe, while trying to build up a healthy layer of cake -- and -- so far, so good(ish). So, I will give it a half point.
- 0/30(ish) briar pipes

- 0/11 cobs

- 1.5/3 basket pipes

- 0/1 Meerschaum
Total - 1.5/45
That't 97% awesome!

My definition is going to be a bit different. As I like my tobacco on the dry side for better flavor, gurgling isn't much of an issue, and a pipe cleaner generally takes care of it.
Almost all of my pipes have been good and some really exceptional. By exceptional I mean that blends seem to come alive in a way that doesn't happen with all pipes.
The few that disappointed I sold and have forgotten about. But a couple that I remember include a 1921 Barling bent that had a tight draw. It was a small pipe with a narrow airway. I really cleaned out that airway, and the pipe improved, but it's not an award winner.
Another disappointing pipe was a 1950's era Barling Canadian. Anything I put in it just tasted dull. That one went as well.
The last one that comes to mind was a Bob Hayes billiard that had a terribly tight draw. When I looked inside the stem, I could see that the airway transition into the slot hadn't been properly finished. I could see where the drilling ended before the slot. I took care of that by carefully filing out the obstruction and smoothing out the transition and now it smokes fairly well, though it does tend to get a little warm.
I would add stem and bit comfort as a factor. It's surprising that something so fundamental gets little discussion in threads of this genre.
I like my Sasienis, but find the stem work only so so. And after restoration they took a while to break in, producing an almost vegetal taste overlay to the tobacco. With use that taste went away and they smoke well, but the bits just don't thrill.
Most of the issues I read about seem like operator error. Equipment 25%. Technique 75%.

Pipe I made, years ago, was always a dud. Has never tasted right, no matter what went into it.
I suspect a donkey pissed on the briar burl early in it's life.

Sablebrush:

I would add stem and bit comfort as a factor. It's surprising that something so fundamental gets little discussion in threads of this genre.

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Right under our noses! You're so right. I was thinking about that same thing recently. Put a pipe in my maw and said: "yes, that feels right"...not all do as well. I like a thin, medium to small, saddle cut fish tail in Ebonite.

Sadddle cut give me more control when clenching. Not fond of 'fat' bits.

0/20 mm corn cobs

0/5 Dr Grabows

1/2 Kaywoodies

0/1 Cayuga

0/1 Hilson/ Crown Achievenment

0/1 French made basket pipe
The Kaywoodie is a full bent White Briar. With the stinger it gurgled so much it was basically unsmokable, with the stinger chopped still needs to be cleared of moisture every 3-5 minutes. I'd never buy another stinggered Kaywoodie again, fortunately all new production Kaywoodies no longer have stingers!

I define bad as:

- No matter what you do, the pipe tastes awful.

- The pipe always gurgles, starting very early in the bow.

- The pipe overheats for no obvious reason, when compared to similar cadence with a similar pipe.

- The pipe burns out (as in, within 3 months of usage, boom, you see a hole.)

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A burn out at 4 months in rates ok in your book? You're a forgiving person. :nana:
If anything, this thread shows we all have very different expectations from our pipes. Beyond that it shows that there is a difference between bad pipes and bad smokers.

Like Sablebrush said... most of the bad bowls I have had were due to user error... I seem to get the best results from straight pipes with saddle bits... Pots and billiards and princes seem to stay lit the longest and taste the best.
My current perceived "best smoker" is not one of my more expensive pipes, it is a $30 basket pipe. It's a Capri pot - rusticated - saddle bit. Every bowl is good...
I haven't really applied any science to this best/worst thing.
Most of my bad bowls were due to me smoking too fast, lighting too fast or packing my bowl badly.
I suppose I look at this as: which pipes do I reach for last?
I tend to reach for my filter pipes last. They seem to mute the flavor.
Not including gifting pipes, I have only parted ways with 4 pipes.
Three were Savinelli's and one was a Stanwell.
Three of these were 1/4-1/2 bent billiards. the other was a billiard (straight).
When I look at pipes now, I seem to be most attracted to the Pot.

I have a Kaywoodie that's problematic, but it's my own fault. I had its restorer cut off the tip of stinger to open the draw. It mostly smokes great, but sometimes a loose leaf gets stuck in there and clogs the airflow. But, as stated above, that really comes down to being a packing issue! Oh and it's a hassle to clean. But still sleek.

3 of 18 high grades. But I can't let myself part with them. I'm continuing to try different tobaccos in them to see if they "like" one of them.
Other than that, there is a Stanwell shape that doesn't smoke well for me EVER! It is Shape 15, maybe it is all in my head, but I've owned 3 and never liked any. But love the look of the shape.

I have way too many pipes and few clunkers, so I think the odds are with the pipe smoker mostly. The ones I traded away were an L.L. Bean "house" pipe straight pot, perhaps a Dr. Grabow, with a permanent stinger (I didn't want to saw off) that just didn't get the flavor out of a blend -- a really pretty pipe but finally just not fulfilling. Another was a truly handsome lithe French pipe, a Dublin with an extra slender shank and stem; however, the airway just would not clear pipe cleaner fluff. I used thin wire and various other ways of clearing it, and smoked it for months, but finally I was spending as much time trying to free the airway as smoking it, so I traded it away. And finally there was a Sav rusticated straight bulldog, no bead lines and heavy rustication, that kept tasting of plastic and looking more and more like a dog dropping, so I finally traded that, my only negative Sav experience -- otherwise Sav are some of my favorite pipes. There may have been one or two others over the years, but those are the only ones I remember.

"I would add stem and bit comfort as a factor. It's surprising that something so fundamental gets little discussion in threads of this genre."
+1 Brush.

When I returned to pipes my favorite look in pipes were Pete's. I never purchased many 3 or 4. But I did buy the stems with P-lips. I really bought into the concept. So much for concepts At that time I also purchased a number of P-lip pipes from across the pond as estates. Long story longer I do not like a round bit in my mouth as a clincher. Fish tails all the way, wide and thin. So some day when I get them waxed and buffed the P-lips are going back to another home.
One of the pipes I had a problem with was a 9mm pipe that shot the filter back with a thump when you would draw on it at lighting up. I just left the filter out and it smokes fine.

I had one that was misdrilled and was basically a permanent bubble pipe. Too bad; the size was great.

I have bought a fair number of Castellos, but have only ever had one that was a bad smoker. I am not sure exactly why, but I think it has to do with the location of the draft hole coming into the bowl.
I also had heard of everyone rave about Savinelli, so last summer I bought two cheaper ones (around $100 each) because I wanted a few cheap pipes that I didn't have to worry about while smoking. Both smoke ok, but only OK. One is a half bent billiard that seems too constricted through the stem, so I suspect that may be the issue with that one. The bits on both are, frankly, uncomfortable. So far, I have continued to smoke both, but I don't look forward to it.
I have yet to have an artisan made pipe that was not a good smoker, although I don't doubt that such pipes exist. I do have a few that have more comfortable bits than others though.