Bowl Size And Smoke Duration

michaelmirza · Jan 26, 2016

I'm deciding between two similar pipes for my next purchase, but I need some insight. Most of my pipes have good-sized chambers, and I find that by time I'm content with my smoke and ready to head back inside (usually around the 20-30 minute mark), there's often still 1/8 to 1/4 of the tobacco left in the bowl. Thus I'm thinking of starting to buy smaller pipes, but I suppose I could also just pack less tobacco. The thing is, my packing method that seems to work pretty well is based partially on measuring from the top of the bowl. Whenever I tried to simply pack less tobacco, I either pack too light or too hard and the airflow gets wonky.
Is buying smaller pipes the solution, or should I just learn to pack differently? Which of these pipes would be better if 20-30 minutes of smoking is my sweet spot? Specs:
- Pipe #1's bowl: outside height 1.91", inside depth 1.58", inside diameter 0.83".

- Pipe #2's bowl: outside height 1.43", inside depth 1.23", inside diameter 0.72".
And for you, how much do you think about bowl size when buying? Do you ever choose your pipe according to your ideal smoke length?
Thanks in advance.
(Edited title, please see rule number 9.

Thank you, Robert.)

shutterbugg · Jan 26, 2016

Maybe if you put those measurements in metric form more people could relate to them. But what I find is the diameter of the bowl has much more effect than the depth. You can always pack part of a bowl (measuring from the top I never heard of, I always pack by feel alone). But some blends smoke better in a narrow chamber than a wide one. Flakes (folded and/or stuffed) and cube or coarse cuts for example are harder for me to keep uniformly lit across a wider chamber than ribbon cuts or flakes rubbed out to ribbons.
That said, my preference these days is for shallower bowls as well as narrower. Although it's easy enough to pack half a large bowl, drawing a flame down in there without stoking it like a blast furnace can be challenging.

michaelmirza · Jan 26, 2016

Who cares if we're the only developed nation that uses the imperial system?! It reflects our imperial American spirit! Haha sorry, here are the specs in metric if that helps:
- Pipe #1's bowl: outside height 48.69mm, inside depth 40.37mm, inside diameter 21.22mm.

- Pipe #2's bowl: outside height 36.49mm, inside depth 31.27mm, inside diameter 18.41mm.

okiescout · Jan 26, 2016

"Maybe if you put those measurements in metric form more people could relate to them."
Duh, I do. :nana:
....then again I am one of those damn colonials, Bigpond. :lol:
Michael, I never have a problem until I start overthinking packing.

cosmicfolklore · Jan 26, 2016

Yes, duration and bowl size are very important to me. I am continually looking for deeper bowls for longer smokes. My longest smoking pipe is my Ardor bulldog coming in at .85" x a tad over 3"

I don't know that commie metric stuff. I just know the English system. :wink:

But, I know my pipes by duration, for whether they are good for walks, long drives, or movies. And, I find that the depth makes more of an impact on duration, which only makes sense if you compare it to cigars. Longer thinner burns for much longer than fat and stubby. But, it's a ratio of width to depth. Narrow and deep takes much less time than wide and deep. You just have to take what you flake or cut is, and your tobacco types to the width as well.

rfernand · Jan 26, 2016

Good question -- I try to think in terms of bowl size, tobacco type, and pack style. For example:
- I pack aromatics in tall bowls (Peterson 106, for example) very lightly. This allows me to avoid over-goopy situations. (disclosure: I'm not a regular aromatic smoker, think The Virginia Cream and Autumn Evening).

- I pack English blends "normally" in short bowls (think Dunhill Group 3).

- I pack Flakes loosely in short bowls (half a flake, rubbed)

- PA and CH I pack freely in large and/or fat bowls (think Savinelli 320 KS, Peterson Sherlock Holmes Original)
Why? Cant' really tell you. I end up with the smoke mechanics and time that more or less feels right for the different classes of blends I enjoy.

jpmcwjr · Jan 26, 2016

I would have thought that we mile-yard-foot-inch folks outnumber the metric folk 5:1 or better. No? I've come to like grams for measuring out coffee beans for espresso, but that's as close as I come.

shutterbugg · Jan 26, 2016

I would have thought that we mile-yard-foot-inch folks outnumber the metric folk 5:1 or better. No?

You mean the world or this forum? Other than the USA and to some extent UK, AFAIK the entire rest of the world is metric.

jpmcwjr · Jan 26, 2016

This forum.
I am well aware what the rest of the world uses for measurements.

cosmicfolklore · Jan 26, 2016

Here in the pipe world, we should stick to the pipe measurement we are all familiar with. Not Dunhills group sizes which are based on tossing chicken bones and reading tea leaves. But, we should stick to thumb sized, first knuckle, and pinky measurements. :wink: : puffy

:

jpmcwjr · Jan 26, 2016

Heh. Then we get into whose got the biggest whatever body part. All proxies for dick size for many.

newfie · Jan 26, 2016

Ardor bulldog coming in at .85" x a tad over 3"

Cosmic, would you mind posting a picture of that?

buckaroo · Jan 26, 2016

my Ardor bulldog coming in at .85" x a tad over 3"

Geez, that's a canyon. It is an Ardor though.

rfernand · Jan 27, 2016

Not Dunhills group sizes which are based on tossing chicken bones and reading tea leaves.

:rofl:

tarheel1 · Jan 27, 2016

I tend to only buy group 5 sized pipes lol. Basically get 1-2 hours out of a bowl.

disinformatique · Jan 27, 2016

Here is an interesting observation from me. Tobacco plays a big part when it comes to time in my case.
I have a very small (Gr.1 Size) Bent Billiard from Jeantet. I smoke G L Pease English Flakes/Plugs in it. The depth is less than 1" and the inner diameter of the bowl is around 0.65"(approx). It's an easy 1 hour smoke. This is the only pipe which gives me the full taste of Greg's Tobacco, any other pipe Ive used pales in comparison in terms of taste and time.

I also have another narrow and tall bowled Jeantet with 1.25" bowl depth and 0.5" (approx) width and its marvelous for a 20-30 minute smoke depending on the tobacco.

Cheers,

Chris :puffpipe:

jvnshr · Jan 27, 2016

My brother has a very small taxi company with few vehicles. One of the new drivers starts working, after a week he came to the office. Fortunately I was present at the office and saw that with my own eyes. So the guy goes like "Don't get me wrong, but whenever I drive that vehicle with 60 km per hour (37 mph) I feel like I am going really fast, like 100 kmh (62mph). I think the speedometer of the vehicle is not working correctly". We started laughing, as he was a little bit old and had only driven really old cars, so we explained him that new vehicles were more comfortable, blah blah. At the end, he was very satisfied however I went with him just to make sure that everything was ok. He accidentally changed the electronic speedometer from kmh to mph, so in fact he was going 100 kmh while the screen was showing 60 mph (mph was written in small fonts so he wasn't paying attention).

And just for your information:

1 mph = 1.6 kmh

1 inch = 2.54 cm = 25.4 mm

1 ounce = 28 grams

bigpond · Jan 27, 2016

Mike,
The simplest way to handle this imo is to learn how to load the bowl for the duration you want. I totally appreciate that you've reached a place where you're finally comfortable with your loading technique, but consider this a learning opportunity to grow your skill as a pipeman. I use the cannonball method (also called the air pocket method by Fred Hanna), when I want to moderate my smoke duration and find it very helpful.

fitzy · Jan 27, 2016

I don't tend to buy pipes based on smoking duration but I buy pipes by the diameter depending on what type of tobacco I plan on smoking in it. If I've got time to smoke for 20 minutes I smoke for 20 minutes and finish the rest later.
Wider bowls for latakia, aro's or oriental tobacco's and narrower for everything else.

cosmicfolklore · Jan 27, 2016

Hmmm, the best part of metric is that I can turn 6 inches into 15.24 cm, which sound a lot more impressive :wink:

Bowl Size And Smoke Duration

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