Bowl Size for Blends?

I think the size and blend need to mix together right, but I also believe their is a grey zone for personal taste were some combos will mix well for one person and not another.

For me, Virginias and VaPers get .75' and down to .6" bowls, and Blends and latakias get the larger .8" pipes. This is so that the flavor gets focused in the smaller Virginia pipes, and the mixes get a larger burning ratio to include all of the leaves and allow the mix to smoke evenly.
I would actually prefer my Virginias in a narrow dublin conical shaped chamber, especially a very good year Virginia.
For me, I usually want the depth of the bowl to be double the diameter, for example .75 x 1.5". But, I have found that this width times depth ratio is a good predictor of the length of the smoke.

My .75 x 1.5" pipes smoke just as long as my .9" x 1.8" pipes. So, when I want a longer smoke, I always look at depth instead of width. Just what I notice, YMMV

cosmic made some interesting observations. I never really choose a pipe for a blend based on size. Trial and error plays a greater part for me. There are those who prefer smaller bowls for flakes and I agree that wider bowls, like pots, give lat blends more play room.

It sounds like you hit your stride so if you're happy stick with what has been working for you.

The conventional wisdom is smaller bowls for Virginias, larger for lat blends and aros.I tend to agree with that, but do what works for you. ::

For the most part I use smaller bowl pipes with straight or slight curve stems for my Virginias or VaPers and large bowl bents for my Aros. I don't smoke Latakia blends very often so I can't say for that type of tobacco. That being said I will at time when I know I have a lot of time to relax.... Camping, fishing, etc.... I will fill my extra large Chacom Louvre Horn shape with Capstan and happily puff away. I can fit 2 full flakes in it and have a great 2 hr smoke. I read that G.L.Pease enjoys his Virginias in a large pot shape pipe from time to time so I'd say experiment. See if different blends say different things to you in different shapes.

I've been building up a collection of notes from various sources on general rules of thumb for chamber dimensions and tobacco choice. Most of it has been taken from A Passion For Pipes with some added from various episodes of the pipesmagazine radio show:
* The robustness and complexity of English blends, for example, are underscored when they are smoked in a pot or a Prince. Both shapes have chamber geometries that are, for all intents and purposes square. Their diameter is approximately the same dimension as their height.
* English smoke best in a square bowl - where depth and diameter are relatively equal
* While conical chambers may have gone out of fashion (this is my impression), they are remarkable when smoking folded-and-stuffed Balkan-style flakes. I find that conical chambers exaggerate flavor development as the tobacco burn progresses toward the bowl bottom.
* a pipe shape that is likely to be a fine Virginias smoker, I think of the billiard. The billiard’s chamber configuration emphasizes the sweet aspects of mature red Virginias
* Orientals and latakia are best in a bowl with a large circumference
* Pots and princes are my shapes of choice for English and Balkan blends
* For me nothing beats a 3/4" bore 1 1/2" deep group 4 pipe for softer continental and McClelland Va flakes. This size or a slightly larger group 5 is great for Va ribbons. For the dense Samuel Gawith flakes I like a slightly smaller group 3.
* Your draw has a greater effect on a smaller diameter chamber versus a wider chamber
* Milder straight virginias and vaper's are best suited for narrow chambers
* more robust blends, or more complex blends, are brought out better in wider bowls

* they smoke cooler and have less of a draw effect

* plus you wont miss a certain type of flake in a more complex blend
* If a tobacco is too mild, try it in a pipe with a smaller diameter chamber - this may bring out more flavour

Yeah, I'll go with the smaller bowls (Group 3 plus or minus) for Virginias, just seem to focus the

flavor and draw it out. Wider bowls for complex tobaccos, although the blends that boast 30

tobaccos and such, I think would need a fire pit to bring them up. I like a pot, prince or author

for some complex English blends, though often a standard Group 4 billiard is perfect, thank you

very much, and these go great for most non-aro burley blends. A good deep verging on Group 5

does a beautiful job on a sophisticated non-aro burley like Tabac Manil Semois. For full strength

high nic leaf, sometimes a Group 1, like the Peterson Belgique is just right. And there are always

surprises, when an unlikely pipe will run contrary to these notions, but just happen to work.

drezz,

wow, that's awesome info. Thank you for posting your summary and the link. I had not seen that page before. I guess I need to acquire a square bowl of some sort. Love this place!

Cheers

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I probably should have prefaced all of that with the fact that I haven't tested any of it! I'm still working on a consistent smoking experience with predictable results and refining my palate. Currently I don't think I would notice the difference in chamber dimensions as separate from packing too tight, or tobacco not being at the right moisture content, drawing too heavily etc.
Further than just size, that article gets in to the chamber shape and how that affects the 'distillation' and 'condensation' zones. :?
A lot of variables but I've got a life time to iron them out! I have a notebook (well an electronic one in Evernote so that I can access it from my smartphone, computer or tablet - whatever happens to be nearest) that I keep track of the performance of a given pipe and a given tobacco. Maybe over time I'll be able to identify some trends and like mso489 mentioned - sometimes you can apparently end up with a rule breaker, some sort of unicorn horn pipe that performs contrary to expectations.
Let me know what you notice moving forward!