You'd think I'd know this, but is there a formula for time spent in breaking in a new pipe, including how much it should be smoked on a given day?
Breaking In New Pipe
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I've heard anywhere from 50 to 100 bowls, and some think a pipe doesn't need breaking in at all, obviously, it's pretty vague. I go by how well the pipe starts to smoke, no real answer to this question.
I think you can smoke full bowls right from the start, in fact I've even heard some say that doing so is less likely to damage the unprotected bowl. Anyhow with a new pipe you don't wanna pack too tight, don't puff too fact, and don't smoke outside.
We went so many years with the three thirds method only to learn that it may put uneven heat to the bowl and that we should smoke a full bowl from the start. As overheating is not good for any pipe, be it a new or an old one, this is nothing special either. Then some of us don´t believe in building up cake in general. :roll:
All considered there´s not much left of any rules for braking in a pipe and that´s my approach - just smoke the bugger like there´s no tomorrow. :wink:
All considered there´s not much left of any rules for braking in a pipe and that´s my approach - just smoke the bugger like there´s no tomorrow. :wink:
I have no scientific explanation, but when I get a new pipe, I love to smoke it back to back repeatedly. Maybe it's just excitement with a new pipe, maybe I just love the aroma of new briar, maybe I enjoy learning how the new pipe wants to be smoked, or maybe cake builds faster in a pipe repeatedly smoked. Or, maybe it's a all of the above. I am in the cake hating category myself, but I at least want to get the pipe coated fairly quickly. But, one of the things that I make sure of is to not buy a new pipe until I have completely broken in a new one. Like getting too many new toys or new albums at one time, sometimes one will slip through the cracks because you didn't have time to fully bond with it.
Just do what you feel is right for you. I would suggest that people just smoke a new pipe like you intend to smoke it years from now. But, all in all, this is relationship building time, a honeymoon if you will. You're bonding with the new pipe and learning how each other wants to be treated.
Enjoy your new pipe. Congrats!! :
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Just do what you feel is right for you. I would suggest that people just smoke a new pipe like you intend to smoke it years from now. But, all in all, this is relationship building time, a honeymoon if you will. You're bonding with the new pipe and learning how each other wants to be treated.
Enjoy your new pipe. Congrats!! :
:
Some factory sells coated pipes. I don't know if they do that to prevent damage or to conceal damage!
I don't have a sure answer to your question. When I start using a new pipe I prepare, just for the first time, a coat of cinder fixed with honey. I'm not sure it depends on it, but with this treatment I never had problems afterwards.
I don't have a sure answer to your question. When I start using a new pipe I prepare, just for the first time, a coat of cinder fixed with honey. I'm not sure it depends on it, but with this treatment I never had problems afterwards.
This is a pretty good way to look at duration. As for how many times a day? I never thought about it. I just smoke the pipe for however many times I want a bowl. Then I give it a rest for a few days and go again.
You're burning wood initially. Some like the smell and taste, others don't. Not all briar tastes the same. Once you've got a layer of carbon on the walls, you're good to go.
The 50 to 100 bowl pipe break in thing doesn't compute to me. I've never experienced the need to do that.
There is only one way to break in a pipe and if you are not doing it this way, then you are just plain wrong.
I fill my pipe to the top, I smoke it to the bottom. I only use Virgina, Vaper or Vabur flakes. They will build a nice hard cake faster than any other blend including Carter Hall ( which some people think a burley is faster or better than virgina). You smoke a bowl,give it a days rest, keep doing this until you have smoked anywhere from 15-22 bowls and the pipes is broken in. This includes all pipe brands except Peterson as those take 50-100 bowls to break in.
I fill my pipe to the top, I smoke it to the bottom. I only use Virgina, Vaper or Vabur flakes. They will build a nice hard cake faster than any other blend including Carter Hall ( which some people think a burley is faster or better than virgina). You smoke a bowl,give it a days rest, keep doing this until you have smoked anywhere from 15-22 bowls and the pipes is broken in. This includes all pipe brands except Peterson as those take 50-100 bowls to break in.
I have a new theory. Standby. All of the ritual and instruction on breaking in a new pipe is not for the pipe but for the pipe smoker to make friends with it. So if it settles your heart to start with a third of a bowl, or coat the new bowl with honey, or smoke only Carter Hall for six weeks, or sustain partial bowls for a month, or whatever makes you content and happy to start using your new pipe acquisition -- I am here to assure you that your method is the only correct way to break in a pipe and that anything else will cause it to burst into flame and disappear into fine ash by spontaneous combustion. Sometimes this will be caused by just looking at the pipe wrong. So follow your heart. You know what to do. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise. (I'm with the pack 'em and smoke 'em contingent, so that's what I require of myself.)
mso,
Go ahead, do things they way you want, just don't come crying to me when your pipe burns a hole in the bottom or takes 3 years to break in. I try to teach you guys but
ooooooo, you have to do things the way you want. Oh yeah, I do things the way I want also. Never mind.
How dare you contradict me, we both know that people who have different ways of doing things other than my way, are retarding their growth as pipe smokers. If they listened to me in all things, they would be professional pipe smokers in two weeks.
Go ahead, do things they way you want, just don't come crying to me when your pipe burns a hole in the bottom or takes 3 years to break in. I try to teach you guys but
ooooooo, you have to do things the way you want. Oh yeah, I do things the way I want also. Never mind.
P PAs someone who knows about burned out pipes up close and personal (see my post on "Burn Through Pipe"), I'm moved towards Cigrnaster--the time interval seems a little safer than the spontaneous combustion I experienced. I'm not all that careful about breking in--I used to just smoke it top to bottom, wait and hope for that new pipe taste, which is sour to me, to go away. A rest time makes sense to me. But I've looked at all the other points you gentlemen wrote in and I'll synthesize some kind of approach. Here's the pipe that needs breaking in, the top one:
Actually, the bottom pipe, a Peterson Rosslare, is a new pipe and so needed breaking in: this only took a day. I wonder if quality of briar, as is the case with the Peterson, is a factor. Rosslares are made with only the top 5% of Peterson's selected briar.
Actually, the bottom pipe, a Peterson Rosslare, is a new pipe and so needed breaking in: this only took a day. I wonder if quality of briar, as is the case with the Peterson, is a factor. Rosslares are made with only the top 5% of Peterson's selected briar.
Sure, quality of the briar would seem to be key. How dry, how porous, how and how long aged would all factor in, not to mention carving.
"This includes all pipe brands except Peterson as those take 50-100 bowls to break in."
Harris, are you just being facetious? I am just curious. Are they really harder to break in? Mostly the few I purchased when I came back to pipes were older estates. I may be having a senior moment I just do not remember hearing this about them. What do you suppose accounts for it?
Harris, are you just being facetious? I am just curious. Are they really harder to break in? Mostly the few I purchased when I came back to pipes were older estates. I may be having a senior moment I just do not remember hearing this about them. What do you suppose accounts for it?
This is one of those topics that is endlessly debated. Like many things about pipe smoking, different folks have different opinions about how best to go about it - and Harris' tongue-in-cheek response to the contrary, there is no "one way".
I'm currently breaking in my little Tim West dublin. I have filled the bowl completely to the top each time, and smoked it to the end. I started with several bowls of Lane RR, for several reasons.
After the first 5 or 6 bowls, I tried a couple of other blends in it - Amphora Regular, which is relatively new to me, but is not a complex blend,and MacB Mixture, which I have smoked a lot of. The pipe smokes beautifully, and is off to a good start on the break-in process. ::
I'm currently breaking in my little Tim West dublin. I have filled the bowl completely to the top each time, and smoked it to the end. I started with several bowls of Lane RR, for several reasons.
- This is a relatively small pipe, so I intend to smoke Virgiinias and burleys in it[/*]
- I am a firm believer in smoking a tobacco you are familiar with when you are smoking a new pipe, and I've smoked a fair amount of Lane RR[/*]
- I had Lane RR on hand and I like it[/*]
After the first 5 or 6 bowls, I tried a couple of other blends in it - Amphora Regular, which is relatively new to me, but is not a complex blend,and MacB Mixture, which I have smoked a lot of. The pipe smokes beautifully, and is off to a good start on the break-in process. :
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