Can You Smoke The Same Pipe All Day?

Log in

SmokingPipes.com Updates

108 Fresh Brulor Pipes
120 Fresh Peterson Pipes
23 Fresh Bruno Nuttens Pipes
12 Fresh Moonshine Pipes
36 Fresh Tsuge Pipes

PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor

PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor

PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor

PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor

PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor

Drucquers Banner
Status
Not open for further replies.

tycr0

Lurker
Dec 23, 2013
11
0
Hello! I have a rather straightforward question that I seem to be overthinking. Do you smoke the same pipe all day, then let it rest for a day, or do you only smoke one bowl out of your pipe, then let it rest for a full day? The resting and use issue has always confused me! Thanks in advance!

 
Yes!
You can do whatever you want. But, a fresh pipe smokes better. If I am out and about, I grab one and smoke it all day, sometimes. But, then I rest it for a few days before smoking it again. And, clean the heck out of it between smokes. Over-smoking a pipes, makes for a stinky pipe.
If I am close to my pipes, I will smoke it and rest it for a day, or at least overnight.
The idea is to allow the cake to dry out from absorbing all of the condensation from the combustion process. The more you smoke, the further you build up moisture beyond what the pipe can absorb, making it stink, gurgle, and taste like crap.
The old guys, like my Uncles, would just smoke the same pipe all day, day in day out till it was dead. But, then they usually made their pipes or bought cheap ones. And, they stank, lol.

 

saint007

Part of the Furniture Now
Dec 22, 2013
630
0
You can smoke a meerschaum all day and not have to go though the cleaning process after every smoke like a briar. Maybe run a pipe cleaner through the stem every now and then. I smoke my briars once a week and let them rest(dry).

 

ravkesef

Lifer
Aug 10, 2010
2,923
9,457
82
Cheshire, CT
+1 on what Michael said. The best way to go: when you've finished your pipe, run a cleaner through it, then let it rest. When it has cooled, give it a thorough cleaning, then set it aside--the longer, the better. This may sound somewhat involved, but a clean, dry pipe will always smoke better. I've got some pipes that have been with me for 40 and 50 years--they're in immaculate condition, and they're great smokers. They represented a significant financial investment at the time, and I was told to take good care of them and they'd last me a lifetime. If you're going to invest some of your hard-earned money in a good pipe, treat it as it deserves. Of course, if you're buying cheap pipes, it really doesn't matter, but even an inexpensive pipe will smoke better if it's been cleaned and allowed to rest.

 

mikestanley

Lifer
May 10, 2009
1,698
1,126
Akron area of Ohio
If

I smoke the same tobaco thoughout the day I will

use the same pipe. That being said, that would amount to

2 OR 3 pipes. Imho, don't worry. A mildly sour pipe can be

"fixed".
Mike S.

 

salewis

Can't Leave
Jan 27, 2011
412
0
Usually, most pipe smokers rest their pipes for at least one day after one maybe two bowls. The reason for the rest is to dry out the pipe from your saliva and from the natural tobacco burning moisture. I imagine that some days you can smoke one pipe all day, however, it is important to pass several pipe cleaners after each smoke to ensure that you do not clog your pipe and to keep it a little dryer.

 

sablebrush52

The Bard Of Barlings
Jun 15, 2013
19,747
45,287
Southern Oregon
jrs457.wixsite.com
The reason that a rotation was defined as 7 pipes (also the origin for the 7 day set) was that the common consensus among pipe smokers was that a pipe should rest for a week to dry out after a day's use and cleaning. I'll smoke as many bowls in a day as I want, in a single pipe. If I'm changing blends radically, I'll switch to a different pipe. If necessary I'll run a pipe cleaner or two through the airway between bowls. I like the bit devoid of juice. At the end of the day the pipe(s) gets a thorough cleaning and gets put away for at least a week.

 

phil67

Lifer
Dec 14, 2013
2,052
7
This is why I purchased four (not at the same time of course) MM cobs with the few briars that I now have. I'm hoping as time goes on, with the purchase of a few more briars, to have enough pipes in rotation so that I can let each one rest about one week between bowls, but it's certainly nothing I'm going to be anal-retentive about. I just figure the drier they are the better they'll smoke. Then again, that just might possibly be my rationalization/excuse to purchase more pipes. :wink:

 

warren

Lifer
Sep 13, 2013
11,715
16,278
Foothills of the Chugach Range, AK
I can and have. Usually no more than 4 or 5 bowls before I return home and swap out for a new pipe for the evening.
Hard to over smoke a meer. Easy to over smoke a briar or cob, so I allow a few days rest after a long day of smoking.

 

sfsteves

Lifer
Aug 3, 2013
1,279
0
SF Bay Area
When I was a new pipe smoker and had only one good pipe, I smoked it all day, every day ... as I gradually got more pipes, I would smoke one all day, then rest it while I smoked a different pipe all day ...
Here's the thing ... you will get more pleasure from your pipe if it's clean and rested ... period.
Which is not to say that you won't get any pleasure from one which is not clean and rested ... it's just better if they are.

 

Perique

Lifer
Sep 20, 2011
4,098
3,884
www.tobaccoreviews.com
Interesting thread. I've always been a 'smoke the pipe once a day and let it rest for a day' guy (despite my fairly utilitarian approach to pipes).
But I think I'm going to experiment with the BB method and smoke a pipe throughout the day. I'll rotate through a few days like this giving the pipes adequate rest after their on-days. And see if I notice a difference.
The existence of the seven day set does suggest that this was previously the norm.

 

wilson

Part of the Furniture Now
Apr 17, 2013
719
1
One bowl and a day rest. Most of the time. Some smoke one pipe all the time and it works for them . I suspect thst constant wetness contributes to a sour pipe. So I think letting a pipe dry out well between smokes is important.

 

mso489

Lifer
Feb 21, 2013
41,210
60,454
Well, I hate to hark back too much, but my dad was a chain smoker of his pipe, and he only had one

pipe at a time, that he'd smoke from after breakfast until bedtime, pretty much until it cracked and

burnt out. Then he might resort to a slightly less damaged pipe until he could get to a tobacco counter

and buy a new pipe. Mostly these were briars, mostly straight billiards, with a few bent and a few cobs

over the years. He only smoked one brand of tobacco, Granger. He did this from about age 15 until

he quit cold turkey at about age 65 because the community college where he had a second career was

non-smoking. How was that in terms of flavor, moisture, smoking pleasure? He never said, but he kept

on smoking for years. He lapsed into cigars for maybe five years, King Edwards mostly, then went back to

his pipe. And I do mean that in singular.

 

doctorthoss

Part of the Furniture Now
Oct 6, 2011
618
9
When I was growing up, the pipe smokers I knew (father, uncle, grandfather, etc.), usually owned only 3-4 pipes and smoked them constantly. As a rule, they would smoke a pipe several times a day and then let it rest for 2 or 3 days, rotating among their modest collection. They did clean them regularly and well. I never saw a pipe burn out, go sour, break, or in any way suffer from this treatment.
Some guys will say to own a pipe for each day of the week, smoking each several times and then putting it aside for the next week. Others say to let it rest for a number of days equal to the number of bowls smoked. Some say to smoke a briar only once before letting it rest for several days.

Know what I think? There is no right answer. None at all.
The one thing I claim to know, factually, is that our briars are a lot tougher than some guys believe. They are pieces of wood, not high-performance jet aircraft. They are sturdy, reliable, and can most certainly put up with being smoked more than once a day before being set aside for a fortnight or whatever. Will a pipe deliver it's absolute BEST, crispest, freshest smoke if you overdo it? Of course it won't. But it's not going to keel over and go to Briar Heaven, either.
Personally. I often smoke a single pipe multiple times a day (4-6) and then let it rest for a week or so. Sometimes I've smoked the same pipe a half dozen times a day for multiple consecutive days. Sometimes I smoke only a single bowl before putting it back (I've learned some briars are better than others). But this doesn't have very much to do with me worrying about the health of briars. I do this because I dedicate briars to certain blends/genres, so if I want to smoke a wide variety of different tobaccos in a day I have to rotate through my pipes quickly. In any case, I've never had briar burn out, go sour, or anything like that.
My advice? Don't worry about smoking your briars too much. They'll be okay. Just make sure to clean them thoroughly after a day's hard use, and make sure you have enough of a rotation to give them at least 2-3 days' rest. Otherwise, forget about it and just enjoy smoking.

 

ocpsdan

Can't Leave
May 7, 2012
411
3
Michigan
If that's a challenge to do so, then sure! But otherwise my moods change from bowl to bowl and even if I'm smoking the same blend, I have a tendency to reach for a different pipe.

 

judcole

Lifer
Sep 14, 2011
7,176
33,396
Detroit
but my dad was a chain smoker of his pipe, and he only had one pipe at a time, that he'd smoke from after breakfast until bedtime, pretty much until it cracked and burnt out...He only smoked one brand of tobacco, Granger.
Sure. Lots of old-timers did that. Doesn't mean it was the best practice, or that he might not have gotten more enjoyment out of his pipe by doing it another way. If it worked for him, fine. Personally,I would not advise anybody to do it that way.

 

mso489

Lifer
Feb 21, 2013
41,210
60,454
Jud, I agree. I don't chain smoke my pipe, and I have too many pipes and certainly rotate. A pipe

can rest for a couple weeks or more. But Dad and his Granger were an example of one extreme.

Clearly, the briar remained smokeable for months in daily use. It's an illustration, but sure not my

recommendation. I think I may own as many pipes as my dad did over all his years of continual

smoking. He died at 89 licensed to drive without glasses, and as near as I can tell, of no cause related

to smoking a lot.

 
Status
Not open for further replies.