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I guess I haven't been too adventurous yet. I've come back to pipe smoking after a 26 year hiatus. Found a couple tobaccos I liked and one I didn't -- and stuck with them.
Picked up a cheap cob last week just for the heck of it and noticed a couple things I don't remember from way back when, like how pipes favor a tobacco, how they smoke differently in each. How you have to vary smoking technique a bit. I just don't remember doing that.
For instance, I found my cheap cob to be sort of picky. It prefers moister, wider shred tobaccos. Likes a denser pack. Anything else takes a lot of fussing in it and smokes too quickly. Stem and air flow difference? Bowl dimensions? Porosity? Dunno.
By contrast, my favorite freehand briar, though, so far, seems more forgiving. No matter which of the tobaccos, any way I want to pack it -- well, qualifying that by saying I don't range outside the norm of filling technique, really. But I can do loose or tight, and the briar is okay with it. Stays lit well. Might tamp once or twice during the smoke to flatten the ash and restrict it as it gets too airy in the middle and toward the end. That's it.
The cob on the other hand (or in the other hand: here in northern Minn. during the winter, pipe in each hand is a survival technique... one stuffed in each boot, maybe, too) ... Anyway, the cheap cob on the other hand, frequently requires finger-flueing and I just don't get to set the tamper down -- unless it's a moist dense tobacco fill. Then it's fine.
Now, the observation is incredibly limited, since I'd need to test other cobs and start comparing with my cheaper briars, make sure I'm filling them the same, etc.
*Easier* way is to sample you all's experiences. Do you find your pipes require different fill and smoking techniques or routines? Or is this observation of mine pretty isolated?
Pups
Picked up a cheap cob last week just for the heck of it and noticed a couple things I don't remember from way back when, like how pipes favor a tobacco, how they smoke differently in each. How you have to vary smoking technique a bit. I just don't remember doing that.
For instance, I found my cheap cob to be sort of picky. It prefers moister, wider shred tobaccos. Likes a denser pack. Anything else takes a lot of fussing in it and smokes too quickly. Stem and air flow difference? Bowl dimensions? Porosity? Dunno.
By contrast, my favorite freehand briar, though, so far, seems more forgiving. No matter which of the tobaccos, any way I want to pack it -- well, qualifying that by saying I don't range outside the norm of filling technique, really. But I can do loose or tight, and the briar is okay with it. Stays lit well. Might tamp once or twice during the smoke to flatten the ash and restrict it as it gets too airy in the middle and toward the end. That's it.
The cob on the other hand (or in the other hand: here in northern Minn. during the winter, pipe in each hand is a survival technique... one stuffed in each boot, maybe, too) ... Anyway, the cheap cob on the other hand, frequently requires finger-flueing and I just don't get to set the tamper down -- unless it's a moist dense tobacco fill. Then it's fine.
Now, the observation is incredibly limited, since I'd need to test other cobs and start comparing with my cheaper briars, make sure I'm filling them the same, etc.
*Easier* way is to sample you all's experiences. Do you find your pipes require different fill and smoking techniques or routines? Or is this observation of mine pretty isolated?
Pups
