How much can a pipe effect the smoking?

I would suggest its more a matter of technique. Keep practicing. Don't give up! It takes some time to figure it all out.
Sure, the pipe matters, but it matters in proportion to one's pipesmoking experience and skill. IMHO...
In other words, poor technique with a $2,000 pipe is still going to deliver a hot, harsh smoke.

I'm thinking Perique pretty much nailed. Stay the course and be patient, focus on technique and it will all fall into place in due time. ::

Keep with it, you will get there. I know when you start you seem to smoke more matches then tobacco. You also may want to pick up a corn cob pipe, they are a little more forgiving.

Mostly tobaccos effect by pipe shape.

For Dunhill Standard Mixture try with pot style pipe or bulldog style pipe.

Keeping your pipe clean will help in letting the flavors come through more clearly. Run a pipe cleaner dipped in Everclear through the stem and shank every so often.
Ren

It sounds like you only have one pipe. Pipes need rest to dry out. An inexpensive way to solve the problem is to buy three or four Missouri Meerschaum corncob pipes, so you can rotate them and let your briar pipe and the cobs dry out between smokes. A day or two rest is sufficient. Also, clean them after every smoke. Scoop out the ash, wipe out the bowl, pipe cleaner the airway, and polish the pipe -- which sounds like a lot but takes seconds. Slow your smoking pace. Try a few different blends, and stick with mild tobacco until you get your footing. Your experience will improve with time, so take your time.

How much can a pipe affect smoking?

ans. some pipes can deliver an easy drawing, cool burning, effortless and complete burn without much attention to much more that stuff it and puff it.

Once you've found one, you'll be looking for more.

I've got about 30 pipes in my rotation and they will all deliver...but a few are exceptional.

When I use one of those I consider to be 'special', my confidence level too, contributes to the enjoyment.

On the other side of the coin, I've got a few that I struggle with, but am loath to quit, thinking it's me and my methods that require fine tuning. I can be stubborn.

I've opened a couple of pipes stinger holes...and that has helped.

I've got a few pipes I consider to be 'magical'.

The male homo sapien is genetically predisposed to thinking that getting just the right tool will solve any problem. But experience and practice almost always more important than the tools used. Ornette Coleman made fabulous music with a plastic saxophone. I have actually seen pool hustlers take chump money using a broom stick instead of a pool stick.
But if you want to prove to yourself that it isn't an equipment problem, take another look at Missouri Meerschaum cobs. You can get very good one for less than $10 and they come in many shapes, sizes, and finishes. And they smoke great.
Smoke a bowl from your briar pipe, then later the cob. Are you having similar problems? Then you know the issue lies in technique, not equipment quality.
Pax

It seems like a person's palate takes a while to adapt to tasting the flavors in smoke. Like mso said, keep your pipe clean and rested, smoke slowly and eventually it'll come to you.

Cobs may not be much in the looks department but it's hard to argue with how well the smoke. Enjoy and best of luck.
Ren

GREAT QUESTION! Hold fast old timers! I Think i got this one. Ok, I can remember very vividly my first time as it wasn't that long ago, 4 years. I had a basket pipe to start, and i can tell you, i hated it! I enjoyed the room note (the smell of the pipe smoke) but not what i was tasting. Come to find out though, through this forum, it wasn't my pipe per say, rather my tendency to smoke WAY to fast. I was more worried about keeping the pipe lit, than trying to PULL the flavor out of the tobacco, which in turn made me smoke fast and HOT. DONT DO THAT! Don't worry about lighting your pipe 100 times your first couple of months. Its not your pipe, its ALL IN THE PACKING,...at first. Then focus more on your cadence. Search the forum for tips on that. NOW. Having said all that, once you get the rhythm down, spend a hundred or so on a good pipe. It will make a difference, BUT not until you can come to terms with your packing and sipping techniques. I can smoke my cheap pipes now, just as well as my 100$ pipes. I would not recommend buying an expensive pipe with the expectations of a great smoke just because you forked over some cash. When you get your technique down, only then you will be able to tell the difference in pipes.

Cajunplume has nailed it. Take your time - take your time - take your time. It's not going to happen overnight. :puffpipe:

I do think a pipe can make a big difference. Not just the quality of craftsmanship (well drilled, etc) but the briar as well. Just like a wine cask influences the flavor of a wine, so does a briar or cob - sometimes in positive ways and sometimes in negative ways. But, as others have mentioned, good technique is also equally important.

How much can a pipe affect the flavor...if you've previously smoked either Mixture 79 or Ennerdale in it recently, a WHOLE bunch.

It can also affect how your room smells for the next few days, I've discovered.

Mike

+1 on what Perique and MSO said already. It'a always come down to good pipe hygiene and rotation for me. Sometimes I get lazy and get a reminder.

+1 with pretty much all of the above.
It's been said here that smoking satisfaction is 25% equipment and 75% technique. In other words, it's like sex.
But, it's also unlike sex in that fast and furious doesn't work for pipe smoking, ever.
Have you seen youtube videos where a great big burly bearded guy lights up his pipe and is sending great white clouds of smoke into the air around him and he continues to do so as he describes whatever point he's making?
That's the guy who doesn't know how to smoke a pipe. He does know how to cremate a pipe.
The only time that I puff on a pipe is during lighting. After the tobacco is burning, slow sips are the way to go. Curls of smoke, not great gushing clouds. Exhale the smoke through your nose. You get the most flavor from your tobacco when you don't superheat it. Smoking, like sex, is a pleasure best savored, not rushed through.
It took me a while to learn this, but letting your tobacco dry before packing can make a HUGE difference in the level of flavor that you experience when smoking. I find that most blends benefit from drying to the point that they feel dry to the touch, no sensation of moisture in that touch, but not so dry as to become crumbly. Dry, but still pliant. Crumbly crisp is too dry, and some flavor will be lost. Like sex, the proper amount of moisture is critical to maximizing pleasure.
Keeping your pipe clean and giving it time to air out between smokes is important and greatly benefits one's smoking pleasure. An overused pipe can go sour.
To cob or not to cob is up to you, but one benefit is that you get an inexpensive way to try different tobacco blends without having the ghost of one blend affecting the taste of another. And cobs make excellent smokers.
Smoking a pipe is not an endurance test, nor is it a stunt. There's no glory to be got from finishing the bowl without a relight. If the pipe goes out, it goes out and you relight. It's also not incumbent upon the smoker to thoroughly burn every last bit of tobacco in the bottom of the bowl. Doing so can actually cause harm to your pipe. If a load stops being pleasurable to smoke, dump it.
Packing varies on the type of tobacco and the cut. Experience teaches you the best way for you to enjoy a specific blend. It's not rocket science. Pipe smoking just takes a little practice, and a little bit of patience.
My experience regarding briar is that better grades have better, generally more uniform, capillary structure and possibly better endurance to stresses caused by use. How the briar is processed is more critical than how it is externally shaped. How the pipe is drilled, whether the draw feels effortless, is more important than external shaping.
Have fun. Don't take any of this too seriously.