Large bowl size vs Smaller size bowl

juozapas · Oct 17, 2010

Does smoking pipe with a larger bowl reduce the tongue bite than a smaller bowl ???

How does it make a diffence ??

Is it due to more air entering the system ??

Anybody know...???

colonelmcmuf · Oct 17, 2010

From my experience my larger bowls tend to smoke hotter more often than most of my smaller bowls. Just my opinion though. Someone else probably knows the science of it all.

pstlpkr · Oct 17, 2010

Hey Joe,
I'm not sure about the size of the bowl actually making a difference where heat is concerned. But, there are definite differences when smoking different types of blends.

This isn't a hard and fast rule, but more my preferences. I'm not talking about wall thickness or grain orientation that's a different issue when talking about heat.
Large Bowl pipes: Aromatics, e.g. Lane 1Q, BCA, Cavendish, Maple or Vanilla flavored tobaccos.
Small Bowl: English blends, VaPers, (this is probably where some differing opinions will come in) Flakes e.g. Escudo Navy De Luxe, or PS Luxury Bulls Eye type of tobaccos.
That's my two coppers.

bjeorn · Oct 17, 2010

for 1 week ive been trying to get the hang of this peterson uni flake and i finally got it little sips to start in a big bowl but now ive been puffin away on a bjarne giant viking for the last three hours and feeling a bit woozy (got a bit over ambitious lol) i think im gonna go have a lye down + skippin dinner didn't help lol

cortezattic · Oct 17, 2010

pstlpkr said

Small Bowl: English blends, VaPers, (this is probably where some differing opinions will come in) Flakes e.g. Escudo Navy De Luxe, or PS Luxury Bulls Eye type of tobaccos.

The only way in which our opinions might differ is that I would be much more adamant about it.

Don't EVER smoke a Va or Vaper (especially flakes) in a large diameter (>.75") chamber!

If you want to go with a deep bowl, fine.

(How's that for a generalization?)

About English, Balkans and aromatics, I don't know. Save the wide bowls for Orientals and American blends.

cortezattic · Oct 17, 2010

ps. Read Bob Tate's essay, Reading Between The Lines -- especially the last sentence.

skipper · Oct 17, 2010

The heating and tongue bite are affected by a great number of factors:

-Briar (or meerschaum, or bog oak) qualities

-Pipe thermodynamics, we can include here the bowl size, but this is only a single variable interrelated with a lot of them.

-Blend properties

...and the biggest factor, our own smoking procedures and smoking management.
I love flakes, and they can last an eternity on a big bowl, so I like small bowls for them.

Va and VaPer seems to lose their subtle hues at the end of a long smoke, so I like too the smaller bowls for them.

EMs and Aros... it depends on every single blend. Olsen's MOB Balkan I like most in big bowls, SG's Skiff Mixture in medium or small sized ones...

juozapas · Oct 17, 2010

Pipe thermodynamics ??

That's why I love this site...somebody is always speaking my language !! hahaha...

Great advice from everyone...thanks again.

The flake, I noticed as well, doesn't work well in a larger bowl. I found it a lot more enjoyable in the smaller diameter pipe. And, yes, aromatics are way better in the larger bowls as well.

And, I still think that the "draw" has a lot to do with it as well.

Is not to rush, but rather work with it to attain a calm stream within the chamber.

As the Skipper stated above,"...and the biggest factor, our own smoking procedures and smoking management".

Smoking Management ?? (I love it...so true..hahaha..)

Thanks everybody !!

Joe

fred · Oct 17, 2010

Much of what I can say has already been noted in this thread. For me,

smaller bowls are excellent for Flakes, while larger bowls are great for

blends that burn quickly, as they have more time to develop during the smoke.

Bite is an issue that you will learn to avoid with more smoking experience.

Besides the quality of Block, other factors are involved, including: personal

body chemistry, individual smoking style and characteristics, how clean the Pipe

is maintained and how long it is allowed to rest, moisture content of the blend

and length of the Pipe's shank and bit. Age of the blend can also have a big

role in how it smokes. It's a worthwhile effort in this art of Pipe smoking.

unclearthur · Oct 17, 2010

A dirty pipe can not only taste nasty but I find they tend to get hotter due to having to draw harder to get the smoke through a partially clogged shank.

igloo · Oct 17, 2010

Small=flakes . I like my my English blends in a big pipe . If your thumb goes in , for VaPer it is too big . As for the Aros I like the ones that are not gooey .This will do away with the tounge bite . Petersons and Nording blends come to mind . Blends that are sticky like WO Larsen will bite if smoked to fast .. Just my nickel inflation and what not .

python · Oct 18, 2010

I smoke all of kinds of blends and genres in all sizes of pipes. I smoke VA's and VA/Per's in small and large pipes, I smoke Latakia blends in small and large pipes, and I smoke flakes in small and large pipes. It all depends on my mood.
As far as tongue bite and smoking cooler or hotter, like everyone else has said; the bowl size doesn't matter when it comes to those things. Along with the reasons why that have already been posted, I would like to add that the draw of the pipe itself has an affect on bite and keeping the bowl burning cooler.
I had a pipe that smoked horribly and sent it out to have the pipe opened (this is a process where they drill out the airway in the pipe from bit to bowl to expand the opening in the airway). After that was done the pipe now smokes without a bite and smokes much cooler.
The reason that this has an affect on the smoking qualities is; if the airway is too narrow, it doesn't allow sufficient airflow through the stem into the tobacco chamber. This makes you have to puff on the pipe more frequently which creates a hotter smoke and bite. It will also cause gurgling during smoking.

pipetrucker · Oct 18, 2010

Yep, just depends upon the tobacco. Certain pipes "like" certain tobaccos better than others.
As for large or small, I tend to like large bowls better for English blends but prefer smaller bowls for anything containing Perique.

fred · Oct 18, 2010

Good points Bob and Mason.

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