Minimum Chamber Wall Thickness

fitzy · Dec 4, 2013

Besides looking at the chamber depth and width I also look at the chamber wall thickness. So if a pipe chamber diameter is .75 and the outside diameter is 1.25 then the wall thickness is .25. (1.25 - .75 /2).
I generally won't buy a pipe with a wall thickness of less than .25. Is anyone else in this same boat or is there another thickness you are looking for?
I found a pipe I'm very interested in but I'm hesitant to buy it as the wall thickness is under my limit of .25. It's not a lot under that limit. It's .23 and it's a straight dublin so I'm thinking the wall thickness at the bottom of the bowl maybe even thinner. Would you buy this pipe anyway?

petes03 · Dec 4, 2013

I follow along those same lines as well. I like my walls to be .200+, preferably .250+. Although I do have thinner walled pipes, I find myself neglecting them at times.

philobeddoe · Dec 4, 2013

My absolute biggest turn off in a pipe is a hot smoker and thin walled pipes tend to smoke hot. If I buy a pipe and it smokes hot, it will be gone very soon!

tbradsim1 · Dec 4, 2013

Thick walls are good, but sometimes you hit it in a thin walled pipe that performs well, I have a thin walled 15$ Bent Edwards Algerian Brair that smokes like Heaven, I call it my Bingo pipe, smoke TroutStream for the Blue Hair Ladies , so sometimes the prevailing rational is not the norm.

irish · Dec 4, 2013

I have a Hardcastle straight billiard that is very thinned walled but smokes excellent so have to second what "The Old Cajun" just said. :puffpipe:

fitzy · Dec 4, 2013

I may have to just bite the bullet. It will be the lightest pipe I own at 28 grams.

jgriff · Dec 4, 2013

On a light, clenching pipe, it's not as important. I have an old Dunhill Group 1 that has thin walls but due to its weight and size, I smoke flakes exclusively in it and it's fine. If it's a big house pipe that weighs over 50g and I'm holding it in my hands alot, then it better have thick walls.

fitzy · Dec 4, 2013

I clench all my pipes and sip very slowly so hopefully this won't be a problem however this will be my first straight pipe so I'm curious how the clenching will go for me.

jgriff · Dec 4, 2013

Fitzy -
I think there is something to be said for what you plan to smoke in it. In a straight dublin with thinner walls, it's probably Virginia flakes for me. Those are going to burn slower and cooler than an aro or ribbon/shag cut virginia.

kashmir · Dec 4, 2013

Usually the thicker the walls, the "better" the smoke. But like Bradley said, there are a lot of exceptions. I've got a few thin walled billiards that perform very well. As for clenching - its the only way to go IMHO. But whatever feels most comfortable for the piper is probably the best answer.

mso489 · Dec 4, 2013

I'll go along with oldcajun and kashmir and others -- some thin wall bowls don't smoke hot. You have to worry about it more with thin

walls, but there are apparently other variables. The walls on the Iwan Ries billiard that I am currently smoking are thinner than I would

like, but in this pipe, it doesn't matter. You can smoke as fast as you like. The briar handles it. I have several pipes in this category --

a Johs Lovat, a Peterson Group 1, an IR Canadian.

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