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12pups

12pups

Lifer
Feb 9, 2014
1,063
2
Minnesota
*Trying* not to spend too much on this. Always prefer saying what I *saved* rather than what something cost.
So... my tamper is a broken off 6" long 3/8" lag bolt. The hex head is a nice fit for all but my narrowest pipe bowl. That one is snug, so I have a standby bolt of smaller dimensions. And the threads? Sort of a cake file -- if/when you want one. Just flip it over and touch up there and there.
But the other day at lunch I found myself ready for a smoke and who knows where my *accessory* was. So a snapped off a piece of branch for a tamper. And for tending the stem, whittled a piece of green twig to size. Some long-stem prairie grass worked fine for taking out the moisture.
Heck -- the most enjoyable part of this lunch-time smoke was realizing I'm never really without tamper and pipe cleaner. They're all around me. Why buy 'em?
Huck

 
winton

winton

Lifer
Oct 20, 2010
2,318
771
I have been turning tampers for several years to sell at the Chicago Pipe Show. Also there have been a couple tamper exchanges on this forum that have been fun. Part of the smoking experience is being able to admire your equipment. There is more satisfaction looking at and feeling a finely crafted briar pipe than using a corn cob pipe. The same applies for tampers. Yes, a roofing nail works, but a tamper that is made of exotic wood or sterling silver just feels better.
I have a collection of tampers that other guys on the forum have made and given to me. When I use them, it reminds me of the friendships I have made with other guys here.
Winton
Check your PM

 
anglesey

anglesey

Can't Leave
Jan 15, 2014
383
2
I agree with pups. I find tampers, pipe tools, etc, a total waste of time and rather gimmicky. I can't understand the purpose of it, when you prod the tobacco with your finger, you understand much better how densely it's packed, and how much has burnt, etc. As for pipe picks or whatever, I just knock my remaining ash out of the bowl on the sole of my boot. And as for pipecleaners, I confess I do use them, but I have been known to use feathers in the past.

 
12pups

12pups

Lifer
Feb 9, 2014
1,063
2
Minnesota
I think we stumbled upon another distinction of character. Some men, like me, just wear blue jeans everyday, and very often steel-toe boots. Other guys, they rarely wear either. And their pants are part of a three-piece suit.
I hate suits. Don't 'spose I'd like a silver tamper much, neither. :lol: Gift maybe. Wouldn't buy one, though.
You know the saying, we all put our pants on one leg at a time ('cept for showoffs and amputees). Doesn't matter whether it's denim or something finer.
So maybe now we'll have to make up a similar saying for pipe tampers: we all fill the pipe with something, whether rustic or jeweled. Or knuckled.

 
cosmicfolklore

cosmicfolklore

Lifer
Aug 9, 2013
33,950
75,589
Between the Heart of Alabama and Hot Springs NC
It all depends on your style. Me, I'm mostly a floater between styles. I have my utilitarian pipes that are just made to burn tobacco, and I have a slew of golf tees that serve me well as tampers. But, then I have my Becker pipe and silver tamper with a ruby for when I just want to enjoy the art of the whole ritual. Sure, not everyone wants a $700 pipe, but for me, I'll never own a Ferrari. But, I can save up for months and get the Ferrari of pipes, and I want nice rims and the whole Ferrari package. Sure, its just briar and rubber. But, to me it smokes like a Ferrari. And, I want a nice tamper to go with it.
Obviously, others see it this way too, as I made a bunch of silver tamps and sold them all this weekend at a pipe show, as well as watched a bunch of men line up to buy $500-$1200 pipes (Ferraris).
But, don't worry. I know where you're coming from. I think more pipe smokers see it your way. All of the pipe smokers in my family just used golf tees or nails or their fingers. I think that's totally fine too. There's room for as many different styles of pipe smokers as there are pipe smokers. Who's to say whether one is right and another wrong? We're all just different.

 
hawke

hawke

Lifer
Feb 1, 2014
1,346
4
Augusta, Ga
Im still trying different things. I seem to always be able to find my finger, Haha. Lets see, heres a nail set punch on my desk. A store bought 3 blade tamper unit but the tamper section fell off within a week. I have a miniature 2 inch long bowie knife I like to use the 40 degree angled end of the handle as a tamper. Some cedar has fallen from the ice storm here and Im making a pipe Stand with that, maybe Ill do a tamper with some of it
There is something about the "Ritual" that cosmicfolklore spoke of that requires those specific tools that sets the mood for the whole experience.

 
hakchuma

hakchuma

Part of the Furniture Now
Jan 13, 2014
792
77
52
Michigan, USA
I have to admit, I am a big tamper fan as well. It's like I can't stop looking for cool ones and buying them. So guess what I did, I went out and bought a mini lathe to make my own and experiment lol. I have to say, there is nearly nothing as closer to practicing the art of manliness than to smoke a pipe with your own aromatic cedar tamper lol.

 
grouchydog

grouchydog

Can't Leave
Oct 16, 2013
413
1
... when you prod the tobacco with your finger, you understand much better how densely it's packed, and how much has burnt, etc ...
Click to expand...
This makes a LOT of sense, also the nose-picking thing. I may just try the finger-pick (heck, I do that with a guitar... :) ).
Guy at the local B&M uses a Chap-Stik, there's a good multi-use tool as well...

 
phred

phred

Lifer
Dec 11, 2012
1,754
4
You know the saying, we all put our pants on one leg at a time ('cept for showoffs and amputees).
Click to expand...
And also excepting those of us who wear kilts... :P

 
petes03

petes03

Lifer
Jun 23, 2013
6,212
10,653
The Hills of Tennessee
I usually keep an ample supply of $1.50 3-in-1 pipe tools around, but I have been known to use such things as spent rifle casings, screws, sticks, ink pen caps, ect. in a pinch.

 
12pups

12pups

Lifer
Feb 9, 2014
1,063
2
Minnesota
Spartan -- cryptic? Can't quite tell it that's wry humor or not. (Pardon me: I'm a little tone deaf). To clarify, though: it's a post about using a bolt with nuts on it as an accessory. Hence, the title: nuts and bolts *for* accessories.
And the rest of you, you know what? Got to thinking that I *do* wear a suit to weddings and funerals. So... even the uncultured pipers among us probably wouldn't mind have a funeral pipe on hand. Might be a place on my own desk organizer for a silver tamper.
:)

 
brdavidson

brdavidson

Lifer
Dec 30, 2012
2,017
5
I have a few $1 pipe nails that I keep in my different coat pockets, but I still often find myself without one for some dumb reason or other. Chapstick works perfectly as a tamper. However I have a really nice Brigham tamper that I do use when the occasion strikes me. Most of the time it's just me in a heavy winter coat on the back deck so ritual doesn't seem warranted when I can't feel my hands. However, when I do slow down and take the time I do enjoy using my expensive Xikar Pipeline lighter and fancy tamper to try to look sophisticated. Actually, that's when I seem to enjoy the smoke better, when it has meaning and ritual behind it instead of just lighting up.

 
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