Pipe rotation with just a few pipes

withnail · Nov 4, 2011

Greetings all,
I currently have a modest 6 pipes in my collection. My question is "how best to rotate them" and your thoughts and suggestions would be most valuable.
I smoke about 6 bowls a day and currently use each pipe at a specific time of day. So, I have a morning pipe, lunchtime pipe etc. This works fairly well as I tend to smoke the same blend (or at least similar types) at the same time each day so that ghosting of flavour is not really an issue. This method means each pipe rests for around 24 hours before being smoked again. Another method would be to smoke, say, a couple of pipes each day, so the others have a longer rest between uses.
If you were limited to 6 pipes (and ignoring ghosting for now) how would you rotate them and why?
Looking forward to reading your thoughts.

spartan · Nov 4, 2011

I try to avoid the situation alltogether.
I have 3 briar pipes and 4 cobs. I smoke the briars and let em rest for a week while I beat the hell out of the cobs.
But If I were in your situation I would divy it up by assigning 3 pipes to aros and 3 to non aros. So you would only need to use 2 pipes for each day at MOST. And your pipes would rest 2 days at least before getting smoked again.
If you smoke your pipes with care there's no reason you couldn't just smoke 1 pipe for the whole day if you truly didn't give a crap about ghosting.
I look forward to the more experienced answers as well. Great question!

maduroman · Nov 4, 2011

lets see..... 6 pipes a day and you are awake say 18 hours.... 3 hours between pipes....
heck with it, to complicated.
i have been known to keep the same pipe going all day with just a pipe cleaner through it with no problems. just don't worry about "rest" and "rotation", smoke what you want when you want.

ace57 · Nov 4, 2011

If you smoke your pipes with care there's no reason you couldn't just smoke 1 pipe for the whole day if you truly didn't give a crap about ghosting.
+1 : puffy

:

withnail · Nov 4, 2011

Thank you for the quick and detailed replies!
To go back to "ghosting", I tend to smoke aromatics most of the time with some English Mixture for a change of pace. I find that I need to keep the Latakia tobaccos to their own pipes as they can make too much of themselves. I find a little ghosting amongst the aromatics enjoyable but keep a separate pipe for my current favourite blend (Peterson University Flake).
I think that 2 pipes (one Latakia one for others) a day sounds like a good plan. As others have said, my Granddad and Dad both only had a couple of pipes each and smoked the same one 90% of the time.
I do use 2 or 3 pipe cleaners after each bowl and use a pipe sweetener every few weeks to keep them all clean.
Thanks again

chopz · Nov 4, 2011

i smoke one pipe monday, one tuesday, and then back to the first one on wednesday, etc. in other words most of the time i'm smoking only one of 2 pipes. i don't change tobaccos during the day - too much deciding to do.
at night if i feel like trying something different i might use a less used pipe.
edit to add: oh and i have one pipe devoted to english blends. if i started smoking english all day (which i don't) i suppose i'd need to buy another pipe so i could alternate them too.

doctorthoss · Nov 4, 2011

There is no need whatsoever to allow your pipes to rest after each smoke, especially if you're sticking with one blend (or even one type of blend, like English or burley). That's a myth, and one that's been propogated a lot since the internet pipe groups started up a few years ago. Traditionally, most smokers had at most 3 or 4 briars and would simply smoke on all day, put it up for 2 to 3 days, and then pick it up again. That's all you need to do: smoke one pipe multiple times per day, then put it up for at least 48 hours before using it again. A 6-pipe rotation should give you no problems whatsoever -- I, in fact, would say that's twice as many as you actually NEED unless you're smoking different blends and want to dedicate your briars. For many years, I never had more than 3 or 4 in my rotation and never had the slightest problem. My pipe collection has grown considerably in the past few years, but that's just 'cause of a bad case of PAD.

uberam3rica · Nov 4, 2011

I have 11 pipes. I use one only for heavy latakia blends

jship079 · Nov 4, 2011

Im kind of old school I burn a hole straight through that bad boy and get another tool for my baccy enjoyment. but 24hrs would be good if you want to rest them IMO

markw4mms · Nov 4, 2011

I have smoked the same pipe all day and have not had one problem! I have even picked that same pipe up again the next day and smoked it. Invest in pipe cleaners, lots of them! During and after each bowl run a cleaner thru the pipe. In my opinion the secret was nice even smoking, and pipe cleaners!!!

+1

robert76 · Nov 4, 2011

I have 14 pipes at this point and have dedicated 4 to English blends and the rest for everything else.(I tend to smoke a little of anything I can get my hands on. Regardless of the blend I want to try them all.) Depending on what I happen to be doing that day I smoke from 3 bowls to chain smoke all day. I tend to smoke 2 pipes a day and clean them with alcohol when I have 4 to 6 to clean. Like I hear on here so often, if you are enjoying your pipes you are doing it right. 8)

judcole · Nov 5, 2011

When my rotation was that small, I was only smoking 1 blend at a time, so I did not have different pipes for different types of blends. It was relatively easy, then, to smoke my two bowls a day in the same pipe, and then switch.
I know guys who smoke only 1 bowl in a pipe, and then rest it. I know other guys who smoke one pipe all day, cleaning as needed, and then rest it. I will use three pipes in a day - 2 latakia, one Virginia, reflecting my blend pattern. I'll smoke one bowl in each, clean,then do the same the next day. Then I set those aside and go to different pipes for the next two days.

francois1 · Nov 5, 2011

This is a great post the reason is i have 6 pipes been very lucky enjoy all of

them except one any how i started off with 1 then a second now we come to the

rotation i use abot 2 sumetimes 3 a day so in a sence the other pipes have time

dry out lately i have been looking at smokingpipes.com they have a great selection

so i say mmm am i rotating my pipes correctly .BOTTOM line for me i think it is just

excuse to hit the button TO buy where i could use the money for other more

important things

gavid(SCOTLAND

olderthandirt · Nov 5, 2011

i think it is just

excuse to hit the button TO buy where i could use the money for other more

important things

More important than purchasing a pipe?
I don't smoke the same pipe twice in a day very often. Simply because I've succumbed to PAD often enough I've 30 out in racks, a few more in reserve waiting for refurb or just my interest.

As a result I don't give much thought to rotation, pick whichever strikes my mood.
The cobs are most likely to be smoked more than once in a day, although a Pete Donegal I recently got has proven itself more than capable of successive bowls.
SOP - after each smoke, dry ream the bowl, cleaner through the stem, swab the shank and the reservoir if the pipe has one.

jcsoldit · Nov 5, 2011

If I live to be a 100, I'll never consider myself an expert because back when I first started (1974) we didn't have forums such as this. I lived in a small town in Colorado and the only place that stocked pipes or tobacco was a drugstore. For awhile I only owned one pipe and it got smoked several times a day everyday and I did just fine until I learned about better pipes and how they should be treated so that they could last a lifetime. Now I have enough pipes that they get to rest at least a week, but I often smoke the same pipe two or three times before putting it back in the rack to rest.
Okay now if I was you I'd continue to smoke them just as you are currently, making sure to clean them out well at the end of each day and making sure to allow your pipes to cool down between bowls.
Like someone has already stated this is one of those questions when asked usually receive several different answers with none of them being 100% right or wrong.
Welcome to the forum...

: puffy

:

withnail · Nov 5, 2011

Greetings All,
Thank you once again for taking the time to reply and share your views. I think 4-6 pipes is a good number for most situations, although I do seem to be showing the first signs of "PAD"! I guess this is just one of the hazards of really enjoying smoking good quality tobacco blends. Considering how easy it is to catch PAD, I am surprised that there aren't more large pipe racks available!!!
As for ghosting; I try and keep blends with Latakia away from pipes used for aromatics. Although I did have an interesting experience the other day. I had picked up a Latakia pipe as I was in the mood for some Dunhill Nightcap. Before filling my pipe, I was distracted by a phone call then a conversation with the good Lady wife. By the time I got to fill the pipe, I absent mindedly filled the bowl with the aromatic Samuel Gawith Grousemoor blend. The result was very pleasant indeed and I now have some Latakia blending tobacco on order to mix in with my next tin of Grousemoor. I wonder how many old blends are the result of accidental mixing of flavours in the bowl?
Happy Smoking

doctorthoss · Nov 5, 2011

You'll get some very interesting smokes by mixing up your pipes and tobacco a little bit!

When it comes to dedicating briars, I do it simply because it allows some of the more subtle characteristics of a blend to shine through. Therefore, I have a handful of pipes dedicated to specific blends that I describe as subtle or complex (some Balkans or Englishes, definitely VAs and Va/Pers). I smoke burley blends through ALL of my pipes, however, as they don't ghost at all and I sometimes get an awesome "combination" smoke that way.

edlogic · Mar 9, 2012

as far as rotation -

i started only about a year and a half ago - and i am still using the same cheap no name pipe that i picked up at a little shop down the road - i smoke it a few times every day
only recently did i start enjoying it enough to think about getting another pipe - i just ordered one from p & c - it will be here next week - a Graco Safari bent billiard - not listed there anymore - it is sold out but if you search for safari there you will see it
when i say only recently did i start enjoying it enough - i don't mean that i didn't enjoy it - i did enjoy it - i guess since previously being a cig smoker for over 35 years - i almost always smoked too hot - so now i am getting better about pacing myself
i guess i will start to learn more about how the flavors mix when i start fresh with a new pipe and since i have never - ever - let this one rest - i might notice a difference
here is the background of where i started thinking about mixing tobacco :

http://pipesmagazine.com/forums/topic/i-went-tad-crazy?replies=5#post-191168
do you ever put a pinch of something else in the bowl with whatever you are currently smoking ?

since i routinely only smoke the 3 mentioned in the link it seemed kind of special to put a pinch of something new in a half smoked bowl ...

simnettpratt · Mar 9, 2012

Well, well well; I just learned something. Pipe cleaners rule, apparently. Thanks everyone! Now back to my 1-Q in my SMS straight Dublin meerschaum.

hnryclay · Mar 9, 2012

Old thread, but I will chime in you could buy two meershaums, or clays and smoke one with Latikia and the other with everything else all day everyday with no problems. I on the other hand smoke one bowl, and then set that pipe aside for another one. I smoke every night and work through my pipes in about a month or so with 4-5 bowls a night.

Pipe rotation with just a few pipes

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