Pipe Shape?

Cygnus... not a dumb question.
It's not so much the pipe shape, but the style and size of bowl (IMHO) that allows a particular tobacco reach it potential.
For example: I really enjoy Escudo Navy De Luxe in a small bowl, as well as Mac Baren Vanilla Cream Flake.

However; I like VaPers in a medium sized bowl with a very open draft.
YMMV, and I'm sure there are going to be many different opinions and suggestions.
::

Don't know the reasons why, but firm believer certain tobaccos smoke better in certain pipes.

You use the right glassware and are rewarded in your beverage choices, so why not with your tobaccos? I am a firm believer that the way something hits your palate WILL affect how you perceive it. I myself am. still in the exploratory phase on the tobacco side, but seing how each smokes in my different pipes is next on the list.

Finer cut tobaccos seem to smoke better in smaller bowls, and smaller bowls set off

full strength tobaccos for starters, until you see how you like them. I started with

Nightcap in a big bowl, from a just-opened tin, and it was a nicotine kick, but with

a little age on the open tin, it mellowed out enough to enjoy in the big bowl. Bigger

pieces of tobacco (and of course you can rub out tobacco to make the pieces smaller)

go better in a broader if not bigger bowl. I have a prince that does nicely with bigger

pieces. Black cavendish that tastes somewhat bland and blah in a small bowl can expand

nicely in a great big bowl, extra large; you don't have to pack it as tight, it's not so

gooey. Also, I think individual pipes focus the air flow through narrower or wider

airways, and this changes how tobacco smokes, and gives better or less good results

with different leaf. So you get better with your own pipes than you will be advising others

(as I am doing here) on how things will work in their pipes. But you really do learn

differences as you go along. That's one advantage for pipe smokers who either have fewer

pipes or smoke only a limited number of those they have. They know how the different ones

react with different tobaccos -- blends and un-blended. Some great tobaccos come across

a little bitey and harsh, then in another pipe, pure bliss. Not to mention your own moods

and inclinations. But there definitely is a difference between depth, width, and degree of

carbon (breaking in) on various pipes. I don't think I keep this in mind, but just develop

better instincts about which pipe will favor which tobacco. Learning your own pipes trumps

any general guidelines or rules every time, I would say.

Through trial and error and dumb luck, I have found that some tobaccos smoke better in certain pipes. But there are so many variables I can't figure it out. I like the element of pipe and tobacco magic and mystery.

How And Why Chamber Geometry Impacts Tobacco Flavor, by Neill Archer Roan

Man, the science of pipe smoking. This needs to be a college course.

Lacking the college course, I guess that is what Forums and pipe clubs are for. You wouldn't think

there would be so many variables and so much art and science to it.

I am totally convinced shape does impact flavor. My first couple of pipes were dublins which I used for everything including balkans. Then one day I was on ebay looking for a cheap pipe to give to my brother in law so he could get into pipe smoking too. I found a wally frank pot that was marked seconds. I paid $14 for it and when it arrived it looked like crap it was scratched, the stem was super tight, cheap looking, it was drilled slightly off center and the rim was scorched. I told myself it looks too crappy to give as a gift. I almost threw it out but decided to smoke it and loaded a bowl of Penzance. HOLY COW! What followed was the most magical smoke ever! Every English blend smokes like a dream in that pipe! It is now my best smoker and needless to say I smoke out of it nearly everyday. I am smoking out of it now. Since then I have found the squat tomato shape and wide bowls burn English blends way better than narrow bowls. At least to my taste buds they do! My cheapest ugliest pipe is my favorite pipe and I am convinced it is the shape that makes it smoke so good.

I have to agree I rather enjoy the science of pipe smoking. So many factors come into play in how a blend will smoke.

Thanks cortezattic,
"How And Why Chamber Geometry Impacts Tobacco Flavor", by Neill Archer Roan
Excellent article my friend. Thank you for sharing.

All interested should take the time to read, even if

you are not an old grumpy retired scientist as myself. :puffpipe:

I dont think pipe shapes make differ in tobacco. The thing make differ is the type of pipe and may be the brand.

I believe every pipe is like a finger print, no two smoke exactly the same. Likewise the tobacco burns different in every pipe, packing methods as well for each pipe.

I've never put much thought into it, but it does make sense. I could see how a flake tobacco would smoke better in a certain pipe compared to other pipe shapes.

I have found over the years that certain pipe shapes and sizes smoke certain tobaccos better for me. For example, Samuel Gawith Full Virginia Flake does best in a group 4 Dublin. Fribourg & Treyer Cut Virginia Plug smokes great in group 5 Billiards, Dublins and Apples. The more you experiment the more combinations you will find.