Question about the shape of a pipe and the way it smokes

lasttango · Jan 3, 2016

Most of the pipes I own have a similar shape... mostly straight or 1/4 bent... billiards, apples, acorns, princes etc... The most unique shape I own is a bulldog ;-)
I am looking at a couple of shapes and I was wondering if anyone could elaborate on "how" they tend to smoke.
#1 - Chimneys/Stacks or relatively high bowls. Can this have any kind of cooling effect or just contribute to a longer smoke?
#2 Canadiens / Lumbermans. Long briar shanks. How much can they cool your smoke?
#3 Full bents... I have had two, but they tended to gurgle on me... I imagine it's because I kept it in my mouth too long etc... do they need to be smoked differently to stay dry?
Thanks...

cobguy · Jan 3, 2016

#1 - Chimneys/Stacks or relatively high bowls. Can this have any kind of cooling effect or just contribute to a longer smoke?

I feel that the taller bowls are good at "concentrating" flavor as they go and generally smoke Va's and some Va/Pers in those.

#2 Canadiens / Lumbermans. Long briar shanks. How much can they cool your smoke?

No noticeable difference to me but they are among my favorite styles along with Lovats.

The most unique shape I own is a bulldog

The Bulldog, Apple and other large round / wide bowls I prefer for more complex blends such as English / Balkan or Codger smokes.
As is always mentioned, there are no hard and fast rules ... this is just my experience / preference.
Happy Smokes! : puffy

:

jpmcwjr · Jan 4, 2016

If you're concerned about cooling the smoke, and gurgling, your tobacco starts out too moist, and/or you're smoking too fast. Dry down, slow down, and enjoy!

cortezattic · Jan 4, 2016

Moisture is a by-product of combustion, and severely curved pipes offer greater opportunity for condensation.

It has little or nothing to do with the accumulation of saliva.

bigpond · Jan 4, 2016

Ask a dozen guys....
1) Given the same diameter, height has little perceptible impact on the temperature of the burn. So Chimney's don't smoke cooler. On the plus side, you can easily fill these with a cannonball of tobacco which some believe provides a more nuanced smoke (less filtering effect of smoke through wet tobacco).
2) Not at all
3) If you exhale with a pipe in your mouth moisture is going to accumulate unless you block the draft with your tongue.

okiescout · Jan 4, 2016

#3 Full bents... I have had two, but they tended to gurgle on me... I imagine it's because I kept it in my mouth too long etc... do they need to be smoked differently to stay dry?
A majority of my pipes are bents and most of those are quarter bents. They do not gurgle anymore than my other pipes. Actually none of my pipes gurgle unless I take a bole of guppy (wet for whatever reasons) tobacco and try and smoke it like a steam engine. If I do I get the same results as a steam engine..... steam. If your pipe is gurgling are you getting tongue bite also?

lasttango · Jan 4, 2016

Yeah, I rarely put my hands on the pipe once it's going - so I am exhaling with it in my mouth. That would explain some gurgle. I have noticed it more with fuller bends, but that might be a coincidence or gravity.
I guess one of my main motivations for asking these questions is that I am looking to buy another pipe and I was looking at some different shapes and wondering to what extent they might change my smoking experience. Almost all of my pipes are relatively the same length, size bowls and similar shapes. I was wondering if chimneys/stacks, canadiens, OM Paul's, etc give a much different experience... than what I am smoking now. I saw this pipe with a relatively TALL bowl and shorter stem and I was wondering "how would that smoke?" etc

cobguy · Jan 4, 2016

I saw this pipe with a relatively TALL bowl and shorter stem and I was wondering "how would that smoke?"

A prime candidate for some McClelland #5100 Red Cake. : puffy

:

allan · Jan 4, 2016

There are many who would say that a full bent or 3/4 bent will gurgle more than a straight, and that may be true.
The majority of the pipes I own and treasure are between 1/4 bent and full bent, the latter being an Oom Paul Dunhill. Now, I'm not a particular fan of Dunhill any longer, but that full bent Oom Paul smokes no 'wetter' or 'gurgliar' than any straight that I own. The only challenge with that pipe is getting a pipe cleaner to go through.
As mentioned earlier, loading a moist tobacco in any pipe will potentially give you a wet smoke. Why not try to make sure that before loading that the tobacco is reasonably dry. That certainly helps me.
Good luck!

foggymountain · Jan 5, 2016

1) Chimneys are OK for most of the smoke, but there is a buildup of foul tasting moisture towards the bottom. I have never finished a chimney smoke. 2)Canadians are a good smoke if the bowl is not too thin. 3)Bents are very good but you have to learn the bend and twist technique to get a cleaner through during the smoke.

cosmicfolklore · Jan 5, 2016

I smoke a chimney while I work at my bench every day. It is my favorite. I am not sure why someone would say that the tobacco gets soggy. I have never experienced this situation at all, and I have a whole rack of stacks and chimneys. If you guys don't want your chimneys, send them to me please. I love, loVe, LOVE the way the Virginias stove as the bowl progresses down a tall bowl. It makes it sweeter and more flavorful, better and better, till... you suck ash down your throat, letting you know that you finished.
Canadians, eh, just a fancy billiard to me. Full bends, sure give them a whirl, and smoke slowly. Neither of these seem to smoke in any special way. Just pipes. The Chimneys and stacks are a bit different though, at least IMO.

foolwiththefez · Jan 5, 2016

Cosmic, do you have to fill a chimney all the way to the top for the described stoving? Or do you get the same flavor experience from a half packed bowl?

cosmicfolklore · Jan 5, 2016

You get a stoved effect of some sort from any pipe, but on a tall chimney, it gets even more pronounced by the end of the bowl. I find that I pack a little looser, but all the way to the top. I am a codger scoop kind of guy, so I am not sure how loose, I just pack it by "feel."

I don't like flakes in my chimneys, unless I fully rub it out, because flakes burn so unevenly... and in general aggravate me and piss me off, ha ha.

cosmicfolklore · Jan 5, 2016

But, you'd have to be passionate about Virginias to begin with. If you are an aromatic or latakia smoker, the whole stoved thing is going to fly right by you, regardless.

cobguy · Jan 5, 2016

LOVE the way the Virginias stove as the bowl progresses down a tall bowl. It makes it sweeter and more flavorful, better and better,

Agreed ... but we are also in the camp of "dried almost to a crisp" and this helps a lot with the Chimney experience.
Also, either clenching or breathe smoking is needed to keep the burn level low.

cigrmaster · Jan 5, 2016

Dublins are one of my favorite shapes as they smoke my flakes really well. Rhodesians and Brandy's are also shapes I buy, along with Apples, Billiards and Lovats. I have straight and bent pipes but a 1/4 bend is the most I go.

perdurabo · Jan 6, 2016

Shapes....Shapes...Where we are going....We don't need Shapes!

okiescout · Jan 7, 2016

"But, you'd have to be passionate about Virginias to begin with. If you are an aromatic or latakia smoker, the whole stoved thing is going to fly right by you, regardless."
Pretty much, Michael

"I don't like flakes in my chimneys, unless I fully rub it out, because flakes burn so unevenly... and in general aggravate me and piss me off, ha ha." :rofl: I thought it was just me.
"Agreed ... but we are also in the camp of "dried almost to a crisp" and this helps a lot with the Chimney experience.
Also, either clenching or breathe smoking is needed to keep the burn level low."
+1 Cobguy.
For me a deep smoke really requires drier tobacco. All of this, as always, is a personal preference.

Most of the tobacco I smoke is on the drier end of the spectrum, and especially when smoking a deep bole or an aromatic blend.

blackbeard · Jan 7, 2016

There are more important factors to each of these. Variables that make an even larger difference than the bowl shape itself.
Thickness

Smooth/rusticated

Unfinished/finished

AS WELL as the briar itself

mso489 · Jan 7, 2016

I'm big on variety in pipes. Canadian shape pipes (not to be confused with Canadian manufacture or artisanal) are among the most stately shapes. Most of them have sufficiently large bowls, wide in chamber enough to smoke more complex blends, and often more than ample for longer smokes. I have several Canadian shape pipes and always feel glad to select one for a smoke. The relatively smaller ones do fine for Va or Va/Per as well.
Tall narrow bowls, like stacks and chimneys and similarly shaped pipes, do a fine job with some of the non-aro burleys, and are champs with some of the unique burley variants like Semois. I have a Ferndown bent billiard and a MM bent freehand (cob) with an acrylic stem, both with more narrow deeper bowls that also excel in non-aro burleys.

Question about the shape of a pipe and the way it smokes

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