Smoking outdoors during winter.

peace · Sep 8, 2010

Hi all,
A quick question. My wife and I have a rule about not smoking indoors because of the kids. We live in Canada and the cold months are getting here soon. I know that in cold weather, smoking a meerschaum is out of the question, I know that briars are okay (I've seen people smoking briars in very cold weather). But what about corncobs? Can they handle it?

strongirish · Sep 8, 2010

Yes, corn cobs are very forgiving, I smoke them when I am hunting in the dead of winter. Even your meers would be ok if you don't go from cold to hot, it is the changing of the temperature that splits them. If you smoke them in the cold, keep them out in the cold till they rest.

flanative · Sep 8, 2010

A cob can handle anything! Cold should have even less effect on a cob that it does a briar!

I spent 15 years in the Chicago area and used alot of cobs during cold weather. I am SO happy to be back home again!

excav8tor · Sep 8, 2010

Buy a garden shed, insulate it very well, put a heater in there, an old comfortable armchair with a little side table and a bookcase on the wall. Problem solved!

fred · Sep 8, 2010

Strongirish is correct about the sudden temperature change that can crack

Meerschaum Block. Awhile back, I read the post of another cold weather

Meerschaum smoker, who reported that his Pipe colored a mottled grey after

smoking the Pipe, from start to finish in -4 deg Fahrenheit (-20 deg Celsius.)

I have no direct experience with this extreme in temperature smoking, so

I can only report this second hand. These days, I hang around the fire in

winter...

abecox · Sep 8, 2010

Having been in a nonsmoking dorm room last winter, and being in the middle of the midwest I should say that smoking in the cold really doesn't have too much bearing on the Briar or Cob itself, but more of how long you're willing to stand outside in the bitter cold. Quite frankly I think I smoke less in the winter just because I'd rather be warm.

admin · Sep 8, 2010

I smoke more in winter since I am in Florida. It is pretty darn hot here most of the year.
Winter time is when we turn off the air conditioner and open the windows ... for a month ... maybe.

krgulick · Sep 8, 2010

Same here in Vegas, sure the summer gets more than a little toasty, but there is no snow and the temps hardly get below 50-55 here. But that is one reason why I moved here, to not have a use for the snow shovel anymore. We have about a 4-5 month break from the nasty a/c bills that summer necessitates.

storm · Sep 8, 2010

Winters have been fairly mild in coastal CT since I moved here. I'm out looking at the stars in the winter, so why not smoke a pipe too? That's the plan, anyway.

hobie1dog · Sep 8, 2010

Yep, I only smoke out on the deck, so I'm going to stick to a pipe with a regular/small sized bowl so that I'll only spend 15-20 minutes outside each night.

lordnoble · Sep 8, 2010

I started thinking about this recently, and I think I'll have to clear a spot in the garage and smoke out there. If it's not windy or snowing, I can even open the garage door to star gaze if you can call it that. There is soooo much light pollution here that if I see a few stars I consider it a good night.
-Jason

classicgeek · Sep 8, 2010

The garage is my usual haunt, but tonight I'm sheltering from the rain on my back step. It's not too cold and there's no wind, but there are no stars to look at, either. Good thing I've got pipesmagazine to look through.
Simon

bubbadreier · Sep 9, 2010

I will be stuck outside in the freezing weather that is sure to come... I just bought an outdoor heater though, so hopefully it keep me from freezing to death!
I plan on just smoking one of my beater pipes when it is cold out, that way if something breaks I won't really care.

pstlpkr · Sep 9, 2010

To paraphrase ChuckW I think it was. We have Nearly Summer, Summer, Still Summer, and February.

If it is cold out, and I have to be out in it, out comes my Ben Wade Calabash. It's absolutely perfect for warming my hands.

Ben Wade Calabash
But, I don't think my smoking habits change.

And, I think that the richer Cavendish blends seem to taste all the better for the cold air flowing into the bowl.

ernest · Sep 9, 2010

peace wrote-very cold weather). But what about corncobs? Can they handle it? Just remember the golden rule of not allowing the temperature to swing rapidly because it will cause expansion or contraction to quickly.

peace · Sep 9, 2010

So in other words Ernest, I should let whichever pipe I wanna smoke outside for a few minutes prior to lighting it, and let it rest outside after before bringing it in?

unclearthur · Sep 9, 2010

As I live alone and it's my house I smoke inside.

juozapas · Sep 9, 2010

I don't even want to think about the winter....till much, much, much,....later !! ha,ha,ha,....

cortezattic · Sep 9, 2010

I just don't enjoy smoking outdoors very much -- in any weather. Smoking while driving is OK, but it presents some PITA's too.

Fortunately, The War Department, to borrow Pstlpkr's metonym, allows me to smoke in the basement all the time, thus making

Chicago's weather a non-issue.
(The only pipe that ever burned-out on me, a Medico bulldog (and my first-ever pipe!) did so on a cold, sleety, blustery day.

The ember burned right through the bottom of the bowl, and I was oblivious to what was happening because of the cold.

That'll never happen again! )

gbpackers · Sep 27, 2011

Re Fred posting - others: Does anyone have any update on why a Meer would turn grey from smoking it in the cold? What would be the coldest that one could smoke a meer outside without doing damage or cracking it? Some in this thread spoke of resting the pipe and/or warming it up in their hands prior to and after going outside. How long should it be warmed in the hands so that it doesn't crack from swings in temps? How long should it rest outside before bringing it in? And if I leave the pipe to rest out in the cold, doesn't that, in itself, run a risk of cracking the pipe because of the cold?
I've resurrected my pipes after almost 30 years. Since then I've gotten married and had bunches of kids, so smoking in the house will probably not be an option. However, it sure is very pleasurable to smoke my meers once again! I suppose I should purchase a smaller sized meer for winter use.

Smoking outdoors during winter.

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