Softy Bits: That’s Right, I Use Them

Hmmm...I wonder what he was thinking. :wink:

Clever!

Good idea. But, the other day I was wondering... I have actually tried to use the stingers and little tube-like stingers in my pipes. I figured, if they come with the pipe, they must work. I've tried smoking even slower than normal. I've tried smoking harder, faster, sipping, holding the pipe in my hand, upside down, turning the stinger different ways, I even smoked one till it was completely broken in, and every pipe with a stinger gurgled, no matter what I did. And, pulling the stinger out... the pipe smoked fine.
Is there anyone in the known universe that has mastered the stinger? And, if so, please give me the secret. Pipe makers keep putting them in pipes, even new ones will still have them. So, someone out there must know something that I don't. Or, are they required by law in some countries top discourage smoking? Why do they put them in pipes?

That's the best use of softy bits that I've seen yet! Also, take a look at Plasti Dip. You can use it to build up a thick, rubberized coating that won't slip.
https://plastidip.com/

I take stingers out of most pipes, but I leave them in Grabow Ajustomatics. They work as intended for me; the warm smoke hitting the cool metal causes moisture to build up on the stinger itself...so it's working as a moisture trap. I rarely get a gurgle. I'm no genius, could just be that my smoking style works well with the Grabow stinger setup. Later when using a pipe cleaner on the stem, I simply wipe off the stinger...and it is often a surprising amount of juice! For most guys, stingers restrict the draw too much...and there are occasions where I pull even the Grabow stinger out to allow a more open draw.
Dave...great ingenuity for the softies!

:clap:
nice stinger collection

Cosmic, I have never gotten a good smoke out of a pipe with a stinger or any similar contraption. Either they don't work, or I'm not enough of a martyr to learn whatever smoking technique is required to make them "work".
Dave, that is a great use for those things. I like the thought of softies in theory, but I used them for a while and found they got too nasty too quickly, and the extra thickness turned comfort into a sore jaw after a long smoke.
By the way, you'll have to tell us about the deep-sea diving adventure you were on when you found those ChannelLocks!

Thanks for the humorous post.
Cosmic, I know their use. Ha, for me at least. I started smoking a pipe from a cigarette habit and smoked fast. I fell in love with Kaywoodie pipes because they smoked better. What they did was teach me how to slow down. I fell away from Kaywoodie and started smoking artisan pipes. Now, as I smoke better I came back to the old Kaywoodie pipes. One had become stuck, I had it reengineered and it smokes amazing (from 1932). No surprise. Well, fortunately, Bill has decided that Kaywoodie no longer puts stingers in the pipes, and he personally makes every Kaywoodie in the handmade line, less than 100 a year. So I can have my old love, without the stinger. Unfortunately, I have to say they are great for teaching you how to slow down by limiting draw and gurgling if you aren't incredibly careful. And they worked back in the day likely because people loved a gimmick. Now I find that they are like training wheels. YMMV.

+ 1 for Cosmic, even today I see French manufactured pipes almost inevitably comes with some sort of stringer inserts whereas those models which are destinated inclusively to U.S market have hardly stringers.