Stem protectors....

beerandbaccy · Sep 25, 2015

I am still fairly new to pipe smoking, and realised that a couple of my favourite pipes are getting a lot of teeth marks on the mouth-piece.I am a clencher!!! :x
I saw some rubber protectors on my usual pipe/tobacco web store and have ordered a couple (they were only £2) and wondered what other people think of them?
Thanks in advance for your experience and opinions!!

cosmicfolklore · Sep 25, 2015

The ones sold for this are too thick, IMO, like having a gag ball in your mouth. A friend of mine on here showed us how he takes a bit of surgical tubing that you can buy on Amazon.com and cuts just a quarter to half inch of it and uses it. It's thinner, cheaper, and you'll have a ton of them with just a foot of hose.
Me, I don't use anything. Maybe my teeth are dull of something, but I clench all of them with no mark on any of my pipes. But, even if there were, it wouldn't bother me. They're my pipes, so what?

twoonefive · Sep 25, 2015

They are a love/hate thing. Being a clencher I use them on all of my pipes. Amazon sells a 20 pack for a few bucks. I also see people getting rubber tube from hardware stores and cutting it to size.

phil67 · Sep 25, 2015

The ones sold for this are too thick, IMO, like having a gag ball in your mouth.

Thanks a heap for the mental image on that Cosmic! I had no idea you were into that sort of thing.

Other than that, I use the softy bits on my pipes but I cut off the lip on them as otherwise they seem too bulky. However, I’m somewhat fastidious about sanitation so I always remove it before using the pipe again and wipe it off inside and out with 151 proof grain alcohol as well as the stem. Someday I’ll have to give the surgical tubing a try. For the wider stem pipes such as a fishtail a small dab of ChapStick on the lip of the pipe makes it slide on very easily.

cosmicfolklore · Sep 25, 2015

I had no idea you were into that sort of thing.

I'm not really, whatever makes her happy : puffy

:

sjfine · Sep 25, 2015

I used to use those. I cut off the fat part and slid the tube past the button so that it wouldn't be too bulky.
It turned that it didn't protect my stems all that much because I didn't clench too hard, so the damage that I do to my stems is minimal, and the discoloring caused by the bit was no better than normal oxidation for me.
I stopped using them and I am happier for it. YMMV.

disinformatique · Oct 13, 2015

Go ahead and get a few, dont listen to the old farts calling them gag balls or something.

prairiedruid · Oct 13, 2015

I use them because I like to clench and have a broken tooth in my clench "zone".

shawnofthedead · Oct 13, 2015

I use those rubber bits on all my pipes, because I loath teeth marks. The key is to get the right size, too small to too large will not last long. e.g. use large rubber bits for a Stanwell pipes, and smaller bits for Petersons.

aggravatedfarmer · Oct 13, 2015

I like them. Got only one and the pipe sits more comfortably.

davet · Oct 13, 2015

I got a few and tried one once, not for me. Totally uncomfortable.

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