To filter or not to filter...?

sagepipe

Lurker

Nov 27, 2014

20

0

• Nov 30, 2014

• #1

Surly this question arises often and from newbies like me... However, I must ask.
To filter or not to filter: that is the the question.
I am looking for a nice pipe to recommend for my wife to buy me for my 5th year anniversary (the "wooden" year!). I am quite enjoying the process of looking at all the pipes and pipe makers and learning new things. I see all kinds of pipes and have all kinds of questions. However, in this post I am only concerned with filtering systems...
I see many of the high end pipes use no filters and yet some do. I currently use filtered pipes and probably as a sense of assurance that some of the moisture is being caught in the filter rather than inching closer to my lips. Are filters useful or helpful? If so, there are several systems out there. Which are the best? I see drinkless systems, balsa wood, paper, etc. Are one of these filtration systems superior? If no filter is superior, I would like to reason with my psyche as to why that is! Any advice?

 

papipeguy

Lifer

Jul 31, 2010

15,778

35

Bethlehem, Pa.

• Nov 30, 2014

• #2

Filters are strictly a matter of personal choice. I, for one, never use them. The use of filters is more popular in Europe and that is why you'll see pipes made to accept filters but will also come with an adapter if the smoker chooses not to use one.

I find filters to be obstructive and just a pain to use. Brigham has a maple tube filter system where you can actually wash the filters. I have chosen not to use them as my usual practice is to insert a pipe cleaner as soon as I'm done smoking a pipe. Filters don't allow for this.

So, in the end it is whatever your preference is. I say try with and without and decide which works for you better.

 

warren

Lifer

Sep 13, 2013

11,729

16,320

Foothills of the Chugach Range, AK

• Nov 30, 2014

• #3

As above, your choice.

 

phil67

Lifer

Dec 14, 2013

2,052

7

• Nov 30, 2014

• #4

Hmmm, now that subject has never come up BEFORE, BEFORE, BEFORE, BEFORE, or BEFORE!
Now that should keep you busy with a lot of opinions!
P.S. Welcome to the forum... :wink:

 

warren

Lifer

Sep 13, 2013

11,729

16,320

Foothills of the Chugach Range, AK

• Nov 30, 2014

• #5

Good on you, Phil!

 

sagepipe

Lurker

Nov 27, 2014

20

0

• Nov 30, 2014

• #6

Thanks, Phil. This will indeed keep my busy.

 

mso489

Lifer

Feb 21, 2013

41,210

60,459

• Nov 30, 2014

• #7

My experience has been that using filters mutes flavors quite a bit. Adaptors sometimes impart a

plastic flavor for me. So all but two or three of my pipes are designed to be smoked without filters.

Sometimes I use the filters if I want a milder version of a strong tobacco, or if I am getting serious

bite, usually with aromatics that are too moist. (I mostly smoke non-aros.) Savenelli does make

some pipes without filters such as the 601 churchwarden and the Oscar Lucite series. As with filter

cigarettes, a filter pipe might prompt you to smoke more, so the benefit is to some degree lost.

But as mention by someone else in an earlier post, segments of the European pipe market are almost

exclusively 9 mm filtered pipes, apparently primarily for health concerns.

 

Chasing Embers

Captain of the Black Frigate

Nov 12, 2014

43,439

109,346

• Dec 1, 2014

• #8

I never use them, nor stingers. Makes running a pipe cleaner through them after a smoke too difficult, and removing the stem too often to change the filter causes too much wear on the tenon IMHO.

 

dottiewarden

Lifer

Mar 25, 2014

3,053

57

Toronto

• Dec 1, 2014

• #9

Never used a filter.

 

B

boilermakerandy

Starting to Get Obsessed

Nov 27, 2014

248

0

• Dec 1, 2014

• #10

No filters on my pipes.

 

smeigs

Lifer

Jun 26, 2012

1,049

7

• Dec 1, 2014

• #11

I never use them. It would kind of be like drinking non alcoholic scotch to me. If your worried about the "bad stuff" being filtered out, I just wouldn't smoke.

 

blueeyedogre

Lifer

Oct 17, 2013

1,552

30

• Dec 1, 2014

• #12

I use 9mm filters in my pipes as I tend to be a heavy puffer and get pretty good tongue-bite without them. Personal choice but I like them.

 

corncobguy

Starting to Get Obsessed

Nov 3, 2012

148

139

• Dec 1, 2014

• #13

I have a few Savinelli pipe's with the balsa filter's and they seem to work good,it keeps the moisture level down and I have not noticed any change in the tobacco's flavor,but normally I don't use filter's outside of these pipes.

 

7ach

Can't Leave

Sep 10, 2013

461

28

• Dec 1, 2014

• #14

I like 9mm filters. Only about 5-8% of my pipes are filtered. Some blends taste better with a filter. Some dont bite. Most taste about the same. Some taste worse. id say get one and see what you think

 

weezell

Lifer

Oct 12, 2011

13,653

49,165

• Dec 1, 2014

• #15

Cobs/Grabows I'm a filter guy...

 

krizzose

Lifer

Feb 13, 2013

3,131

18,243

Michigan

• Dec 16, 2014

• #16

There's a qualitative difference between a paper or charcoal filter, which are designed for the smoke to pass through the filter medium, and (for lack of a better of a better word) inserts, which are designed for the smoke to pass around or over them.
Common inserts are the Savinelli balsa wood system, which are just triangular pieces of balsa wood. There is open space between the three straight sides of the balsa insert and the inside of the stem. The smoke goes around the insert, which wicks off excess moisture. The Brigham maple insert works on the same idea, except that it's a hollow tube and the smokes just goes through middle like a straw, again with the wood wicking moisture. The Savinelli balsa insert prevents the use of a pipe cleaner during a smoke, the Brigham does not.
I like the inserts, and can't stand paper or charcoal filters, but YMMV.

 

brudnod

Part of the Furniture Now

Aug 26, 2013

938

6

Great Falls, VA

• Dec 16, 2014

• #17

My advice to newbies (and I might still include myself in that category since I have only been on this forum for 1.5 years, although smoking for 45) is to spend some times with the archives. MANY of the questions have been asked before have been addressed ad nauseum in past posts. You often find not only the answer the answers to questions you are currently asking but even answers to questions you find out that you should have asked!

 

nhpro

Starting to Get Obsessed

Aug 12, 2014

116

11

• Dec 30, 2014

• #18

I prefer stingers over filters myself, for a cooler smoke.

Personal choice as stated, no right or wrong to it.
Enjoy your pipe!

 

M

mjzerby

Lurker

Dec 10, 2014

19

0

• Jan 15, 2015

• #19

So, if a pipe says that it should be filtered on the description of the pipe, it is merely a suggestion? There is no such thing as a pipe that "needs" a filter?

 

frank13

Can't Leave

Oct 5, 2014

410

2

Bakersfield, CA

• Jan 16, 2015

• #20

Many of my pipes have stingers, but I have mixed feelings about them... I never use filters. Too much of a PITA, and when changing them, they are a gooey, goopy mess. Ick...