Pipe Tools Part 2
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Kevin Godbee - Oct 15, 2009
- 6 min read
In the earlier Pipe Tools article we talked about some quite important tools for the pipe smoker and a few that not everyone is going to be interested in using. This time though we’re going to be talking about a few tools and accessories that just about every pipe smoker is going to need in his kit.
Last time we started out with pipe cleaners so let’s start this session with cleaning brushes for pipe stems and shanks. Unlike pipe cleaners these brushes are not absorbent and are reusable although they’re so cheap you won’t need to worry too much if you have to throw one away.
If you’ve got an obstruction in the stem that just won’t budge then dip a cleaning brush in some Pipe Sweetener or similar pipe conditioner and you can scrub that obstruction away.
Pipe Conditioners
This is a fluid that cleans and sweetens your pipe. There are several different brands on the market but they all work in the same way. If you want to do a quick clean of your pipe just dip a pipe brush into the fluid and run the brush through the stem. (PipeMaster’s Clean & Cure Pipe Sweetener)
You can even use it on the bowl of the pipe once you have removed all the accumulated cake. Manufacturers recommend that you pour a small quantity into the bowl and allow it to sit for a few seconds. Then drain it through the shank before running a pipe cleaner or two through the shank to clean out anything that was softened by the conditioner.
Once you’ve done that you should put your pipe aside for at least 24 hours to allow it to completely dry.
Tobacco Containers
Where you choose to store your pipe tobacco is a matter of personal preference. There are many who are prepared to leave it in the tin that it was in when it was purchased. That’s certainly the cheapest way of storing your tobacco but there are a number of other storage options available.
There are tobacco pouches that come in leather or vinyl … with a zip to fasten it or as a simple roll up pouch. Prices can vary from less than $10.00 to something over $30.00 and once again, which type you choose to use really is a matter of personal preference.
You can also choose to store your tobacco in glass jars that come with a press-fit lid that makes the jar airtight. Wooden containers are also available and most of these have a rubber seal around the lid that makes them airtight.
There’s no doubt that the wooden containers tend to look far more stylish than the glass containers and if that’s what you want for your tobacco then you will need to be prepared to pay something of a premium for that classy wooden look. Wooden tobacco jars tend to retail around $40.00 while the more simple glass jars can be had for about $15.00.
Humidifiers
Regardless of what type of container you use to store your pipe tobacco … even if it’s only a pouch … you should be thinking about a humidifier for your storage. These devices can be as simple as a pouch button … metal button that you only need to wet with cold water before placing it in your pouch … humidifier that’s too big for a pouch but will certainly fit in some of the other storage options that are available.
Savinelli Wood with brass trim tobacco humidor.
Lighters
So far we’ve talked about a whole bunch of accessories that keep your pipe in good condition and keep your tobacco fresh but we haven’t actually looked at what you’re going to need to actually light your pipe.
For beginners … and plenty of very experienced pipe smokers too … nothing beats a wooden match or two … or three or four. They’re somewhat convenient, controllable and very inexpensive but don’t let those puny little matches fool you, they can do some damage to your pipe if you’re not careful.
If you’re not careful when you’re lighting your pipe you can have the match too close to the edge of the bowl and if that happens it’s very easy to scorch and burn the rim of the bowl and if you keep doing that you will soon need a new pipe.
Of course there is an inconvenient side to matches too. They tend to go out if there’s a breeze, they can burn your fingers and they can get wet so for some the better option is to use a lighter.
Now you might think that any old lighter will do and many pipe stores both in the real world and online will sell you the cheapest lighter they have … if that’s what you ask for. But not all lighters were created equal when it comes to lighting a pipe and while you can even light a pipe with a cheap disposable lighter there are some better options.
Most lighters are designed to have the flame rise up vertically from the lighter in a clear blue flame. In some circles these lighters are called torches and some have extensions so that you can get the flame closer to the bowl of your pipe without getting the lighter right over the bowl.
These lighters certainly do an adequate job of getting your pipe lit but it’s easy to damage the rim of the bowl with one of these lighters and at least one pipe maker recommends that you use a very different type of lighter.
The makers of Meerschaum pipes recommend that you never use a torch lighter to light one of their pipes. They suggest that torch lighters will damage the material that the pipe is made out of and scorch the bowl as well. For these manufacturers the best way to light a pipe is with what is called a soft-flame lighter.
These lighters have a soft yellow colored flame that can be drawn down into the bowl when you puff on the pipe. Some soft-flame lighters even have an arrangement that allows the flame to come from the side of the lighter rather than from the top so that they’re easier to use. Unfortunately these lighters are generally more expensive than the torch lighters but then the extra cost is definitely worth it if it allows you to light your pipe without destroying it.
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The Zippo pipe lighter is made to the same high quality standards as a Zippo windproof pocket lighter, but designed for the special needs of pipe smokers. The ingenious design encases the flame in metal, allowing it to be drawn directly into the pipe without bending over the side. The result: perfectly lit tobacco, with no damage to the pipe.
Pipe Racks
A Pipe Rack or Pipe Stand is a nice accessory that offers aesthetics as well as functionality. They look elegant serving as a home decor accessory. As a pipe accessory they can actually serve two purposes. The obvious use is a place to put your pipes when you are not using them. This is much better than just having a pile of pipes laying around. After you smoke a pipe it needs to be given a rest so it has time to cool off and also to dry out. Moisture accumulates as a result of smoking. Your pipe rack is a good place to let your pipe rest to cool off and dry out
And that wraps up our review of tools and accessories for the pipe smoker. There are a few that I haven’t touched on and I’m sure that there will be more available in the future but the ones I have mentioned are all you will need to make your pipe smoking experience a very enjoyable one.
Written by Kevin Godbee
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Welcome to The Pipes Magazine Radio Show Episode 636. Our featured interview on tonight’s show is with Barry Kane. Barry started smoking a pipe in 1961 when he was 14-years old. Back then it seemed like everybody smoked, and you could buy pipes and tobacco just about anywhere. Barry is a true old-school pipe smoker, sticking to just one blend. See if you can guess which one before listening. At the top of the show Brian will give his take on Scandinavian Tobacco Group’s purchase of Mac Baren and Sutliff Tobacco and their announcement that they will be shut down.
There’s a pipe in my collection that I cannot bring myself to smoke, though I’ve had it for more years than I care to recall. It’s old, or shall I say, well experienced; that experience, that oldness came to it long before it was in my possession. The pipe is an old Comoy’s Grand Slam from the 1940s. The shape (#93), a slightly canted, stack billiard (sometimes referred to as a Belgian) is right up my alley, and it’s a beautiful example of it. It came to me with some wear and tear; nothing unusual for an old pipe, but more the signs of one that has been well loved, smoked a lot, treated as a favorite tool, cherished, in a sense, by frequent use. It’s the pipe equivalent of a vintage car that’s been driven a lot, enjoyed fully and maintained adequately, rather than one kept in a spotless garage, dusted and detailed weekly, brought out only for leisurely Sunday drives, or to be ogled behind the ropes at the next Concours d’Elegance. 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It was something now completely lost to time. Until it wasn’t. Memories are powerful things, and there is no sense more tightly bound to memory than our sense of smell. One whiff was all it took to carry me back in time, conjuring a vivid recollection of something long submerged in the inky depths of a subconscious mind. Look, I know as well as anyone that pipes are meant to be smoked, and that many feel it almost sacrilegious to have a pipe and not set it to its intended task. In this case, I simply can’t. I won’t. Ever. Rationally, I am fairly certain this pipe would probably be a great smoke. It was too well loved by its previous caretaker to be anything less than that. My choice not to smoke it is an emotional one, not something rational. Of the thousands of pipes that have passed through my hands over the years, this is the only one to create such a singular and vivid, almost Proustian recollection of temps perdu, of lost time. It revivified a long dormant memory that is mine, and mine alone, and that’s enough. I keep it in a drawer with other old English pipes. In some ways, it’s nothing special, just a nice old pipe. I don’t lavish it with any particular care that arguably befits the hidden treasure that it holds. It’s not in a special box, or displayed preciously in a glass cabinet. Every once in a while, I take it out, point my nose bowlwards, and every time, those memories return just as powerfully as they did the first time. I have no idea how long it’s been since its last owner smoked it, but in the years I’ve had it, there seems to have been very little degradation of the aroma, and that’s […]
Welcome to The Pipes Magazine Radio Show Episode 635. Our featured interview on tonight’s show is with James Ravenwood. James is the boutique tobacco blender of Ravenwood Blends. His blending started out as a fun hobby, and he now has professionally packaged commercially available products with some great tin art. Part of his interest in pipe smoking goes back to fond memories of a retired Navy Veteran that lived on his street while he was growing up that would sit in his driveway smoking a pipe all day. Later, in 2011 he began smoking pipes and soon after started experimenting with mixing different tobaccos. His other hobby, that he has been doing for 30 years, is photography. He takes wonderful photos of outdoor spaces, and still life pictures of pipes and tobacco. You can see them on his Instagram @thebriarfellowship. At the top of the show we’ll have an Ask the Pipemaker segment with renowned pipe artisan Jeff Gracik.
Welcome to The Pipes Magazine Radio Show Episode 634! Our featured interview on tonight’s show is with Warren Ertle. Warren is an extremely accomplished musician with a PhD in music. He started early as a percussionist in sixth grade. Later his grandmother got him a cheap Casio keyboard which he taught himself to play. He started playing in blues bands in high school, and has been a pianist with jazz big bands for years. Even though he was already a professional musician, he took his first real piano lesson when he enrolled in college with his studies in classical music. He is of course a pipe smoker. At the top of the show we will have an Ask the Tobacco Blender segment with Jeremy Reeves. Jeremy is the Head Blender at Cornell & Diehl, which is one of the most popular boutique pipe tobacco companies in the USA.
Soon now, supposedly, our neighborhoods will shift from grinning pumpkins, skeletons in various assortments, and zombies dashing about to pretty reindeer, angels, and flashing lights illuminating homes with sparkling stars and laughing, scurrying Santas. But, lest we forget, there is the turkey season, fancy pie aromas wafting from kitchens, and a national pardon of a big Tom Turkey. Remember, now, that only one of these holiday personalities is a pipe smoker. And that is the hefty, bearded fellow in a bright red suit sitting in a sleigh with a herd of deer hitched up and ready to streak across the globe, bringing tidings of joy and many presents. Ok, the scene is set for the next couple of months, right? So, before we get too far off the beaten path, let’s just take a deep breath of fresh autumn air, shall we? Ahh. That’s better, isn’t it? What’s got the Pundit in a snit is not all the Halloween spooks who came a-jostling for candy. 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Now, if you have read some of the great authors of the past and present, their pipes were always nearby. Reading Sir Arthur Conan Doyle can be a three-pipe problem at times. S. Lewis and Jean-Paul Sartre require time with your pipes to reflect on the existential problems and solutions these authors provide in learned novels and other narratives. Or take Edwin Hubble and Bertrand Russell, philosophers of another world. Pipes are required for reading. The quantum lode of ideas Pundit is attempting to sort out is that our pipes are relaxing and stimulate our thoughts and creativity. Especially in these last months of the year. Many times Pundit has had that light bulb flick on while smoking my beloved pipes. And friends in Pipedom, it ain’t easy to turn on the lights in Pundit’s rock pit head. Now it’s time for a quote from a Pipe Smoker of the Past. Shelby Foote was born Nov. 17, 1916, in Greenville, Miss., and died June 27, 2005, in Memphis, Tenn. A fact is not a truth until you love it—Shelby Foote. A parting thought: It is said that famed Southern author William Faulkner carried a packed pipe in a coat pocket wherever he went. That’s one effective way to deal with workday conflicts and confusion. A calm and objective judgment in our everyday human affairs, as the quantum man said.
Welcome to The Pipes Magazine Radio Show Episode 633. Our featured guest tonight is Jon David Cole. JD is the Owner/Tobacconist at The Country Squire in Jackson, MS, and the accompanying online store. We’ll have JD and Brian talking about what’s new at the store and in the business in general. At the top of the show, Brian will discuss tobacco growing, what happens to the leaf, and provide updated information on where tobacco is being gown today. Tobacco production originated in the United States and we were once the #1 producer. It’s quite different now.
x3corpse uses an Old Boy Pipe Lighter and it has never let x3corpse down. The fuel tank is very large adjustable and produces a 90 degree angle flame perfect for any a smoker. X3corpse uses the long Davidoff matches at the end of his largest pipe at the end of the smoke because it is long way down to the bottom of the bowl and this tends to get that last little bit of tobacco and prevents burning the rim were the Old Boy would have to be adjusted to its max output and the puff would be lots of effort at the end of the bowl, great thing about Davidoff long matches is that you can cut used portion off and relight with Old Boy x3corpse uses the match 3 to 4 times.
Good idea on the long matches. That will save me some burnt fingers.
I use Diamond”strike anywhere” large kitchen matches. They’re larger and thicker then the standard wooden match. Cheap too.3-pak(750 matches total) runs about 2-3 bucks most places like wal-mart.