A question on 9mm filters.

[zeedoctorae]

Greetings All,

So, I am a real fan of "jaw hanger" pipes. I just enjoy having a hands-off type of smoke. Up until now I have avoided pipes with filters, however, they are really starting to grow on me. Especially since getting into pipes that have such a bent stem that saliva has a tendency to drip down them. So far, my experience has been with Savinelli 6mm balsa wood filters, but since I have a number of Savinelli pipes, I'm looking to go in a different direction. It seems that most pipes use a 9mm filter.

So, my question: are all 9mm filters compatible with all pipes that take a 9mm filter? And would I be able to use a Savinelli balsa wood 9mm filter with any of them as well? Thanks for any info or experiences with 9mm filters.

 

[cortezattic]

I smoke a 9mm filter style pipe without the filter. It's a Luca Vanetti with a durable plastic stem, and it smokes rather well. I purchased an adapter in lieu of a filter, and I was unable to reassemble the shank and stem because the adapter expanded the tenon part of the plastic stem just a wee bit too much. Maybe just a few ten-thousandths of an inch. So, I just went back to smoking the pipe with a wide open airway. That's the experience of my only foray into the world of 9mm filter pipes.
BTW, I doubt that the moisture accumulating in your pipe is saliva. I believe one would be hard-pressed to intentionally force saliva into a pipe in any appreciable amount -- much less do so inadvertently. It is much more likely that the moisture is condensation of the water vapor resulting from combustion. A bent pipe forces the warm, moisture-laden smoke stream to collide with the walls of the airway where condensation takes place more rapidly than with a straight pipe. Well, that's my bullshit theory, anyway. ::

 

[Chasing Embers]

I've used those 9mm balsa filters in many brands with success.

 

[johnbarleycorn]

Just throw the filters away man. No problems.

 

[mcitinner1]

I always smoke with the regular 9mm filters with a ceramic end. Most of the pipes I use are Lorenzetti's.

 

[woodsroad]

What Cortez said.



zeedoctorae, here's thread about these "filters" that you might find interesting.

 

[ben88]

You can make your own balsa filters. A $10 piece of balsa wood yields about 600 filters.

Another option I recently stumbled on - brown craft paper. Its very absorbent.

I'm using it now for my cobs and Grabow's

 

[nevadablue]

Ben, do you just roll it up into a filter shaped thing?

 

[ben88]

Yes. About inch and a half long tube.

 

[admiral]

Depends what are you aiming for?

Eliminate saliva or filtering small particles that can get into your mouth or having kind of smoke filtering?
In general filter pipes should be smoked with filter or at least an adapter, as these are designed to be used with a filter.

Rolled paper can do the trick for saliva and particle filtering.

Smoke filtering - you need balsa or a filter with charcoal (the ones Cortez mentioned).

How useful or needed in health aspect these filters are is another question.
Some people state that filters especially the charcoal ones are "numbing a bit the tobacco taste/smoke.

Others state filters have no affect on the taste.

Guess it is a personal preference.
Generally filter pipes are more common outside US (at least per my observations).
Personally I smoke both ways as I have all kind of pipes, and cant really say I notice significant difference in taste.

I am able to catch a taste difference when using diff pipes - morta/cobs vs briars for example.

 

[zeedoctorae]

So, the reason I'm looking to smoke pipes with a filter is not due to health reasons. It is more so that I can avoid moisture and gurgling. Thanks, Chasingembers, I will purchase some 9mm balsa filters from Savinelli to use in my different 9mm pipes from now on. I'm partial to a balsa filter as it is, seeing as I've quite a few Savinelli pipes.

 

[mawnansmiff]

As mentioned above, your moisture problem is more likely down to the tobacco being insufficiently aired afore loading.
Try drying it a bit more and see if that helps.
Regards,
Jay.

 

[mso489]

I'm interested in this thread because I just received a gift pipe hand made in Austria, which takes a 9 mm filter. I plan to try it with no filter, and if that is too open a draw, to get an adaptor for it. I have, as part of the gift, a supply of 9 mm filters, so I may use those at first and from time to time. I find these filters mute the flavor less than the 6 mm paper filters. I don't like the extra bother with filters, buying and changing them, but it does deliver a pleasant smoke, not more pleasant than no filter, but good.

 

[woodsroad]

I smoke my 9mm pipes both with, and without, the balsa absorbent. I don't see any need for an adapter when not using the balsa. What am I missing?

 

[jpmcwjr]

Dunno, Dan. Maybe another 30 years of smoking and you'll get it right!
I find that if a draw is too loose, tamping a bit harder fixes it. If too tight, a pipe cleaner up the airway. Usually it's not a problem either way.

 

[ben88]

I recently tried adapter for 9mm and it's much better fo me

 

[mso489]

woodsroad, I think the filter/no filter choice relates to specific pipes. On a few I've found the filterless smoke kind of over ventilated, like the airflow is churned and the flavor diluted. With most pipes, no filter makes no difference at all. But the adaptor is an option and sometimes improves the smoke. I find that true on many Savs and Dr. Grabow Royaltons, but I'm sure it is just a personal thing.

 

[mawnansmiff]

I recently bought some 9mm adapters due to recent purchases of filter pipes and prior to that I was using home made dowel adapters for the two filter pipes I owned. One thing I found is that some pipes need a shorter 9mm adapter so I just cut some down with the Dremel and suitable cutting disc...job done ::
Regards,
Jay.

 

[mso489]

Just a footnote, it seems that after the U.S. Surgeon General's Report on Smoking in the 1960's, European pipe smokers converted to 9 mm filters if they didn't quit altogether. I think 9 mm filters may be used by a majority of pipe smokers in EU and other European countries. Some of the vintage pipe inventories that surface, to be finished and re-sold, such as the vintage Hilsons and others, are non-filter pipes intended for sale in Europe that were caught by this conversion. From time to time, inventories of 9 mm pipes crop up in the U.S., often a discounts, because U.S. pipe smokers aren't big users of 9 mm filters. U.S. pipe smokers seem to prefer non-filter pipes or various 6 mm filters, paper or balsa. It's a real cultural line.

 

[admiral]

Indeed. As I said above filters are more common on this side of the pond
What it comes for smoking filter pipe without the filter or adapter. I dont think it is a good idea as the pipe was designed to be smoked with filter - meaning the draw and air hole were engineered around filter setup.

Removing the filter breaks that and quite influences the air flow, not in the good way.
But again it is a question of personal preference.