Any Opinions on Okoume vs Gourd Calabash?

[brian64]

I noticed Altinay has some Okoume Calabash pipes. I'm not familiar with these...have only seen gourd.

Just wondering if anyone knows anything about these and how it compares as an alternative material to gourd.

Okoume Calabash with Block Meerschaum [Large] | ALTINAY

Premium Block Meerschaum Pipes | Okoume Calabash with Block Meerschaum [Large] made of Block Meerschaum by ALTINAY | Each item on this store is unique and the images show the exact item you will receive. A Bowl Height 99 mm 3.9 inch B Length 195 mm 7.68 inch C Chamber Diameter 22 mm 0.87 inch...

www.altinaypipes.com

 

[anotherbob]

no idea but I imagine it would be functionally the same.

 

[warren]

Check out Okoume | The Wood Database - Lumber Identification (Hardwood) - https://www.wood-database.com/okoume/.

 

[sablebrush52]

Never heard of this, but I think the question to ask is, which one is better over rice?

 

[OzPiper]

If you're interested in non-gourd calabash pipes, Altinok has some collaborations with Davorin Denovic (one of the best morta carvers, IMO). Also Mimmo Provenzano has some morta/briar/various material hybrids.

I can't tell you what these are like as I only smoke gourd calabashes.

 

[anotherbob]

Never heard of this, but I think the question to ask is, which one is better over rice?

the wood. Though gourds are better mixed with rice.

 

[logs]

The advantage of gourd is that it's very lightweight. It's also absorbent by nature and gives a dry clean smoke. Wood calabashes weigh more and aren't absorbent, thus don't have the same smoking properties as gourd. The plus side is cosmetics. Wood looks lovely, has nice grain and can be carved to a pleasing shape--better than many of the strangely shaped gourds pipes out there.

 

[rajangan]

I would become depressed thinking about the atrocities in the Congo every time I smoked an okoume pipe, and I would always wonder what the history of the wood was.

 

[sandollars]

Hmmm. Not sure if I would like a pipe made out of a wood that sported these cautions....

Allergies/Toxicity: Although severe reactions are quite uncommon, Okoume has been reported to cause skin, eye, and respiratory irritation, as well as other effects such as asthma-like symptoms, coughing, and conjunctivitis (pink eye). See the articles Wood Allergies and Toxicity and Wood Dust Safety for more information.

 

[sandollars]

The cautions for Briar.

Allergies/Toxicity: Besides the standard health risks associated with any type of wood dust, no further health reactions have been associated with Briar. See the articles Wood Allergies and Toxicity and Wood Dust Safety for more information.

 

[Said.ALTINAY]

I noticed Altinay has some Okoume Calabash pipes. I'm not familiar with these...have only seen gourd.

Just wondering if anyone knows anything about these and how it compares as an alternative material to gourd.

Okoume Calabash with Block Meerschaum [Large] | ALTINAY

Premium Block Meerschaum Pipes | Okoume Calabash with Block Meerschaum [Large] made of Block Meerschaum by ALTINAY | Each item on this store is unique and the images show the exact item you will receive. A Bowl Height 99 mm 3.9 inch B Length 195 mm 7.68 inch C Chamber Diameter 22 mm 0.87 inch...

www.altinaypipes.com

Hello @brian64
Okoume is alternative cheaper material to gourd as its lightness and absorbency.
Gourd and okoume calabashes are functionally same.

Hmmm. Not sure if I would like a pipe made out of a wood that sported these cautions....

Allergies/Toxicity: Although severe reactions are quite uncommon, Okoume has been reported to cause skin, eye, and respiratory irritation, as well as other effects such as asthma-like symptoms, coughing, and conjunctivitis (pink eye). See the articles Wood Allergies and Toxicity and Wood Dust Safety for more information.

@sandollars this caution relates to the dust generated when carving&sanding the okoume.
In a finished pipe, the user is not exposed to the mentioned dust in any way.
We are selling Okoume Calabeshes for decades and yet we haven't gotten any complaints about this matter.

 

[brian64]

this caution relates to the dust generated when carving&sanding the okoume.
In a finished pipe, the user is not exposed to the mentioned dust in any way.

Thanks for the feedback Said. I was thinking the same thing...plus the tobacco is being burned in the meerschaum bowl, not in the okoume.

I'd like to have one calabash in my collection but not sure what type yet...may want to go with a gourd. But I was curious about these...never heard of okoume before.

 

[mso489]

This may be a little off the track, but I like briar Calabash shape pipes. The one I have is a Peterson B10, and maybe not the best example design-wise, but a good durable pipe.

 

[mparker762]

even the largest ones look a bit small, which may be due to how much heavier the wood is compared to gourd. The large Pioneer calabashes had chambers over 1" in diameter.

 

[jonasclark]

I'd be interested to see inside the bowl opening of the wood part. For a long time, SMS made mahogany-body calabashes that look similar to these in color, and their wood parts weren't drilled very deep. There was an expansion chamber, but not very much of one at all. And yes, they were noticeably heavier, though not terribly so.

 

[smudgersmissingleg]

I have a wooden calabash and 4 gourds, the wooden one is much heavier.
My advice would be to get a gourd.

 

[runscott]

I have two gourds and love both of them. As others have mentioned - they are very light. I've only smoked the top one, and it's a fine smoker. Top one is a 1909-10 BBB. The bottom one is an AFC 1910-11 - some think AFC is 'Adolph Frankau & Co' which later became BBB, but BBB used the old name on some pipes.

What impressed me is how different they are in shape, due to gourds being made in nature and not caring what we want them to look like.

 

[shanez]

While I prefer gourds for looks/tradition, as long as the bowl is meerschaum I wouldn't feel bad about what the rest of the pipe is made of depending on price.

I seriously doubt toxicity is a real concern given how the smoke is coming into contact with the pipe body material.

The reason for wanting a meer bowl is that I have a briar bowl/briar body that the body cracked on. I don't know if the bowl expanded just enough with heat to do it or if it cracked for other reasons.

 

[runscott]

While I prefer gourds for looks/tradition, as long as the bowl is meerschaum I wouldn't feel bad about what the rest of the pipe is made of depending on price.

I seriously doubt toxicity is a real concern given how the smoke is coming into contact with the pipe body material.

The reason for wanting a meer bowl is that I have a briar bowl/briar body that the body cracked on. I don't know if the bowl expanded just enough with heat to do it or if it cracked for other reasons.

I think part of what makes it specifically the calabash experience is meer lining or meer bowl insert, with a gourd stummel. Anything else is something completely different, other than visual. The lightness of the gourd, along with the very different shape and the smoking quality, is worth experiencing.

But if someone likes a gourd shape in all briar, then that's great.

 

[jonasclark]

My issue with the wooden ones I've examined in person, aside from weight, is that the chamber under the gourd, carved out of the wood, is not very large. A gourd is hollow all the way through. It's still a chamber, just I'd say less than a third the size.

I won't argue with someone calling a mahogany-body with meerschaum bowl, all-briar, or all-porcelain pipe of that shape a "calabash." The word has become a shape. But strictly speaking, "calabash" is the name of the gourd, and denotes a pipe made from said gourd.