Any Opinions on Vauen

[BROBS]

Where did you hear that?

Not being confrontational, but it just looks like a regular mortice to me. I don't see a well. Draft hole is right at the top of the circle.

From owning quite a few of them, they are all drilled like that.
There is the mortise hole drilled down past the airway to fit the 9mm filter (the filter itself then sticks down past the airway like the tenon extension in a Peterson) and the turbulence drops the moisture as you suck the smoke up the filter. When you put an adapter in a bent Vauen the smoke just goes up the stem without dropping the moisture as intended by design. Bent it was never meant to pass a pipe cleaner with the adapter installed as they are meant to be smoked with an aktivkohle filter. The adapter forces the pipe cleaner directly down the center which doesn’t line up with the draft hole. This was never the intended route for the airway as I described above.

I guess I’m assuming you are talking about a bent pipe?

 

[mikethompson]

Where did you hear that?

Not being confrontational, but it just looks like a regular mortice to me. I don't see a well. Draft hole is right at the top of the circle.

I feel like the Peterson system pipes are drilled in a similar way, at the top of the circle.

 

[BROBS]

I feel like the Peterson system pipes are drilled in a similar way, at the top of the circle.

They are drilled exactly that way.

and they don’t have quite the same size reservoir as a Peterson.. as it’s not really a reservoir but a place for the filter to reside.

so as an aside if I was going to smoke any Vauen without a filter, it would be a straight pipe.

 

[chilllucky]

 

[olkofri]

Where did you hear that?

Not being confrontational, but it just looks like a regular mortice to me. I don't see a well. Draft hole is right at the top of the circle.

Not being confrontational either. The draught hole is right where it should be. It was drilled properly, as per their design. They never drill them dead centre. I know this might seem like a mistake for those used to filterless pipes which are normally drilled right in the centre, but there's nothing wrong with the pipe.

My two Vauens:

 

[olkofri]

As an addendum: there's no rule, mandate, or gospel dictating that a pipe must be drilled smack in the centre. My Brigham's aren't. My Brigham Heritage Canadian has the draught hole flush with the top of the maple distillator cavity. It passes a cleaner, though I see no reason why I'd like to or have to pass one during the smoke. The after smoke cleaning procedure requires disassembly in order to wash the filter anyway.

 

[chilllucky]

Off center doesn't bother me. Not passing a pipe cleaner was something I had been using as a shortcut for judging a pipe's engineering. But y'all have convinced me that in this case it's a feature, not a bug.

 

[olkofri]

Yup. The pipe cleaner test is what I, personally, find bogus. Best way to assess the engineering is to take apart the pipe and look down the mortise. ?

 

[Celius]

Too big for my taste.
Also every series gets discontinued and new one is introduced.
I prefer it the way Dunhill does it, by having specific shapes and finishes.

 

[BROBS]

then what would be the benefit if any of buying a new Dunhill over an old unsmoked one?

 

[mso489]

They're German, so done with snappy precision. I don't own one, but my sister sent me a Kemperlng from Austria that has the same cultural resonance. Most of these pipes are 9mm filtered, but smoke well without the filters, with adaptors to focus the smoke in the airway if you choose. Lovely pipes, handsome, excellent quality, admirable craftsmanship.

 

[anotherbob]

got the pipe and it's beautiful I haven't smoked it yet. I haven't had any real time off for a while and it's rare for me to get a chance to be so lazy. When I buy a house I'll need a study for writing and it's gonna have to be smoke friendly. Well I go back to work on Monday so it's certainly going to get christened soon.

 

[mso489]

Just an aside: Europeans seem to buy and smoke a lot of 9 mm filter pipes, and this has been true over many years so it isn't just a fad. Perhaps this has been the response to health concerns since the 1960's. Most 9 mm pipes can be smoked without a filter, with or without an adaptor. The adaptor focusses the smoke a little more, and perhaps the flavor too. The 9 mm filters aren't as popular in the U.S., so sometimes 9 mm filter pipes sell at lower prices here (U.S.).

 

[olkofri]

Just an aside: Europeans seem to buy and smoke a lot of 9 mm filter pipes, and this has been true over many years so it isn't just a fad. Perhaps this has been the response to health concerns since the 1960's. Most 9 mm pipes can be smoked without a filter, with or without an adaptor. The adaptor focusses the smoke a little more, and perhaps the flavor too. The 9 mm filters aren't as popular in the U.S., so sometimes 9 mm filter pipes sell at lower prices here (U.S.).

Maybe there was an increase during the 60's, but Vauen's been using filters since at least aD 1921, with the 9mm Dr Perl being introduced in AD 1934.

vauen

www.vauen.com

 

[anotherbob]

The pipe is great. Smoked it the first time without the filter. No adapter either. I didn't know 9mm meant it had a filter after the impulse buy. It's pretty ergonomic in weight. It smokes like a gosh darn champ.

 

[PaulTheScandinavian]

I'd suspect Germen do know best how to make 9mm filtered pipes, lately I have been noticing filtered pipes entering more and more British and French markets as well,nontheless among those few remaining British manufacturers I know,the White Spot,Northern Briars, Blakemar, and Ben Wade filtered pipes are way less represented

 

[anotherbob]

I'd suspect Germen do know best how to make 9mm filtered pipes, lately I have been noticing filtered pipes entering more and more British and French markets as well,nontheless among those few remaining British manufacturers I know,the White Spot,Northern Briars, Blakemar, and Ben Wade filtered pipes are way less represented

well after seeing how that big hole where filter goes doesn't need filled for the pipe to be great.

 

[tenton]

I purchased a Vauen Canadian a few months ago and sent it back, as the draft hole (where it meets the chamber) was drilled off to one side and low.

 

[anotherbob]

Yup. The pipe cleaner test is what I, personally, find bogus. Best way to assess the engineering is to take apart the pipe and look down the mortise. ?

yeah I think it's probably bunk. That said I've never had a pipe that didn't pass a pipe cleaner easily.
Though the main point is I think it's my favorite pipe. My rotation now is the Vauen every other one. It's just a great pipe.