I just bought my first tankard from Tsuge a month or two ago. You can disassemble the whole pipe, from the bowl to the stem to the wind cap. Pretty fucking nifty. However, due to its construction - with the bowl attaching to a metal chamber which funnels the smoke downwards, the whole smoking experience is different.
What I like is... the chamber catches plenty of tar. Anything which it captures, by default, didn't enter my body. And that's pretty cool.
What I don't like is... all the moisture. It's great that the smoke funnels tar out by default, but smoking this pipe means you need to have a pipe cleaner or two on hand out of necessity; once you've passed half a bowl, there's so much moisture contained that if you tip the pipe forward at a 45° angle, several drops patter into the ground below. The sight is not endearing.
All that being said, I don't know whether I'm a tankie (my word for a tankard fan). Is my experience usual with this design, or is it the construction of this particular pipe which causes the moisture fiasco? And... are you a tankie? All relevant comments welcome.
What I like is... the chamber catches plenty of tar. Anything which it captures, by default, didn't enter my body. And that's pretty cool.
What I don't like is... all the moisture. It's great that the smoke funnels tar out by default, but smoking this pipe means you need to have a pipe cleaner or two on hand out of necessity; once you've passed half a bowl, there's so much moisture contained that if you tip the pipe forward at a 45° angle, several drops patter into the ground below. The sight is not endearing.
All that being said, I don't know whether I'm a tankie (my word for a tankard fan). Is my experience usual with this design, or is it the construction of this particular pipe which causes the moisture fiasco? And... are you a tankie? All relevant comments welcome.