Bent or straight for beginers.

[macfeegle]

May be a silly question but as only a year pipe smoker after giving up the cigs I find a bent pipe lots easier and more relaxing a smoke than a straight. Was given a straight by a friend but after a few months ended up giving it back as I simply couldn't get on with it. As a beginner do you think it was simply down to it being the pipe or my lack of technique at the time. Thoughts please before I have to write off straights from my wish list of pipes I'm looking out for.

 

[mso489]

I haven't heard that complaint before from a new pipe smoker, but we tend to be intensely individualistic, so if you like only bent pipes, that's fine. I happened to buy a bent pipe first. Many (not all) bent pipes don't take a pipe cleaner all the way to the bowl, but that's not a problem; just don't think the pipe is defective. Bent pipes of moderate weight exert a little less leverage on your teeth, and for people with sensitive teeth or gums, that may be important. I enjoy the entire range, from deeply bent, through the many shades of partially bent, to absolutely straight. Go with what you like. With your pipes, you're the only judge. Welcome aboard.

 

[wyfbane]

Which ever pipe is the one that makes you the most comfortable when you smoke is the choice. Preferably several of each.

 

[cortezattic]

I smoke mostly bent pipes.

 

[jpmcwjr]

Bents are less likely to allow a nasty intake of condensation- but not bullet proof! And as you go forward, condensation becomes a non-event anyway as you learn to dry down some tobaccos before loading.
Whatever pleases your eye and mouth!
Like MSO, I have a variety of shapes, though not as many, likely!

 

[andrew]

I think bents are also better for beginners because of the tendency to not get a mouthful of tobacco juice from condensation as you refine you're technique. My favorite pipes are bents, but I probably own the most straights, with quite a few quarter bents. I hold the straight pipe at a downward angle when I'm smoking it.

 

[espear]

I always encourage the newer guys to start with bents Easier to clinch and relax with and the bent keep an moisture down in the bowl
Ellis

 

[frozenchurchwarden]

You should really keep using both.

But just two categories is a little limiting, there could be all sorts of things going on that you need to explore more thoroughly before you start narrowing down your choices.

I think beginners should start with a Billiard, Bulldog, Stack, Apple, Author, Prince, Canadian and Oom Paul in Briar, Corncob and Meerschaum. With long and short stems, straight, 1/4 bent, 1/2 bent, 3/4 bent, and full bent, 3/4" diameter bowl, 7/8" diameter bowl, 1" diameter bowl, and with draft sizes at 1/8", 5/32" and 11/64".
After you have all 2,160 varieties of pipes in quadruplicate to avoid ghosting, and smoke a pound of English, Virginia, Aromatic and Lakeland Blends in every pipe (8,640lbs total), then and only then will you have a good enough foundation of a knowledge base to begin to judge what kind of pipe you should be starting with.

 

[jpmcwjr]

Hmmm. I am reminded of Catch 22! Nicely stated.....

 

[aldecaker]

Frozen, I couldn't agree more. I don't know why newbs find this hobby so daunting...you've explained everything right there!

 

[warren]

I learned, during the first few years of the pipe, that my eye preferred bents. I now smoke, and have for forty years, exclusively bents. In a tobacco store my eye never pauses on a straight pipe when perusing the displays. My eye slows only for well proportioned bents with a very conservative bowl shape. No free hands, plateaus, funky or wildly colored pipes.
I never noticed a difference in the smoking experience between the straights and bents, my eye simply "prefers" a well proportioned bent. This does not apply to my cobs as I buy them to abuse while working and really do not care what they look like as long as they deliver the nicotine.
I feel "clench" or "clinch" are too harsh for how I carry a pipe in my mouth. The pipe rests lightly between molars with my jaw in it's natural position, at rest, no force. Bents do indeed rest more naturally than straights, causing the bit to push gently against my top molars.
Buy what pleases your eye, fits your smoking style and delivers a proper smoke. Smoking a pipe is a very individual or personal experience. Any advice you ask for will be supplied freely here and will no doubt simply be confusing.
I am a "less is more" kind of buy. I want my carefully selected pipe comfortable in my mouth and the tobacco to be not unpleasant.

 

[thomasmartin]

I'm not so much into bent pipes. I have a gourgeous semi bent Dunhill Dublin that is probably my best smoker but I like the straights better aesthetically. I find them more suave and elegant. A full bent has a grandfatherly look to it (even if I'm old enough to be a grandfather). But of course that's entirely personal.

 

[Sjmiller CPG]

Oddly enough, I prefer straight briars and bent cobs.

 

[darthcider]

Fleetwood Mac got it right when they sang go your own way.

Whatever you want is right for you.

 

[pipesmokingtom]

I reach for my straights more than my bents these days for some reason. I like how they stick out of my mouth in my line of sight, I think is what it is.

 

[ray47]

As had been said many times on many pipe smoking forums, "Smoke what you like and like what you smoke".

 

[pipebuddy]

Most people, right from the start, will prefer either straight or bent. Some like both.
My own experience: I started with straight at 22 YO because I thought bent pipes were for old farts. Around 40, I started to have an interest for 1/4 Bent. And now, I'm starting to think that 1/2 and Full Bents look great, and I'm less and less interested in straight pipes.
You see, I'll be hitting the Big 5 - 0 soon.
I'm getting there. :lol:

 

[macfeegle]

Thanks all for the input, like many of you have said it may be down to the aesthetics, I look at a bent and to me that's how a pipe should look. I just don't get the same feel from straights.

 

[mlyvers]

All good points here.. I started out with bents 40 years ago, but over time gravitated towards straight pipes. I still smoke bents 1/4-full from time to time. Keep that straight pipe that was given to you, sounds like a gift. I have always considered gifts (pipe) as SPECIAL. I don't really care if the gift smokes good or not, looks or shape really don't concern me either, it is special.. There are many factors given how one pipe smokes over the other, I think this is part of the hobby. Give it time and enjoy your pipes and tobaccos. Good luck sir.

 

[iamn8]

I've done a lot of research on this subject (none actually) and it's been fascinating (not really) to discover that whichever you chose, bent or straight, it tells a great deal about the kind of person you are. The beginner who feels more comfortable with the pipe dangling tend to drive American cars, listen to music of a more "classic" nature, are married or divorced, and tend to have canine companions. The beginners who prefer straight pipes tend to be under 30, drive foreign cars or ride bicycles, listen to more recent music, never been married or married and currently cheating, and tend to lack animal companions. I've come to these conclusions after surveying 1200 pipe smokers (none actually). These are indisputable scientific conclusions (if science means fabricating lies and indisputable means disputable).

I'm happy to share with you my knowledge (asinine stupidity).