Bent or Straight Stems

[mso489]

What's your liking on pipe stems, bent or straight, and why? I seem to have accumulated

nearly all of the variations and permutations from straight-out billiards, Canadian, and

Lovat, to fully bent billiards, ball, sitter, and Peterson B11's, and an array of subtly or

somewhat bent pipes including pokers, Dublin, prince and diplomat.
I think fully bent provides a nice kind of physical folding in around the pipe and the smoke,

a nice sort of introspective posture that is good for pondering a question or project,

whereas straight stems put me in a more active mood and mode, prepping for a

conversation or phone call. I guess some smokers really prefer only one type, straight or

bent, but I seem to need them all, like notes on a keyboard. How about you?

 

[teufelhund]

Staight; if for nothing else than I like the way they look, less weight and they are easier to clean.

 

[mso489]

Apologies to eazye77 here -- he already launched this subject earlier, but I phrased it differently, headed

it up differently.
Yes, straight pipes definitely take a pipe cleaner right through, as few fully bent pipes do. Variety

obviously means a lot to me.

 

[allan]

I just love the look and feel of bents, all the way to the OomPaul shape.
However, almost every bent I own gathers moisture quite quickly and they are hard to run a standard cleaner through.
I've found that the falcon narrow cleaner helps alot with this challange.
My purchases now are going to near straight. I can see why many pipe lovers go for straights-they are just easier to clean. For me, though, a striaght has to be light in weight.

 

[uberam3rica]

I like both, but have more straight stems.

 

[theboz]

I like bent stem the most but not full bent, there are however a couple straight stems I've seen that I would like to own.

 

[okrent]

I agree with straight pipes being easier to clean and less prone to gurgle but I just love a big pipe with a bent stem. And most of mine are just that.

 

[bobpnm]

Straights and then 1/4 bends are my favorites.

 

[doctorthoss]

I like the appearance of both types, but I find myself smoking more and more bent stems. I find them to be a lot more comfortable, as I'm usually doing something with my hands.

 

[phil22]

My stems used to always be with lots of bend. However, the older I get I tend to prefer and purchase either straight or slight bend. I am not sure why.

 

[bigboi]

I like both, right now I seem to be grabbing for my bents right now.