Briar Stems Anyone?

[AroEnglish]

Aaargh!! I had no idea how much I wouldn't like this briar stem! At my age dry mouth is already a thing to some extent, and this stem sucks all the moisture out of my mouth. It feels quite bad to have in my mouth, sort of like a piece of tissue or paper towel. It reminds me of smoking a clay pipe with an unfinished stem with no paint or chap stick on it, it kind of like sticks to my lips a little. I'll have to think of a way to make it more palatable. Maybe some food grade mineral oil, chapstick, or even a coating of polyurethane. Any suggestions?

Dang, sorry to hear about that experience! Chapstick seems like a good place to start since I doubt it'll have any permanence should you decide you don't like it. You might also want to start a new thread in the repair and maintenance section.

 

[crashthegrey]

Unfortunately, you discovered the answer to your own question. Why not more? Because they are, in fact, abysmal. They look cool until you smoke them enough, and they dry out your mouth. I have them for looks, but do not choose to smoke them very often.

 

[FLDRD]

Aaargh!! I had no idea how much I wouldn't like this briar stem! At my age dry mouth is already a thing to some extent, and this stem sucks all the moisture out of my mouth. It feels quite bad to have in my mouth, sort of like a piece of tissue or paper towel. It reminds me of smoking a clay pipe with an unfinished stem with no paint or chap stick on it, it kind of like sticks to my lips a little. I'll have to think of a way to make it more palatable. Maybe some food grade mineral oil, chapstick, or even a coating of polyurethane. Any suggestions?

So they're recommended for droolers?

 

[Old Smokey]

Very beautiful pipe. Love the grain.

Side note: being tired, I read the title as Show Us Your Gonads. I was very nervous.

 

[kcghost]

It's lovely pipe to be sure but the briar stem detracts from it. I just don't think much of briar as a stem material.

 

[runscott]

I have this Briarcliff - only briar stem I've handled. It's a beautiful pipe but the metal ring is stuck to the stem (should be the shank, per a member here).

 

[Severus]

Aaargh!! I had no idea how much I wouldn't like this briar stem! At my age dry mouth is already a thing to some extent, and this stem sucks all the moisture out of my mouth. It feels quite bad to have in my mouth, sort of like a piece of tissue or paper towel. It reminds me of smoking a clay pipe with an unfinished stem with no paint or chap stick on it, it kind of like sticks to my lips a little. I'll have to think of a way to make it more palatable. Maybe some food grade mineral oil, chapstick, or even a coating of polyurethane. Any suggestions?

Sorry about your experience. Let us know how you decided to address the issue. Thanks to comments in this thread, though, I know that I won’t be checking out any pipes with briar stem in Chicago. I will probably stick to either horn or acrylic stems.

 

[Toast]

I have a pipe with a box stem, which apparently is common enough thing with recorders. Several people from that community recommended sweet almond oil. It isn't an overnight solution, but it's definitely helped.

 

[dottlejockey]

Nice! I agree about French pipes. I've had a couple Chacoms, still have one of them and smoke it often. Very elegant shape. The other one had a unique bone stem. I sold that to a friend years ago whom fell in love with it and have regretted it ever since!