Brigham pipe

[lordofthepiperings]

I'd say the first problem was having another bowl two hours later. Not a good idea when you're breaking in a new pipe.
It doesn't say anything about the filters on the box other than to rinse them off with warm water from time to time and discard them after 2-3 weeks. My routine with my 309 Mountaineer, a straight apple, is when I take them apart to clean them I use a Kleenex to sop up the moisture the filter collects.

 

[yaddy306]

The lower end Brighams are made in Italy; upper end ones are made in France.
In either case, smoking two bowls in two hours using the same filter, in a new pipe with no cake, and expecting no gurgle, is asking too much.
Here is an older thread on Brighams including why they now use Delrin for the tenons (or Der Lin as the Dagners like to say).

http://pipesmagazine.com/forums/topic/brigham-pipes-canadian-or-italian

 

[popsmusix]

I have a Brigham, Algonquin bent Dublin. I can't pass a pipe cleaner all the way thru from stem to bowl either. I thought I had a badly made pipe, but from reading here, I see that is not the case. Having to pull the stem off for clean-up is a pain in the butt. A good smoker otherwise.

 

[nsfisher]

I have 19 Brigs. Some very old some new. After each and every smoke, remove the filter, run a cleaner thru the stem and bowl. Put in a dry filter and you shall have a great smoke. I keep a full box (8 filters) in rotation. Set the used wet one aside to dry and use a dry one. After about 6-10 smokes from each filter, I soak them in Boiling water for a few minutes and then run them under hot water. Set them aside to dry for a couple days. In this manner, I get approx. 30 smokes from each filter. That is 240 smokes out of a box of 8 filters for a nominal fee of approx. $5.00. Can't beat that!

 

[stev0h]

I currently own four Brighams, including a new #384 Mountaineer Volcano that is cooling off right now after its first smoke. After perusing the comments in this thread, I thought I might add my two cents worth . . .
I break in all my pipes the same as mcitinner1 and kanada, just fill 'em and smoke 'em, but as was taught to me by an elderly piper I know, "do it gently, always sip, never puff", which I find is the best way to smoke a pipe broken in or not. The only times I have experienced a bad smoke (very rarely) is when I have forgotten this advise, usually as a result of being preoccupied with something else.
My usual routine is to smoke a pipe once every two days, although my Brighams quite often get smoked once every day, as they are such good smokers. I find the rock maple filters wick away most of the moisture and none of the flavour, and also seem to prevent me sucking up any small bits of tobacco or hot embers, as occasionally happens with my unfiltered pipes. Once my pipe has cooled, I pull the filter from the stem and rinse it in hot water and set it aside to dry. When I re-assemble my pipe I insert another filter (I rotate two filters for each pipe), which gives the just used filter lots of drying time. I'm quite, as my wife frequently points out, "anal retentive", so I do keep a chart of info for my pipes, including how many times I've used the filters, which is averaging out at around twenty times each.
I occasionally run a pipe cleaner through one of my Brighams mid-smoke if the tobacco I am smoking is proving a bit too wet (probably from a fresh tin of something new that I couldn't wait to try!) and causing the pipe to gurgle. I too was a bit dismayed that I could not run a cleaner all the way through to the bowl, but I have found that tipping the pipe so any extra moisture collected can run toward the end of the filter where the cleaner can start to wick it away works quite well. An added bonus is that I can't run the cleaner in so far that it disrupts the bowl contents enough to give me a mouthful of tobacco/ash/embers.
FYI - I am a relatively new to this pastime, having always thought that "one day" I would be old enough to smoke a pipe. I'm 53 years old, and just started this past March . . .

 

[shikano53]

Max,

I purchased two Brighams from my local B&M within two weeks. A Chinook and a Mountaineer. They were both shitty smokes and it had nothing to do with smoking either or within two hours of my last smoke, the planet's alignment with Venus, the toxic level of our ozone layer, global warming or aliens from the planet zenon transmogrifying the bowl or air hole while you were sleeping.

The draw was piss-poor. I smoked several bowls in each with and without the filter.
I had no idea how to fix the pipe but in my desperation after spending over $100.00 Canadian for each pipe, as a neophyte, I was determined to make the gawddamned things smoke the way I wanted them to smoke. Maybe it was the wrong thing to do but that's another post.
Here is my fix that rectified my two Brighams and now they both smoke great with or without the filter.

They were both made in Italy. I don't know if that had anything to do with it or not. The air holes were drilled incorrectly. I cut back the tenon because the plastic/acrylic/vulcanite; whatever top part of the tenon, was blocking the air hole. Plastic, vulcanite, arcylic = airtight fit AKA air masks, plant site classs 1 toxic level (I've worked in a chemical plant for 15 years and had to wear masks to go into toxic areas of the plant) that helped, but didn't solve it. I drilled out both airholes myself with my hand drill.
Like I said, they smoke beautifully now with or without the filters.

Would I buy another one? Yup. But only ones made in Canada to collect.

Don't know if that helps you or not but it fixed mine.

 

[maxpeters]

Well, that post was made 5 years ago. Since then, I have learned to make the pipe smoke fairly well using the Brigham filters by putting a clean one in for each smoke. I clean the filters after accumulating 2 or 3, and letting them dry for a day or so.

Great advice from everyone though. Thanks.

I still think they are a little too fiddly, and prefer unfiltered pipes for the most part.

 

[mcitinner1]

I have 4 newer Brigs and several older rustic Canadian Brigs, and I like them all. I usually use the filters.

 

[cobguy]

If you like the Brigham pipes, keep your eye out for Phillip Trypis pipes as well ... great smokers, great price. ::
Phillip Trypis directed the production at Brigham for many years before leaving to start his own brand.

 

[agnosticpipe]

I have a couple of the Canadian made Brighams, including one styled like the OPs pipe, both having the aluminum tenon. I always use a filter in them as I figure they were designed specifically to do so, and I like the Brigham filters better than any other filter system. The thing is I don't smoke them more than say once a month at most, so the wet filter problem is not an issue. When I finish smoking one, at some point before I go to bed, I take it apart, slide a pipe cleaner through the filter and lean it up on something so it's not laying flat. I take another pipe cleaner and use one end through the shank into the bowl, the other end on the stem from the button to remove any moisture, then fold it over and wipe the bowl out. I also use a q-tip to wipe out the shank and tenon end of the stem. I leave everything out to dry overnight, then the next day when everything is reasonably dry, I reassemble the pipe and put it up. Yeah, it's a little more work than most pipes, but it really doesn't take that much time, and the pipes smoke great every time. I use the same filter for about 10 times then replace it. They aren't that expensive to me to bother washing them, I'd just rather replace them. Seldom do I have to use a pipe cleaner while smoking the pipes, and I don't often have a gurgle. I do use these pipes for the wetter smoking blends I have, and the filters work great absorbing the moisture and still allow the flavor through.
I would definitely buy another one, but I find the the two I have serve my needs for now. But you know the saying, smoke what you like, and what you don't like, uh, send to me... :roll: