Can a Tobacco Chamber Be Too Wide and Shallow?

[cosmicfolklore]

I don't find pot-shaped pipes to be very big chambers. It is merely a shape, not always huge bowls. The pot-shaped pipes that I have are quite medium, .75-.80" wide with really thick walls, making thyem look big from the profile, but.... My largest chambers are two bulldogs that I had special made for me with 1" chambers, a Fat Bob, and a really wide billiard-esque shape.

 

[OldWill]

My personal view: Smoking flakes in a pot or squat bulldog is extremely pleasurable. I try to light just near the center of the pack, and with careful tamping, the burn will progress toward the rim at roughly the same rate as it progresses downward. This seems to allow for a broader and fuller flavor experience.
I love pots.

 

[solideogloria86]

I got rid of a pipe for this reason. I'm sure it suits plenty of people. Just for my particular preference, I didn’t enjoy it.

 

[kcghost]

I have never had a pipe that met these characteristics.

 

[sablebrush52]

Taking the thread title literally, "Can a Tobacco Chamber Be Too Wide and Shallow" the only logical answer is yes, because of the vagueness of the question. It can equally be stated without fear of disproof that a tobacco chamber can be too narrow and too deep.

But the chambers that are made by competent craftsmen large fall within practiced norms. So if someone can't manage a particular shape, it's not the fault of the shape. This is just another case of the carpenter blaming his tools.

Just because a pipe smoker can't manage to smoke a pot, something that literally millions of other pipe smokers have managed to do over a hundreds of years, isn't likely the fault of the pot, but the fault of that smoker. We have different preferences, but that's personal choice, not the fault of the gear.

 

[Searock Fan]

This is just my personal opinion based on almost 60 years experience. The standard 3/4" bowl is popular for a reason. If the bowl is less than that it doesn't breath well and is difficult to keep lit. If it is wider than that it becomes hard to get an even draw through it and it will also burn the tobacco much faster. So, 3/4" is the Goldilocks size.

 

[frozenchurchwarden]

So what is the maximum width to height ratio anyone has seen in a pipe?
I'd wager 1:1 is the farthest any pipemaker would dare go, and I've never even seen a bowl that wide.
1:1 should be most direct answer to the title of the thread.

I can hardly imagine a pipe with a 1" bowl being only 1" deep, and then if the bowl were cylindrical you would have severe problems with the burn.

 

[FurCoat]

The charring light is a bitch

You're doing it wrong. Throw a hand full of matches on top before you light it.

 

[Chasing Embers]

You're doing it wrong. Throw a hand full of matches on top before you light it.

Lighter fluid.

 

[FurCoat]

Lighter fluid.

That works and it helps those hard to burn SG blends stay lit.

 

[Chasing Embers]

That works and it helps those hard to burn SG blends stay lit.

Yep

 

[FurCoat]

Yep

View attachment 139508

That's what I aim for

 

[jpmcwjr]

Great image! PS or "is it real"?

 

[telescopes]

It can equally be stated without fear of disproof that a tobacco chamber can be too narrow and too deep.

My new to me, Pipe Dan Shape Reformed came close to testing those limits. I think it would look better on someone with a long drawn out skinny face.

 

[craig61a]

Lighter fluid.

 

[dunnyboy]

Based only on an n of 1, I have to agree with the rhetorical question that @edger raised. Yes, a chamber can be too wide and shallow. It has nothing to do with being a pot which can smoke every bit as well as any other billiard variant.

I had a great-looking Sasieni 4 dot (I think), with a twin-bore stem, that just would not smoke well. I had it for many years, then gifted it to a friend who also couldn't get it to smoke well. The chamber was wide and relatively shallow. Is that why it didn't smoke well? Don't know for sure but I can think of no other reason.

 

[Chasing Embers]

Great image! PS or "is it real"?

Transparent PNG. The pipe's for real though. Love my phone!?

 

[jpmcwjr]

Transparent PNG. The pipe's for real though. Love my phone!?

Ah, like layers in PS! (?). I see now some of the flame is arising from the rim itself.

 

[Epip Oc'Cabot]

For me, more standard sized bowls and depths feel “just right”. That said, however, I find a wider, shallow bowl to provides a pleasant enough experience for me when compared to the Eastern European pipe I have that has a chamber width not a whole helluva lot wider than a large pencil and is about an inch deep. I would prefer wide and shallow to that any day.

I *believe* this old Eastern European pipe I speak of was designed to conserve tobacco, because the outer diameter of the bowl is a ~1 1/2 inches.

 

[Chasing Embers]

Ah, like layers in PS! (?). I see now some of the flame is arising from the rim itself.

Yup!