Churchwardens…Opinions and Photos.

[Laurent]

I’ve been thinking of getting a churchwarden. Just wondering how many of you have them and what your opinions are on them? I’ve heard the stems can be a little bit of a hassle to clean. Maybe, you have a particular brand you enjoy?

 

[Simmerdown☕️]

I have a Savinelli that I hardly ever smoke. As much as I think it’s a cool pipe, I just don’t reach for it. And, as far as the stems, you can use regular pipe cleaners buts it’s a hassle. So if you buy one & smoke it often…invest in the church cleaners. ?️

 

[Chasing Embers]

I had these several years ago but they fell into disuse.




I guess these two would be churchwardens but it's more about them being meerschaum than the churchwarden idea that I enjoy about them.




If you're getting one because you've heard they cool the smoke, that's a bit of a myth. With the speed that smoke travels through a pipe, it would have to be many feet long to make a real difference in the temperature.

 

[RalphiesDad]

My wife bought me a KAF pear wood churchwarden from Amazon, I really like it. It's super light weight, and draws fantastic. I like the church for a sit-down smoke sesh, you can almost keep your elbow on an arm rest while bringing the pipe up for a puff. Would I smoke it in public? Too damn long imo.

 

[Chasing Embers]

you can almost keep your elbow on an arm rest while bringing the pipe up for a puff

I clench them and take them everywhere.?‍

 

[monty55]

I have two that I smoke often. A MM Mark Twain and a Peterson Dublin. They're nice when you're reading or sitting at a campfire or the fireplace. Just buy some churchwarden cleaners and scrubbers and bob's your uncle! They smoke very cool.

 

[Laurent]

I clench them and take them everywhere.?‍

View attachment 122138

That’s a pretty sweet and intense pipe!

 

[Laurent]

I hold my pipe a lot when I smoke, just not comfortable clenching, I do when I pee outside lol. When just sitting home was the idea.

 

[jpmcwjr]

My Churchwarden sits lonely and is seldom used in a year, if at all. Cool idea, but for me it's impractical.

 

[mso489]

I have a Savinelli 601 churchwarden with a billiard bowl, a fully arched stem, and no filter, that seems to capture the essence of the shape. I don't see them for sale much, but I think they are still around. If you want a small churchwarden, EWA sold by Iwan Ries makes good ones at low prices with removable stingers. I don't own one, but people seem to like their MM long stem pipes a lot. Definitely get a pack of churchwarden pipe cleaners to save hassle. I do have to make a point of smoking mine, since they are a little different experience in handling and most smoke them seated (mostly). In a chair with arms, you really exert little effort.

 

[tklee]

I just bought a cheap one to try it out. Cooler smoke or not, it feels the same like other short stem pipes, but hold it better when I am sitting, yes. I can rest my arm on the arm rest when holding the pipe.
You can buy longer pipe cleaner to clean it.
Extra: You'll feel like you're one of them in Lord Of The Rings ?

 

[Hobbs]

I just purchased an inexpensive one today just to try since holding a regular size pipe with your arm is hard work Am looking forward to the laziness needed while sitting with this one.

 

[Servant King]

Never had an interest in 'em. Always seemed gimmicky to me from the beginning. Just my three cents (that's inflation for ya!).

 

[renfield]

Get one and give it a try. You’re the expert on your own opinion and experience.

I have several and they get smoked frequently. Great for smoking while reading.

Like you mentioned, cleaning the stems is slightly more of a hassle than shorter pipes but it’s not an overwhelming problem.

 

[bullet08]

No opinion. Wasn't really taken with Gandalf. Never saw a hot witch with churchwarden either.

 

[FurCoat]

I have few and enjoy smoking them.
Peterson , Erik Nording and MM

 

[smokiespipesmoker123]

Good for reading. Keeps the smoke out yer face. Rest the bowl on your gut, use both hands for book. That’s the best use of them. The smoke is no cooler in my experience. They do LOOK cool however.

 

[ray47]

I have several churchwardens, mostly cobs, but this Savinelli Clark's Favorite, which I recently purchased for Christmas is by far my favorite.

 

[WVOldFart]

I don't use my long churchwarden much, but I do like semi-churchwardens, which are about 7" in length. The MM Shire Cobbit is the perfect size pipe for me. I have a briar semi-churchwarden that I like very much too.

 

[frozenchurchwarden]

Technically the best "churchwarden" style pipe out there would be the Missouri Meerschaum MacArthur, maintaining the wide draft all the way through the long shank and the Missouri Meerschaum 80 cent plastic stem which has the most open draw of any factory pipe stem in history.
Besides that your best option is probably Nording, you can get a Churchwarden stem that will fit most of the "Nording Freehand" shaped pipes: Acrylic Churchwarden Stem (for Nording) | Smokingpipes.com - https://www.smokingpipes.com/accessories/replacement-stems/moreinfo.cfm?product_id=432932

The Savinelli 601 also has a nice acrylic stem, but beyond that almost all Churchwardens use practically the same molded Ebonite stem with a thin button, which isn't bad but the only reason I'm not so much a fan of those is they don't leave much room to drill out the air channel for a better draw.