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chopper

Lifer
Aug 24, 2019
1,480
3,324
well living in the subtropics, I guess it would be.
Man I really really dislike humid summers.
Could not live in the tropics.
In far north Queensland they have two seasons; the Big Wet and the dry season.
During the six months of the wet season, shit just grows on anything that's not moving.
Leather boots and jackets stored in a cupboard start growing different forms of fungus.
Chipboard furniture swells and rots.
Mould is a constant source of problems.
Then there's the creepy crawlies. Spiders as big as dinner plates. Hornets the size of a small bird.

If you have a wet and dry season like FNQ, you'll notice that gurgling is not an issue during your dry season if your tobacco is not too moist.

You'll need to be careful to store your tobacco at a correct moisture level.
If it absorbs too much moisture before jarring you could run into mould.

In a humid environment I can't imagine that dried tobacco would not quickly absorb moisture.
The solution would be to turn a room into an environmentally controlled space with air-con and dehumidifiers where you could smoke in comfort. A man den.
Tell your missus that it's been found that tobacco protects against catching the China virus [true that] so you need that space to protect your health and that of your families. :col:
 

TheSt0rm

Starting to Get Obsessed
Jun 2, 2022
155
128
yeah nevermind about the clay pipes. I think I'll always get gurgling issues no matter how dry I smoke them, unless I for example smoke only to the end of the bowl or what... i dont know. Maybe use the pipe lighter more... But I dont like the Zippo smell.. the isobutane has no smell... they need an isobutane pipe lighter or something. I thought just having an AC would be enough to control the humidity.

And I dry it until it is Crispy... so i dont really think it's a humidity problem either.

I already tried enough of these clay pipes this month for me to try again.

maybe next month. I'll try smoking to the end of the bowl Always, and/or lighting it with only the Zippo pipe lighter... hoping to get a more even burn....

edit: wow I just unclogged it with some pointy scissors.. ok yeah maybe it's salvagable if the Zippo can fix it.

i doubt it though.
 
Last edited:
Mar 13, 2020
2,823
27,128
missouri
Man I really really dislike humid summers.
Could not live in the tropics.
In far north Queensland they have two seasons; the Big Wet and the dry season.
During the six months of the wet season, shit just grows on anything that's not moving.
Leather boots and jackets stored in a cupboard start growing different forms of fungus.
Chipboard furniture swells and rots.
Mould is a constant source of problems.
Then there's the creepy crawlies. Spiders as big as dinner plates. Hornets the size of a small bird.

If you have a wet and dry season like FNQ, you'll notice that gurgling is not an issue during your dry season if your tobacco is not too moist.

You'll need to be careful to store your tobacco at a correct moisture level.
If it absorbs too much moisture before jarring you could run into mould.

In a humid environment I can't imagine that dried tobacco would not quickly absorb moisture.
The solution would be to turn a room into an environmentally controlled space with air-con and dehumidifiers where you could smoke in comfort. A man den.
Tell your missus that it's been found that tobacco protects against catching the China virus [true that] so you need that space to protect your health and that of your families. :col:
Our summers get pretty humid where I'm at in the States. I only try to smoke inside in the AC unless I'm at work. I also keep a dehumidifier in my guitar room to regulate the humidity in there. I can't imagine where you're at with fungi growing on things.
 
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TheSt0rm

Starting to Get Obsessed
Jun 2, 2022
155
128
No gurgling in my last bowl after using the Pipe lighter... after the previous bowl had gurgling. And I smoked it to the end.

Interesting.

yeah and those scissors really helps to unclog it when i need to.
 

TheSt0rm

Starting to Get Obsessed
Jun 2, 2022
155
128

Do the reeds usually have a glaze or wax on them?

They have some cool looking interesting clay pipes with reed stems also.
 

TheSt0rm

Starting to Get Obsessed
Jun 2, 2022
155
128
Our summers get pretty humid where I'm at in the States. I only try to smoke inside in the AC unless I'm at work. I also keep a dehumidifier in my guitar room to regulate the humidity in there. I can't imagine where you're at with fungi growing on things.

if it gets too hot.. I dont really like smoking. It just tastes too hot and spicy. In cold it's nice because it keeps you 'warmer'. I think I ruined some baccy last time my AC went out, and it's always going out. So I have to be prepared.

And for one I tried to put it in the fridge to save it... but I think that only made it worse.

So i think the only solution would be to dry it all out, and then rehumidify it when my AC comes back...
 

chopper

Lifer
Aug 24, 2019
1,480
3,324
Our summers get pretty humid where I'm at in the States. I only try to smoke inside in the AC unless I'm at work. I also keep a dehumidifier in my guitar room to regulate the humidity in there. I can't imagine where you're at with fungi growing on things.
You need to re-read what I wrote otherwise I'd just be repeating myself.
 

TheSt0rm

Starting to Get Obsessed
Jun 2, 2022
155
128
No gurgling on my other pipe, which also had gurgling on it in the last bowl. After using the pipe lighter and smoking to the end of the bowl.


Anyways, but if I had done this before I think the pipe would last much longer. now, i think i have less than a day left before it gets worse until it's not usable anymore...
 

TheSt0rm

Starting to Get Obsessed
Jun 2, 2022
155
128
Think maybe I am a wet smoker and I dont know it. Could the clay really absorb the moisture by wet smoking all that much? even if not actually spitting into the stem.
 

TheSt0rm

Starting to Get Obsessed
Jun 2, 2022
155
128
Yeah no issues again with pipe gurgling my last last bowl.

Wow.. still goin. and I'm pretty much using them constantly...
 

TheSt0rm

Starting to Get Obsessed
Jun 2, 2022
155
128
Think maybe I am a wet smoker and I dont know it. Could the clay really absorb the moisture by wet smoking all that much? even if not actually spitting into the stem.
I think there may be something to this.. I've noticed that the inside of the stem seems to get discolored quicker than the outside of the stem.. probably due to moisture. Maybe not 'wet smoking' could alleviate this?
 

TheSt0rm

Starting to Get Obsessed
Jun 2, 2022
155
128
Think maybe I am a wet smoker and I dont know it. Could the clay really absorb the moisture by wet smoking all that much? even if not actually spitting into the stem.
I think there may be something to this.. I've noticed that the inside of the stem seems to get discolored quicker than the outside of the stem.. probably due to moisture. Maybe not 'wet smoking' could alleviate this?
 

TheSt0rm

Starting to Get Obsessed
Jun 2, 2022
155
128
And there it goes. My black clay pipe is "ruined" for now.

Im going to take into account the 'wet smoking' thing now... but I think also the white clay one is ruined also soon since I was already getting the beginning of gurgling... well... It's not Gurgling gurgling but it's still moist at the bottom a lot of times, and , I'm smoking the dryest possible... and it sounds as if moisture is going from the stem back into the bowl and produces a "sizzling" sound.

It's also, not obvious it seems. It doesn't seem like I'm ever spitting into the stem, but it still seems maybe that outside of the clay could absorb moisture so that it goes inwards into the stem. I dont know Maybe not but it's an idea.

So yeah. nevermind. Maybe next month I'll try again. Hopefully.
 

TheSt0rm

Starting to Get Obsessed
Jun 2, 2022
155
128
LOL I remember, I basically used to smoke cobs without anything, just the cob without the stem and no filter. But maybe a good filter tip could help?
 

TheSt0rm

Starting to Get Obsessed
Jun 2, 2022
155
128

so there Still is a limit to how hot you should be smoking it.. if you can hold it like that comfortably.... sometimes the stem itself gets hot. And I guess you dont want that.

He's still smoking it wet like I would though...
 

TheSt0rm

Starting to Get Obsessed
Jun 2, 2022
155
128
the white clay pipe is now taking on a very fragrant almost perfume smell.

I can see why people prefer this for a purer smoke.

Well I mean, you Do definitely get the Clay flavor. but... it is , to me a "pure" smoke" that doesn't feel unnatural...

and over time the clay develops that smell I just talked about...

It could also be the Zippo Lighter fluid I'm now using lol.
 
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TheSt0rm

Starting to Get Obsessed
Jun 2, 2022
155
128
It does get hot towards the end of the bowl. I'm thinking you want to avoid getting it too hot, especially towards the end of the bowl.
 
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condorlover1

Lifer
Dec 22, 2013
8,584
30,517
New York
I used to buy my pipes in a box of about 100 at a time from Gordon Pollock of Stott Street, Manchester as I would go through that number in a month between myself and my friends. Most looked like the pictures in #116 with a few having a horses hoof and a couple of the Manchester Ship Canal and Gladstone and Jockey figurals.
 
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