Could I have Found my Dream Pipe?

[ItsKarl]

My newest acquisitions just arrived today, a Stanwell bulldog and a Savinelli billiard, full bent. I have just tried the Savinelli, and damn - such a delight to smoke. I packed it 3/4 with Capstan Gold flake, and smoked pretty fast - about a puff a second, but the bowl never got hot on me. Every single smoke I've had up till now, I've had to ease up occasionally because the pipe got too hot, but this one - no more than comfortably warm. The smoke was always cool as well, except at the very end when I relit the pipe a few times to get the final scruff going. There was also a little bit of gurgling towards the end, but nothing that couldn't be countered by the breath method. The dottle at the end was a bit of slightly moist, unburned tobacco, and the chamber was clean - I ran my pinky along it, and it emerged without any soot. The stem was also the cleanest I've seen after a smoke so far.

Is this normal? Do Savinelli pipes come with some sort of magical, cool coating that allows you to puff away like a steam engine? Earlier today I smoked the same tobacco in my Vauen Hugg, which is also a great smoker but here it left a very moist coating, and I also had to smoke considerably more slowly.

And can I use two adverbs in the same sentence?

 

[Green Hill Hermit]

Savinellis are some of my favorites. They do make great pipes and I've never owned a bad one.

 

[kcghost]

A lot of people swear by Savinelli.

 

[Bbailey324]

Glad to hear you ended up with a winner. Not sure any magic is involved but they do make some good pipes.

 

[Chasing Embers]

Just sounds like your technique is improving. Pipes are really nothing more than straws. The smoking quality has more to do with the user than the pipe.

 

[dottlejockey]

A Stanwell AND a Savinelli. Both are excellent choices when it comes to production pipes. I've always loved Stanwell (have owned many) and heard so many good things about Savinelli over the years that i eventually wound up getting a couple. They did not disappoint. If you like to puff away and want pipes that smoke cooler, get thicker walled bowls. That's one of the reasons i liked the squashed tomato shape back in the day. No way you're gonna need an oven mit with that much briar between your fingers and that blazin baccy.

 

[warren]

Are you really gonna blame the tool for your successful bowl?

 

[ItsKarl]

Are you really gonna blame the tool for your successful bowl?

Well - yes! I'm only a little more than a month into the game, and while I've had lots of successful bowls, none so successful as this. The only possibly negative thing to note is that as the pipe hangs straight down my face (which makes it my best clencher by far), I get far more smoke in my face - especially as I light it. And lighting it brings the flame uncomfortably close to my beard and moustache. But that aside, I feel like I've picked a winner.

 

[BingBong]

Pics or it didn't happen!

 

[ItsKarl]

Pics or it didn't happen!

Pics of a pristine pipe? Ok, might as well include the family, then. This is my starter kit - say hello to Mr. Peterson, Mr. Brog, Hr. Vauen, Mr. Missouri M., Mr. Stanwell, Msgr. Savinelli, and Mr. Stanwell (some relation to the aforementioned Mr. Stanwell, I believe) - all arrayed in chronological order:

 

[didimauw]

Pics of a pristine pipe? Ok, might as well include the family, then. This is my starter kit - say hello to Mr. Peterson, Mr. Brog, Hr. Vauen, Mr. Missouri M., Mr. Stanwell, Msgr. Savinelli, and Mr. Stanwell (some relation to the aforementioned Mr. Stanwell, I believe) - all arrayed in chronological order:

View attachment 314954

I have the Rossi version of that "oom Paul" the 8614. It really is a great smoker. I rarely get smoke in my eyes from it, now that you mention it.

 

[ItsKarl]

I have the Rossi version of that "oom Paul" the 8614. It really is a great smoker. I rarely get smoke in my eyes from it, now that you mention it.

I don't mind the smoke in my eyes, but it goes straight up to the nose when I'm lighting it - and when I puff through it. I'm not keen on inhaling it. Taking in the room note, absolutely, but not in concentrated form.

 

[ItsKarl]

I deflowered the Stanwell today, by the way - that one's a good smoker, too. I puffed at a brisk pace just to compare it with the Savinelli (and same tobacco, of course), and for sure the Savinelli is the cooler pipe. But the Stanwell held up really well to fast smoking, too. The smoke itself had a tendency to be less than cool about half-way through, though. Not surprised given how fast I smoked, but the Savinelli gave me cool smoke for much longer.

The tobacco for both was Capstan Gold flake. I used half a flake sheet for each, and loosely packed, that filled 3/4 (or maybe 3/5) of the chambers. Still, though, it took me over an hour to smoke them both. When I smoked my Vauen yesterday, I used a full flake and packed it to the brim. That was about 90+ minutes worth. I'm sure the key is in the packing, but I would like to be able to have shorter smokes. I see Youtubers packing to the brim and saying it'll be good for a 45 minute smoke. Is it tobacco-dependent, perhaps? I did manage something like 45 minutes with my cob once, but it seems I've slowed down in the past couple weeks somehow.

 

[bullet08]

It's your dream pipe. Only you can answer the questions.

 

[ItsKarl]

It's your dream pipe. Only you can answer the questions.

But what if it only speaks backwards in riddles?

 

[AJL67]

Find my best smoking dream pipe about every 2 to 3 weeks.

 

[LeafErikson]

As far as briar pipes go, I have had the best and most consistent smokes with Savinelli pipes. Their unfiltered pipes are drilled perfectly for how I tend to pack and smoke the tobaccos that I do. Their unfiltered pipes in their tre series are all drilled to 3mm. It's true that the pipe is a tool and that for the most part, any pipe can deliver quality smokes. That said, I personally find the unfiltered Savinelli pipes to be easier to smoke than most other briars I've tried for whatever reason.

 

[anotherbob]

I'd say rather then good or bad or magic, that the pipe just agrees with you and your smoking style. For example all my pipes are great but they all smoke differently and getting a great smoke out of them requires slight adaptions in my style (from how it is packed to my cadence and what not.)

 

[dottlejockey]

And lighting it brings the flame uncomfortably close to my beard and moustache.

Careful not to start a brushfire!

 

[AJL67]

Pics of a pristine pipe? Ok, might as well include the family, then. This is my starter kit - say hello to Mr. Peterson, Mr. Brog, Hr. Vauen, Mr. Missouri M., Mr. Stanwell, Msgr. Savinelli, and Mr. Stanwell (some relation to the aforementioned Mr. Stanwell, I believe) - all arrayed in chronological order:

View attachment 314954

How do you know they are Misters? Something about shafts in mouths, yadda yadda yadda, personally i just think of them as inanimate objects.