Deep Secrets of Pipe Filters

[pagan]

Whoa! hold on there pardner, your saying pipes have filters?

 

[jerwynn]

I change filters after each smoking "session"... about 2 to 3 contiguous bowls... no ghosting, no leftovers, and no demonic entities left. I am OCD about cleaning and "clean" and each pipe gets a thorough alcohol swabbing, degunking if needed, and wax&polish each time after it cools. I don't mind this routine with the filters at all... I don't find it "expensive", nor is it inconvenient... it's just part of my pipe ritual and provides yet more opportunity for me to enjoy my pipe's grains, finishes, shapes, what-have-you.

 

[jacks6]

Thanks jerwynn. That's what I was looking for. Today was the first time I've smoked a fairly new Stanwell that came with a filter and gave my usual pipe a break. I realized I had no idea when to throw out the filter and buy more. For some reason I thought they were meant to last a while since only the 1 filter came with the pipe lol.

 

[jpmcwjr]

Do try a few bowls without the filter at all! If tobacco is properly dried, and you don't smoke too fast, there'll be no gurgle.

 

[alexnc]

I searched and searched for research. Finally I concluded that I had never wanted to put a filter on a cigar and maybe that meant something. But really, I love the 9mm balsa and put 6mm balsa in cobbs. Sav is the only one I've ever read that made any % purification claim - and the method and measure are unknown so far as I have found. I think Dr Pearl and others make generic claims. Not that I really believe much of it. But if the moisture any filter traps is laden with tars, using no filter would mean that moisture is vaporized into your smoke instead of being tossed with the filter. Right?

 

[jerwynn]

Hey jacks6, DEELIGHTED to have hit the mark for you! I'd be afraid of a filter left in there for a year or forever... I find that mine can get really nasty in just two or three bowls, especially with "wetter" tobaccos... hence the regular swap-out. One of things I now recall from some literature someplace was the figure of 97%... Probably from the indigenous Dr. Perl and/or Vauen resources. It was said that a 9mm activated charcoal filter effectively removed 97% of tars, carcinogenic irritants, etc etc etc from the smoke by the time it reaches the smoker. I think there might have be a nicotine reduction figure as well. I definitely find pipe smoking with a filter more gentle on my mouth tissues. I don't really care about nicotine... i.e. I don't "need" a hit at regular intervals. (I do care about it not throwing me to the floor and kicking my head in... which still happens from time to time, filter or not) I know many American pipe smokers have a thang about filters... but looking at the German market, there must be something to it. I'm happy!
Oh... one other thing I thought of: I like the 9mm filters with ceramic end caps at BOTH ends best! Some, I think Dr. Perl maybe, have a blue plastic end cap and a ceramic end cap, plastic being towards the smoker. Plastics and heat don't mix well in my mind. "Blitz" filters are the one's I use the most(both ceramic end caps)... and they can be had even on Amazon... bought my last bag of 200 there for 20 some $$$. Happy puffing!

 

[alexnc]

I do agree with Jerwynn. After getting used to - even balsa filters, it does seem more gentle on my mouth. More notably if I switch back and forth

 

[mso489]

I believe Europe's mass conversion to filter pipes came as the result of the report on smoking when people became aware of health problems with tobacco. The U.S. market also had strong, long-time contenders among filter pipes, such as Dr. Grabow's, but probably was less unanimous in going to filters. Now I harken back to the discussion on cigarettes that posited that for many cigarette smokers, the filters cut back on nicotine so significantly increased the number of cigarettes smoked. Pipe smoking may work the same for some pipe smokers, where filter pipes prompt smoking three or four bowls for what might be one bowl in an unfiltered pipe. People's habits and relationship to nicotine is so various, it's difficult to speak for individuals, but this may be one of the effects of filters. You probably have to assess your own situation and habits on this.

 

[aldecaker]

Speaking of the Savinelli 6mm adapters, I have occasionally thought of them in a slightly different light. Well, their operating concept, anyway. Since it is generally accepted that too much of a gap between the end of the tenon and the bottom of the mortise causes moisture accumulation, I have considered fabricating adapters to fill this gap in some of my unfiltered pipes. They would basically look like Sav adapters, just with a much shorter length and different outside diameters, tailored to the pipe they are to be used on. Of course, this is coming from the same nipplehead who is considering re-creating the Dr. Grabow pre-smoking machine with an air compressor, a very low PSI regulator, and an aircraft vacuum-instrument venturi, so take it in the experimental "what if" spirit!

 

[mawnansmiff]

"Pipe filters are either hollow tubes of absorptive material through which the smoke passes, or an absorptive rod around which the smoke passes. They are intended to trap moisture. That they trap some tars is coincidental."
Shutterbugg, perhaps you are confusing filters with stingers? As far as I understand it is that a filter is precisely that, a method of filtering out minute particles in the smoke thereby reducing somewhat the risks associated with smoking.
Stingers on the other hand perform a very different task, that of 'trapping' some of the moisture in the smoke by condensing it as it hits the stinger preventing it reaching the mouth.
Am not sure what you mean by an 'absorptive rod'. I fail to see how aluminium can absorb anything!
Or have I missed something here?
Regards,
Jay.

 

[mso489]

...absorptive rod, maybe the Brigham tubes? Maple rock filters, whatever they're called.

 

[mawnansmiff]

"...absorptive rod"
MSO, I think only Shutterbugg has the answer to that one.
Regards,
Jay.

 

[rigmedic1]

Through the year I have experimented with nearly every type of pipe contrivance I could find, looking for the elusive "perfect" smoke. What I have learned is that many tobaccos that I hated were wonderful in 9mm filter pipes. Others were no different, and several tobaccos that I love were absolutely terrible in a filter pipe. My first 9mm filter pipe was a Peterson Grafton 999 bent bulldog that I purchased from a man in Romania. It is still one of my favorite pipes, typically with a Big Ben filter. That's my best Virginia pipe.

I have a Savinelli Bing's Favorite that is great with VaPers, as long as I use the balsa filter. Also, I love EMP, but it is best, for me, in an M&M cob with a paper filter.

I encourage experiment. Only the Sith deal in absolutes.

 

[fmgee]

I encourage experiment. Only the Sith deal in absolutes.

I have found the same things as rigmedic1. Certain tobaccos that I found a little harsh around the edges are wonderful when I put them in one of my 9mm pipes. Likewise there are blends that I did not like at all in one of my 9mm pipes which suddenly sing in a non-filtered pipe (MM 965 was one of them). Generally I smoke Virginias in non-filtered pipes and heavy English blends in 9mm filtered pipes. Other blends or middle and light english it really depends on what I find best for my tastes. I don't find any change in flavour when using the balsa filters.
I have not tried the balsa filters in a cob. I'll have to give that a try and the paper ones are not very nice but I find then draw more to my liking when they are there.

 

[jerwynn]

[/quote] I encourage experiment. Only the Sith deal in absolutes.
Yes! Great concept, great to try different things, great to keep an open mind. As firm and happily resolute as a filter man I am, say on the 20th pipe or so, I switch to one of my two "normal" pipes (no filters, a Boswell Swirl Wizard, and a Poul Winslow freehand) and I am almost always stunned at the freedom and effortlessness of the things! These pipes seem to breathe by themselves. And contented sipping can carry on for hours and carry me away to Happy Land!

 

[jacks6]

What's the best replacement for a Stanwell 9mm filter? I don't even see the Stanwell ones as in stock..

 

[aldecaker]

Is it possible to try making your own with balsa stock from a hobby shop? I do that for my Sav 6mm balsa system sometimes, and also for my Grabows that take the paper filters (which I do not care for at all).

 

[jacks6]

Not really an option. If I decide to switch to Savinelli filters will I need a Savinelli adaptor? Or will any 9mm filter do?

 

[aldecaker]

The Savinelli adapter takes the place of the filter; it is not used in conjunction with it. I am not familiar with the Stanwell 9mm setup, but if it just takes a cylindrical filter that slips into the hole in the tenon, I see no reason Sav 9mm balsas wouldn't be a plug and play replacement.

 

[rigmedic1]

All the 9mm filters I have seen are interchangeable. I primarily use the Big Ben Brand, and the Dr. Perl by Vauen, and locally I can get the Castleford brand. I did not care for the Stanwell filters, because the draw on them was difficult. Dr. Perl filters have a blue end and a white end, and the blue end goes towards the mouthpiece.

I have tried Savinelli 9mm balsa filters, and I felt that the 9mm charcoals served my tastebuds better. I do use the 6mm balsa filters in my Savs, in which I primarily smoke VaPer blends. There is a lot of moisture in South Louisiana, and the balsa filters soak up a bunch of it.