Denicool Filter Crystals(?)

[bdstansel]

Has anyone here used this product?
Description follows:
"Denicool crystals absorb excess condensation while you smoke. The result - a mild, cool and dry smoke. Denicool crystals always give an easy draw and are simple and easy to use with any pipe. Denicool crystals save money, no more wasted tobacco at the bottom of the bowl. Pour some Denicool crystals into the pipe bowl. Fill in the normal way with your favourite tobacco. After smoking just empty the whole contents of the pipe."
It sounds interesting but odd at the same time. I do have a pipe or two that tends to gurgle a bit.
I'm just fishing for some real-world users input here...
Thanks in advance.

 

[pstlpkr]

Noooo thank you.

I don't have any desire to put a desiccant into my pipe.

Adding a chemical to a bowl of tobacco IMHO is just a bad idea.

 

[matchstickman]

Think of it this way: The stuff that those Denicool crystals are made out of are the same little beads that you find in kitty litter. True story. I agree with Lawrence. A well made pipe, proper packing, and quality tobacco will smoke cool and dry as long as your technique is good.

 

[lazydog]

I for one prefer a hard shell corn tostada in bottom of the bowl. Very absorbent, and a nice corn taste. I am only half way kidding, because I am trying it right now. Of course if it is in the shape of a religious figure, it would be oh so much better. Very inexpensive too. Yuk Yuk. :roll:

 

[cigrmaster]

I personally would never put something like that in my pipe. I cannot imagine how bad that could be for you. If your pipe is gurgling, try drying your tobacco some, try smoking slower, try a pipe cleaner or two. If that doesn't work it could be the pipe. Poorly drilled pipes will gurgle no matter how good your technique or how dry your tobacco is. Also if the briar is not of good quality, it will smoke hot and wet.

 

[doctorthoss]

I've actually tried this product, and like it. It works like a filter, only it doesn't affect the taste in any discernible way. It also does more to combat tongue bite than anything else I've tried.

I'm not sure how much worse it would actually be. You don't smoke the crystals, after all! Is there any particular reason you guys feel that filtering with this material is worse than, say, balsa?

 

[matchstickman]

Is there any particular reason you guys feel that filtering with this material is worse than, say, balsa?

The fact that this same material is found in small quantities in kitty litter is off-putting to some people. If you don't mind it, all the more power to you. I don't really feel that it would be overly harmful or have an ill effect, otherwise it wouldnt be available for sale. I just think that proper packing and smoking technique combined with a quality briar will combat the problem much more easily than having to shell out money for a product that can be replaced with a little hard work and diligence. Like most things in life and pipe smoking, Your Mileage May Vary of course.

 

[igloo]

Uh, kitty litter is diatomaceous earth not silica . What ever happened to Nording smoking stones .

 

[whimsyt]

I just came across some interesting videos by a guy posting on YouTube, and in his third video he suggests using uncooked rice as a filtering medium.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_q59fsRPRvM
He suggests using it in several ways---to replace the charcoal in charcoal filters, in the bottom of a bowl, even directly in the filter chamber of a filter pipe without any other container for the rice.
He definitely has tips on smoking on the cheap. His 2nd video is how to clean a pipe without pipe cleaners, but using cheap bamboo skewers and cotton balls.
For those with severe money issues or lack of other resources, his tips are pretty ingenious.

 

[spartan]

You young pipers and your space crystals... oh boy. :roll:

 

[doctorthoss]

Pipenovelist --

I've been smoking a pipe for 20 plus years, and unfortunately my issues with bite seem simply to be due to my chemistry. My technique is pretty good, I pack carefully, I usually dry my tobacco, and I smoke SLOWLY....It's just that I have sensitive tongue. I like the crystals because they simply due more than anything else to control it. They don't seem to affect the temperature of the smoke much, but they certainly absorb something from the smoke that irritates me. For most smokers I'd say these things are fairly useless, but for guys like me I think they have their place.

 

[philip]

It sounds interesting but odd at the same time. I do have a pipe or two that tends to gurgle a bit.

I wouldn't put anything in my pipe that I didn't want to smoke.
I've never yet had a pipe that I couldn't stop gurgling by drying the tobacco a little and smoking a little slower.

 

[bdstansel]

Has anyone here used this product?

Interesting replies here...thanks (I think). I was curious, having not seen anything like this until recently.
To each his own opinion but only one, that I read, even admitted using them and that they were in fact functional for them.
Is this not the place for "new folks" to ask questions?
Or perhaps it is not in the correct folder (OK, that was a joke) :D

 

[trevert]

I've used them but I'm not a fan of them. I do enjoy 9mm filter pipes a lot, though, despite this being "uncool" in the US. The Denicools work well enough but I found them a pain on the convenience front. For one, they're expensive and hard to find. Two, the end caps have an annoying tendency to pop off when you're working them out of the pipe and shower you and your pipe in tiny little balls of silica. Three, they're bigger than charcoal-type 9mm filters and fit much tighter into most filter pipes - I've got a couple that are simply too snug to easily use the Denicool filters in. The fit is so tight it always pulls off the end cap when I try to get the things back out.
Bottom line for me is - If you're willing to put up with the annoyances, they do their job very well. But, I prefer the normal charcoal-filled 9mm filters, which do a nearly-as-good job, are cheaper, fit more of my pipes, and are much easier to handle after smoking. Also, they don't add more plastic to the landscape since they are biodegradable.
As far as asking questions about filters, you are always bound to get a flurry of negative replies about this on any pipe forum because there is a strong (and IMO unfounded) bias against them. Don't take it personally or let it bug you. ::

 

[doctorthoss]

Trevert -- I'm not sure we're talking about the same thing. These crystals don't have end caps or anything like that! These are basically tiny chunks of silica which you sprinkle in the bottom of the bowl, forming a thin base layer that you then layer your tobacco onto. That way, any pipe can be filtered. It also creates an air pocket at the bottom, similar to the "Frank Method" of packing, and I think it helps the tobacco burn a little better.

 

[igloo]

Try these Nording Keystones .http://www.cupojoes.com/cgi-bin/spgm?dpt=D&srch=DD&item=norkey

 

[trevert]

OH, those!! Sorry, my bad - Yes, I know what you're talking about, they're like Nording Keystones. When I read Denicool, the first thing I thought of were the Denicool 9m filters, which are little plastic tubes that fit 9mm pipes and which are filled with tiny crystals. We used to sell a bunch of them in our pipe shop in France. I've tried the Nording Keystones too, but wasn't moved either way with them. It's been probably 15 years since I tired them, and all I remember was that I used up the box I got and was never inspired to buy more. They might be of help to folks who enjoy wetter smoking blends, though.

 

[frozenchurchwarden]

Last month I ordered a 1lb bag of aquarium carbon pellets for about $4. Nothing but pure activated carbon, and you can find 50lb bags for not a lot of money as well.

My intention was to fill 9mm filters but the aquarium pellets are too big to be effective there, they do fill the bottom of your bowl well enough and greatly reduce the amount of dottle. It's hard to say that there's much benefit beyond that but as an air-pocket packer I appreciate it as a packing aid.

 

[onurturker]

I tried much times Nording Keystone and Denicool Kristal. I think Denicool is more effective than Nording. But recently I disovered that meerschaum stones is the best to have a cool and dry smoke in all. I advice it. I get it from Eskişehir-Turkey regularly. I think there is not yet exporting that meerschaum filter stones to abroad.

 

[admiral]

How do you get them if not living in Turkey

Aside from breaking one of my Meers and chopping it to ... chips