As a KW collector I know I speak for most of us when I say we appreciate you not chopping them.
Do Stingers really work
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If I had trouble with ash or tobacco coming through the airway, I'd like the stinger idea more, but I've had that problem only once or twice over the years. Not never, but not worth preventing.
I can testify that you don't notice them when they're gone.
I’ve been known to try to extend the smoke time a bit by agitating the bottom of the tobacco a bit with a tool after dumping off the loose ash. That’s when I sometimes get a bit of ash and debris up the stem. Essentially, the stinger is useful when I get lazy.
For me…. stingers work really well… to give me a HEADACHE because to me they are messy and a pain in the posterior to clean, and they impede my using a pipe cleaner. As far as improving the actual smoking experience…. no difference identifiable for me.
My favorite way to use a stinger is to gently remove it from the pipe, clean it, usually with alcohol running through the stinger and often running through me as well, placing them into an old cigar box I keep all sorts of do-dads, and then storing that cigar box in a desk drawer. With this form of stinger usage, I have also found the benefit of saving and using less aspirin as well… a double benefit.
My favorite way to use a stinger is to gently remove it from the pipe, clean it, usually with alcohol running through the stinger and often running through me as well, placing them into an old cigar box I keep all sorts of do-dads, and then storing that cigar box in a desk drawer. With this form of stinger usage, I have also found the benefit of saving and using less aspirin as well… a double benefit.
Way I see it, if they worked great, we would see them in most pipes now days. Which we don't as you know.
Based on removing about a hundred Lee stingers, they worked too well.
The stinger, if left inserted, cools the smoke, and removed just a bit of the flavor.
Why I love the craftsmanship and briar quality of pre war Kaywoodies the best, and smoke Lees virtually constantly, is removing a Kaywoodie stinger by grinding it off, is blasphemy.
Do they work? Well, if one would include "pissing me off immensely" under the definition of "work," then the answer is an emphatic yes.
I have several old pipes from my own purchasing and my father's collection that came graced with stingers of all sorts. I find gurgles happen with and without stingers. I'm with @greysmoke , I pull 'em when I can, drop 'em in a box (labeled in case I ever move such pipe along) and don't miss them at all. I do like to use a pipe cleaner whenever I detect a gurgle. One I will not remove (and not sure I can) is the Hesson Guard system in an old WDC Milano Zulu (which does pass a pipe cleaner no problem).
Thank for for sharing this very interesting and well done article! Now I am going to have to shop for a p-lip system pipe...This is a good article. Apparently Peterson 'chimneys' and possibly Kaywoodie Drinkless stingers are the way to go if you want any jewelry for your stem.
Airflow in Peterson System Pipes: A Conversation with Dr. Dunn | Smokingpipes.com
Airflow in Peterson System Pipes: A Conversation with Dr. Dunnwww.smokingpipes.com
BTW, is anyone else grossed out by Kaywoodie “Drinkless”? I prefer to “drink” nothing while puffing, except maybe a glass of something on the side.
I took an old stinger out, and attached it to a very old, thin bone stem. I now use it as a dental spoon to take out gunk from the mortis of estates. So yes, they do work.
Only certain ones seem to work.
Kaywoodies especially the 4 hole seem to trap moisture and smoke quite well.