I don't think I've read anything in descriptions of new pipes that mention a stinger or condenser or carburetor, but are they still out there? Or are they just gimmicks of a past age?
Does Any Pipemaker Still Use Stingers/Condensers?
- Thread starter mikethompson
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Once upon a time around 20% adult males in the US smoked a pipe. Meaning sales numbers were in the millions of units annually.
The only inexpensive/easy way for companies to differentiate their product from the competition was with Voodoo. It didn't have to actually provide any benefit, it just had to sound like it would. Sound "logical". Man's endless capacity for willful self-delusion and the Placebo Effect did the rest.
After the market size shrank, competition relaxed, and the Voodoo went away.
The last stinger I pulled out of a new pipe was about six years ago, a BC Rocaille straight tapered billiard. I don't know how recently the pipe had been made. The stinger pulled right out smoothly, and I labeled it and stored it with a few others. I think its absence has zero effect on the airway.
Not that I've seen. I still use one on occasion for virginia blends that tend to bite me to keep me on the slower side. I am guessing that was the original intention of them?
Some French pipes still come with stingers? Interesting. Maybe there is something to them after all. But then, maybe not!
A little Dr Plumb pocket pipe I got in 2009 (?) had one, I took it before really trying it so not sure if it did anything.
I think Alexander's "Hygrocool" system is something similar. I'm not sure as I have never bought a pipe like this, but by the pictures it seems to be something like that.
https://www.briar-pipes.com/en/44-hygrocool-pipes
Also, you can buy a condenser for 9mm pipes here:
https://www.smoke-king.co.uk/9mm-pipe-adaptor-condensor-reducer
With this condenser I have some experience, I used it for about 3 times but I don't recommend, it is stuck very often with "pipe dirt", and it is not comfortable to puff with this in, too hard. Active coal filters reduce the taste, so I smoke without any filters/condensers.
https://www.briar-pipes.com/en/44-hygrocool-pipes
Also, you can buy a condenser for 9mm pipes here:
https://www.smoke-king.co.uk/9mm-pipe-adaptor-condensor-reducer
With this condenser I have some experience, I used it for about 3 times but I don't recommend, it is stuck very often with "pipe dirt", and it is not comfortable to puff with this in, too hard. Active coal filters reduce the taste, so I smoke without any filters/condensers.
Fortunately the concept has finally fallen out of favor. In my experience, stingers actually cause gurgling the very thing they are supposed to prevent.
Even Kaywoodie has finally done away with them! All new production for the last 2-3 years has been without the dreaded stinger that can't be removed without sawing the dang thing off!
Even Kaywoodie has finally done away with them! All new production for the last 2-3 years has been without the dreaded stinger that can't be removed without sawing the dang thing off!
For those who still favor the stinger and want one that has been accepted for a long time, some old inventory Kaywoodie Drinkless series pipes still have the stinger that is part of the screw-on assembly for the stem. However the newer Drinkless pipes are now sold with push-on bits, so be sure you know what you are getting, and if you have a doubt, call and ask if you are buying online.
Granted, many French manufacturers are still preferring to put 3 to 4 mm removable stringers in them pipes, something like in ratio 70% of total production + lately it seems that Filtered ones are significantly gaining in popularity.
They make the smoke drier as they condense the moisture and don't let ash/small tobacco pieces go through the stem... on paper. In reality they are good for nothing and make smoking and cleaning of the pipe more difficult without and advantage.
On the other hand, don't expect stingers on French pipes. I have five or six and only the one mentioned in an earlier post on this thread, a BC, had one. Pipes coming without stingers included a Chacom, a Genod, a BC, and a Villiard, and a Tinder Box house pipe Tinder Box St. Ives that was probably made by Chacom. The stinger in the one pipe that had one slipped right out, no struggle at all.
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