Does my Briar Pipe really Need Resting ?

[Bobbiy]

I've got a peterson donegal rocky passed down from a friend of mine (it was actually his dad's pipe) and love the way it smokes

The problem is, i only have this one briar in my rotation alongside some other cobs. The cobs i have don't tend to smoke the way the briar does.

Provided i rest the peterson after each smoke, let the pipe cool down, run a pipe cleaner in them, are they good to go for smoking everyday ?

 

[coming to_falling too]

Keep it clean and dry and you should be good. There may be a time when it requires a deeper cleaning, but you'll know if and when it does.

Congrats on your briar. I like cobs as well, but a good smoking briar pipe is hard to beat.

 

[Bobbiy]

Keep it clean and dry and you should be good. There may be a time when it requires a deeper cleaning, but you'll know if and when it does.

Congrats on your briar. I like cobs as well, but a good smoking briar pipe is hard to beat.

Yup thats how i plan on maintaining it. General cleanups and deep cleaning when needed. Thanks

 

[blackpowderpiper]

Many smokers throughout the years have gone merrily about their way with only a single pipe in their arsenal. I would hazard to say that you could do much the same. There are forum members who report smoking only a single pipe for weeks at a time with no ill effects. Of course, your mileage may vary. If you perform a basic cleaning after each smoke you will probably be just fine.

 

[makhorkasmoker]

I feel that resting a pipe is less about preserving the pipe and more about getting the best flavor out of a smoke. I find that a smoke will often be better with a well rested pipe. I think this is especially true with the subtler tobaccos/blends. To be clear, I will often smoke the same pipe every day, day after day, and the smoke is good (and there's no damage or anything to pipe). But when I pick up another pipe that has rested and smoke the same tobacco in it, I'm struck by the improvement.

 

[Cucamonga95]

I feel that resting a pipe is less about preserving the pipe and more about getting the best flavor out of a smoke. I find that a smoke will often be better with a well rested pipe. I think this is especially true with the subtler tobaccos/blends. To be clear, I will often smoke the same pipe every day, day after day, and the smoke is good (and there's no damage or anything to pipe). But when I pick up another pipe that has rested and smoke the same tobacco in it, I'm struck by the improvement.

Agree with mak..... There are those of us that smoke the same pipe all and every day. There are those of us that reserve one pipe for one blend.

It seems to me that sticking to similar blends out of one pipe gives the best flavor. Resting helps, and I think it's mostly to do with drying and the tar setting into the wood., something about the moisture that the cleaners don't get drying out maybe. But I've never damaged a pipe from repeated smoking without.

Like mak, the benefit I've noticed mostly comes with expansion of flavor when you "properly" clean and rest a pipe after smoking, and the improvement is noticeable.

TL;DR: Briar shouldn't *need* to be rested in the same way we don't *need* food or an engine doesn't *need* oil... it's not going to kill it to not rest it for a couple weeks, but you'll DEFINITELY notice the difference when you get around to it.

 

[AJL67]

Having multiple pipes, pipes for each day of the week, never smoking the same pipe back to back, all marketing to get ppl to buy more pipes.

 

[Streeper541]

I've got 70 some odd pipes yet I find myself smoking the same Peterson Donegal Rocky 107 multiple times a day. Truthfully, I haven't cleaned it with anything more than a pipe cleaner and a paper towel in months. You'll be fine.

 

[Bobbiy]

Having multiple pipes, pipes for each day of the week, never smoking the same pipe back to back, all marketing to get ppl to buy more pipes.

That's the thing im trying to avoid PAD myself. The internet is full of triggers. I'd rather spend the whole lot of cash on good tobaccy than pipes as a whole, especially when money is tight.

 

[CoffeeAndBourbon]

That's the thing im trying to avoid PAD myself. The internet is full of triggers. I'd rather spend the whole lot of cash on good tobaccy than pipes as a whole, especially when money is tight.

Cobs and Clays are cheap and good smokers usually

 

[JimRoseLV]

Like with most things, I start out by following the rules, then after awhile I learn what rules can be broken and by how much. This is one of those rules that can be broken in my book.

 

[wolfman9]

I sometimes smoke the same briar a few bowls a day for multiple days in a row, just wiping the bowl out and running a pipe cleaner through it every couple bowls or whenever there is a buildup of moisture.
I haven’t noticed any harm to my pipes from it, only that there can be a trace more moisture than with a rested pipe, that can be almost completely alleviated by using properly dried tobacco.
Most old timers used to only smoke one pipe, even if they smoked it all day, or sometimes they might own a couple and switch them out based on whatever preference they had, such as a large pipe for their evening smoke vs a smaller easy to clench and pocketable pipe for all day use.

 

[kcghost]

You have good program of taking care of your briar pipe. Good luck avoiding PAD!!

 

[mso489]

I also have a Peterson Donegal, a bent Calabash briar with that knotty rustication, and I like it well. My dad smoked only one pipe at a time pretty much all day and at work, and I think the usual lifespan of his pipes -- if my childhood memory is any good -- was about two years. I enjoy having enough briars so I never have to worry about smoking them to burn-out, so I'm inclined to encourage you to buy maybe two or three more, if you are the rare Forums member who can resist buying too many pipes, on principle.

 

[Cucamonga95]

I also have a Peterson Donegal, a bent Calabash briar with that knotty rustication, and I like it well. My dad smoked only one pipe at a time pretty much all day and at work, and I think the usual lifespan of his pipes -- if my childhood memory is any good -- was about two years. I enjoy having enough briars so I never have to worry about smoking them to burn-out, so I'm inclined to encourage you to buy maybe two or three more, if you are the rare Forums member who can resist buying too many pipes, on principle.

I've worked out a strategy: I live in a place that is so prohibitively expensive and with so few niche shops around and such low median wages that even when I have the disposable income for the pipes I want, I have to go online to procure them. I'm less impulsive when I can't have something in my hand.

PAD: cured.

 

[warren99]

When I travel for business or pleasure, I usually take no more than two pipes along. As long as I let them cool down and clean them with a pipe cleaner after each smoke, I don't notice any appreciable difference between their smoking qualities and those that are part of my normal pipe rotation at home.

 

[warren]

No.

 

[fireground_piper]

I feel that resting a pipe is less about preserving the pipe and more about getting the best flavor out of a smoke. I find that a smoke will often be better with a well rested pipe. I think this is especially true with the subtler tobaccos/blends. To be clear, I will often smoke the same pipe every day, day after day, and the smoke is good (and there's no damage or anything to pipe). But when I pick up another pipe that has rested and smoke the same tobacco in it, I'm struck by the improvement.

I agree with this. I tend to use 1 pipe a lot over the past year-ish and for a while I didn't put much stock into "resting" but over time and actually paying attention there is a change. I have noticed the smoke to be not quite as present

Maybe some don't notice it. Maybe some just don't care. I was in that category and while I still use that pipe when I want regardless, I'm certainly aware of the diminished flavors now.

 

[mso489]

I think the major value of resting pipes is to let them dry. Residual moisture depends partly on how moist the blend is, how much moisture it exudes, and also how much saliva gets into the pipe, which probably happens more with clenching continually, often doing something else.

A good cleaning after each smoke helps the drying process, so tobacco isn't getting pasted to the airway, etc.

If you have eight or a dozen pipes and rotate them regularly, they are likely to be bone dry when you get around to smoking them again.

 

[DollarStoreChili]

I'm still new and have only one expensive briar pipe from Boswell. I'll let that rest a day between smokes just out of beginner caution (I smoke hot, fast, and wet). I have a smattering of cobs that I beat the tar out of, and really only rest them until they're cool.