So, pretty new to pipe smoking and very new to trying to learn more. Obviously there is a huge variety of pipes and styles, but I'm wondering if that actually effects the experience or if it is purely an aesthetic and capacity difference.
Effect of Different Pipe Types
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You pretty much got it. Mainly aesthetic. However most times, a bigger bowl
= longer smoke = bigger happiness.
= longer smoke = bigger happiness.
Yupe, only/main difference is the chamber size and how much tobacco it holds. Shape/outside has nothing to do with how that blend tastes. But, some pipes might agree with you more, even if you have two "same" looking pipes. Drilling, and nature of the stummel being what it is, wood, there are things outside of our control.
You cannot make your pipe deeper. But you can load less tobacco and smoke it shorter. Width about .78 to .92 is about the same in terms of chamber draw. Issue I see with pipes is stem draw. I drill my pipes to 11/64 and stems 9/64 on the stummel end and 5/64 on the tip. The biggest influence on the pipe is the draw hole.
Yes, one thing. Dublin-shaped pipes just get too hot for me, probably because there's relatively little wood down at the bottom of the bowl as compared to higher up. I avoid this shape for that very reason, but I naturally prefer shapes that don't have this issue, like authors and pots.
However, if you really like that shape, look for a Dublin with a conical chamber rather than a cylindrical one. That helps with the heat at the bottom of the bowl.
To add again, I'm not a fan of the Dublin shape, but bought one for sentimental reasons (a Malaga carved from an Armenian maker in Royal Oak and I'm half Armenian and live in the area).
I didn't reach for it often but noticed it had a conical chamber. Once I started smoking flakes in it, I reached for it more often since it smokes flakes like a champ.
In short, aesthetics play a major role and chamber shape and size make minor differences. Finish plays a minor role too in that I don't normally like rusticated pipes, but they are more comfortable to hold.
G
Gimlet
Guest
It's practicality for me as well as aesthetics. I've got one spot on the left side of my mouth where pipes sit perfectly and I tend to clamp them and leave them there throughout the smoke. Straight pipes strain my teeth, bent ones sit much better.
Most of my pipes are bent apples with a couple of bent billiards and a couple of largish bent pots. The billiards with taller bowls are better for smoking out of doors because the taller bowls help protect the burn from the wind. The apples and pots, having wider and shorter bowls, are better smoked in still conditions.
I must say though that I find some pipes smoke certain tobaccos much better than others and finding the magic pairing between pipe and blend is a process of trial and error.
I've bought pipes on aesthetics thinking they'll make, say, a good evening pipe with this tobacco or a social occasion pipe with that, or a good pipe to take to work for my daytime blend, and it's turned out they've had other ideas.
I buy pipes because I like the look of them or because they look like they'll be a good fit, but I've given up assuming which tobacco I'll end up smoking in them.
Most of my pipes are bent apples with a couple of bent billiards and a couple of largish bent pots. The billiards with taller bowls are better for smoking out of doors because the taller bowls help protect the burn from the wind. The apples and pots, having wider and shorter bowls, are better smoked in still conditions.
I must say though that I find some pipes smoke certain tobaccos much better than others and finding the magic pairing between pipe and blend is a process of trial and error.
I've bought pipes on aesthetics thinking they'll make, say, a good evening pipe with this tobacco or a social occasion pipe with that, or a good pipe to take to work for my daytime blend, and it's turned out they've had other ideas.
I buy pipes because I like the look of them or because they look like they'll be a good fit, but I've given up assuming which tobacco I'll end up smoking in them.
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You may find that certain tobaccos work better in cobs vs briars and vice versa. I have one tobacco (a thick flake) that is a bit temperamental regarding packing and clogging the draft hole in a briar. Hence, I often smoke it in a cob.
Even more influential is the technique of the smoker.
25% equipment
75% technique
Perfect pipe and bad technique or great technique and bad pipe. Gotta have both for sure ...
I'm with you; maybe even 15-85. I remember just starting out; kept buying more and more expensive pipes thinking maybe that was significantly, uh, significant, as I had been instructed in the books -- no internet in those days; we had to rely on these unwieldy cardboard and paper objects for our misinformation.
I still like expensive pipes for various reasons, but not one of them back then gave me a pleasant smoke until I learned how to use it well and at that point I discovered that my first pipes provided a good smoke too.
Though I have an aversion to pipes that won't pass a pipe cleaner, I've never encountered a truly bad pipe.
I have specifically purchased a pot-shaped pipe with intentions of dedicating it to English blends. As it turns out, it really likes Virginias.
A similar thing happened with a meerschaum I purchased to experiment with aromatics, now I smoke Semois in it almost exclusively.
I find pairing shapes (and materials) to blends to be, for me, unpredictable. So now when I get a new pipe, I try different blends in it to see what it likes best.
A similar thing happened with a meerschaum I purchased to experiment with aromatics, now I smoke Semois in it almost exclusively.
I find pairing shapes (and materials) to blends to be, for me, unpredictable. So now when I get a new pipe, I try different blends in it to see what it likes best.
Yeah not truly bad just not to my liking. I prefer a wide open draw. Effortless. Many pipes I've bought from famous makers come 9/64 down. Big difference opening up that draw. Night and day. But truly bad it was not. At least in the popular makers it's not.
Purely aesthetics, but a pipe that you love for various reasons does bring with it pure joy. My opinion only.