Group 1, Very Small Bowls, What Are They For?

[pruss]

I always choose my Boswell Churchwarden the bowl being 15/16" deep 5/8" wide,

Banjo, is this one of the Boswell Mini-Ball Wardens? I covet that pipe, and will have one made one day. The Civil War history nut in me likes these pipes mightily. I ask, because if the chamber is as small as you identify here, I might move that pipe a little further up my purchase list.
-- Pat

 

[fishnbanjo]

Pat,

I think it may be as it is quite small, very light and I like the fact I can break it down and pocket it w/o worry of causing it harm. Here is a photo.

 

[fitzy]

I've got a tiny little Tsuge that's a group 1 size and it smokes va va/bur va/per flakes cubed cut like a charm. Smoke lasts 30 to 40 minutes. Which for me is usually plenty of time.
Is anyone's group 1 sized pipe this small? 1 inch depth .61 diameter.

 

[pruss]

Wow. That is a cute little mini-warden Banjo! It isn't, however, the pipe I was thinking of. Here's a link to the Boswell Mini-Ball. I don't love the laser engraving they are doing, and would order a pipe without the laser art. I'm thinking that this bowl is bigger than the one on your Boswell.
http://www.boswellpipes.com/gettysburgminieball.html
-- Pat

 

[fishnbanjo]

Doh, I should have guessed it was shaped like a Minie Ball!!!! It definitely looks bigger than mine. I got mine. along with 5 other pipes, a 10 pipe stand, a humidor jar with pipe rest on top and a pipe smokers cabinet as a gift for appraising 4 rods for an elderly woman who's husband had passed and was thinking of giving them to her grand children who fly fished or disposing of them if they were not worthy of fishing with. Long story short she had 12K value in those rods and was happy to know that she did not throw them in the trash. My gift with my 24 rotating pipr rack instead of the stationary 10 I got.

 

[bentmike]

Group 1 front

Group 4 back

I can easily get 30 or 35 minute smoke from the little lovat with cube cut flakes. The group 4 size 1+ hour. A little group 1 pipe would be nice for taking to a pipe show if you were interested in trying out the big selection of samples available at shows.

 

[pruss]

:clap:
Nice score! I love hearing stories like that one, Banjo. Nicely done, and well deserved mate.
-- Pat

 

[numbersix]

Excellent pic for reference bentmike - thanks for sharing.

Nice score! I love hearing stories like that one, Banjo. Nicely done, and well deserved mate.

+1 great story banjo.

 

[fitzy]

Nice looking pipes there everyone.

 

[kashmir]

I use mine for flakes and ropes or plugs especially.

 

[petergunn]

Small bowls, what are they for?

Mine are for the after dinner smoke in the fall and winter when I don't want to stay outside any longer then necessary

 

[mso489]

All this piques my interest in trying a Group 1 or 2. I could just pack one of my Group 3's part full, but that's not the point.

I want to see if I can use a small-small pipe in its logical way. I have to admit, I have puzzled for years as I looked at other

pipes. But this thread has illuminated another area of pipe smoking, and it has been most interesting. Never again will I look

at those Group 1 and Group 2 pipes (especially expensive ones where people are making a significant investment) and wonder

how in the world they use those little bowls. So live and learn, even on Halloween. (We've had more 'treaters this year than ever).

This has been a treat to me.

 

[sfsteves]

In general, it seems to me, the overall trend is to smaller bowls ... perhaps because the cost of tobacco has risen so high and is rising more all the time.

 

[trailspike48]

I also use a smaller bowl for ropes, and when I only want a shorter smoke.

 

[sallow]

All my pipes are small, under 5''. I have a small face. Some of the bowls are large. The smallest bowl I have is this Willmer lightweight, probably a group one or two.

 

[zack24]

I love the smaller bowls- bought my wife a group 1 Savinelli when we were in Italy that I enjoy smoking as well. I'm taking a couple of group 1's that I made to Vegas- if they don't sell, I'm keeping one for myself...

 

[captainsousie]

My favorite bowl size is probably somewhere between groups 2 and 4 but I do love a small pipe for the occasional nice smoke when I've just come home from a long day at work and have to be in bed in an hour.

 

[andrew]

I like small bowls for VA flakes and vapers

 

[mso489]

Okay, one and all, and especially fishnbanjo, you've convinced me. I ordered a Group 1 pipe, just to see where

it fits in my pipe regime. I have a 2 oz bar of GLP Triple Play opened and an unopened tin of Orlik Golden Sliced.

The pipe ordered is not in the fishnbanjo league of artisan carver spectaculars, but I went higher than the Ewas

I considered first. This is a Peterson yacht/zulu Belgique Group 1. This is a new pipe but about ten bucks less

than similar offerings, so it doesn't disturb my fractional Scotch lineage. Thank you, fishnbanjo and zack and others

for the enlightenment. I don't know why I had it set in my mind that Group 1 and 2 pipes were some kind of

piping anomaly that attracted people who didn't really want to smoke, or whatever it was I imagined. This is an

interesting turn of events. I'll still enjoy settling into a mediation with my medium and extra large bowls, but this is a new and

different way of going.

 

[fishnbanjo]

mso489,

I can smoke Triple Play and Orlik Golden Sliced in group 3 bowls but 1792, Five Brothers, many plugs and ropes would do me under if I tried that so that group 1, or even the Boswell Churchwarden are plenty, Vitamin N is not the reason I'm drawn to the pipe even though we do get it. I think you will find that the pipe will give you many pleasurable smokes and even a different appreciation for certain tobacco's that you will smoke in them. I love my flakes and am most happy that I can enjoy several bowls in a row should I find the time and need as I have other pipes I enjoy those tobacco's in, enjoy your new stable mate and welcome to the Group One Owners! :D