Gurgling ?

[luigi]

I sometimes test if the moisture is coming from the exhale or from the tobacco. Smoke it in a cob with a home-made paper filter, if possible: roll a nice long little tube and inspect it immediately after smoking. I often notice more moisture is coming from the exhaled air/smoke then from tobacco. If a paper filter comes out dry every time it's obviously a pipe.

I know you said you're not a wet smoker nor do your cobs gurgle but maybe this little experiment could be helpful.

 

[thomasw]

Well corn cobs will absorb moisture much more effectively compared to a briar. So that could account for the difference. But are you smoking outside or do you live by a coast? These pipe smoking scenarios are given to higher humidity levels and as such, more moisture build up in the stem and bowl. I live up in the Pacific Northwest (in BC) and when I smoke outside I find myself needing to use a pipe cleaner to remove moisture -- it is very humid here by the Pacific Ocean. Even a perfectly dry tobacco like Semois will produce some moisture when smoked at a very slow sip. No question the cadence will affect the amount of moisture, but given the high humidity, it is nigh unlikely a briar won't suffer some moisture development. In some situations all a piper can do is mitigate moisture: the absorbent pipe cleaner is your friend at such times.

 

[madox07]

I might add that certain stingers produce this gurgling. In my experience all except the ball headed ones. I remove them, as I cannot stand a gurgle, however the tobacco moisture in a deeper pipe heel might also have one too but different somehow from the stinger.

 

[d4k23]

I agree with all above and when I hear the gurgle I drop a cleaner down and try to slow my smoking. Too much time with cigars makes me treat the pipe like a hot box.
It is noted that pipes should be able to pass the cleaner all the way through the bowl. A couple of mine do this about 75 percent of the time, the other 25 I am needing to spin/aim/struggle to make it pass. Is this a cleanliness issue? Briar heating up and swelling a bit? It's a little frustrating, so am curious of thoughts.

 

[jpmcwjr]

Briar doesn't swell to any measurable degree, nor does the stem. If you can't pass a pipe cleaner easily, it's perhaps the drilling, a curve or, as you say, a blockage. But once the pipe is empty, you should be able to work a cleaner through and determine if it's a blockage or not.