Greetings and happy holidays everyone.
Long time lurker, first time poster. First, thank you for the numerous threads of advice and information.
I came to the pipe by way of inheritance. In 2007 my great uncle passed away after a well lived life and I was gifted his pipes by my grandmother. He was a great man, WW2 vet and purple heart recipient, life-long fly fisherman, artist, art instructor, and pipe smoker. He painted a self-portrait of him with his Peterson 314 clenched in his teeth – frowning of course. That Peterson 314 became my favorite pipe and ignited my love for Petes. Although, I’m open to many brands and one of my favorite smokers is a Rossi.
My relationship with pipes has been on and off over the years, but lately I’ve been consistent with my smoking. Trying to develop a proper cadence – I tend to smoke fast – and find tobaccos that give me the kick I crave. I’ve acquired a small collection of “active” pipes – 14 to be exact. Two of those are my great uncles, the 314 and an old, no-name, made in Italy bulldog. His other pipes are for display only.
Unfortunately, I believe I’ve just experienced my first burnout and I can’t tell if it was bad form, a hidden defect, or both. Probably both with emphasis on the form(er). I imagine my great uncle frowning at me for my carelessness. He was very meticulous in his ways and had a way of making you realize you messed up without telling you that you just blew it – directly at least. I remember him doing this on fly fishing and photography trips as a youth. His 314 is from ’62 or earlier, and it smokes beautifully, proof of his level of care.
Anyway, I was enjoying a pipe of some twisted Virginias that I get from my B&M when all the sudden I tasted a woody bitterness. I finished up, inspected the chamber, and noticed what appeared to be charred bits around the airway. After two days rest, I packed it with some Billy Budd but could taste the bitterness of charred wood cut through the Billy Budd’s velvety smoke. I cleaned out the pipe and realized the area to the left of the airway and around it looked charred. I confirmed this by easily scraping the material away and leaving an indentation in the chamber.
The pipe was only a few weeks old so I’m quite disappointed. I think I’ll try some pipe mud on it and see if I can keep it smoking for a while.
Out of curiosity how easy is it to burn a briar pipe even with bad form? I imagine it can’t be too easy but am very self-conscious when smoking now.
Long time lurker, first time poster. First, thank you for the numerous threads of advice and information.
I came to the pipe by way of inheritance. In 2007 my great uncle passed away after a well lived life and I was gifted his pipes by my grandmother. He was a great man, WW2 vet and purple heart recipient, life-long fly fisherman, artist, art instructor, and pipe smoker. He painted a self-portrait of him with his Peterson 314 clenched in his teeth – frowning of course. That Peterson 314 became my favorite pipe and ignited my love for Petes. Although, I’m open to many brands and one of my favorite smokers is a Rossi.
My relationship with pipes has been on and off over the years, but lately I’ve been consistent with my smoking. Trying to develop a proper cadence – I tend to smoke fast – and find tobaccos that give me the kick I crave. I’ve acquired a small collection of “active” pipes – 14 to be exact. Two of those are my great uncles, the 314 and an old, no-name, made in Italy bulldog. His other pipes are for display only.
Unfortunately, I believe I’ve just experienced my first burnout and I can’t tell if it was bad form, a hidden defect, or both. Probably both with emphasis on the form(er). I imagine my great uncle frowning at me for my carelessness. He was very meticulous in his ways and had a way of making you realize you messed up without telling you that you just blew it – directly at least. I remember him doing this on fly fishing and photography trips as a youth. His 314 is from ’62 or earlier, and it smokes beautifully, proof of his level of care.
Anyway, I was enjoying a pipe of some twisted Virginias that I get from my B&M when all the sudden I tasted a woody bitterness. I finished up, inspected the chamber, and noticed what appeared to be charred bits around the airway. After two days rest, I packed it with some Billy Budd but could taste the bitterness of charred wood cut through the Billy Budd’s velvety smoke. I cleaned out the pipe and realized the area to the left of the airway and around it looked charred. I confirmed this by easily scraping the material away and leaving an indentation in the chamber.
The pipe was only a few weeks old so I’m quite disappointed. I think I’ll try some pipe mud on it and see if I can keep it smoking for a while.
Out of curiosity how easy is it to burn a briar pipe even with bad form? I imagine it can’t be too easy but am very self-conscious when smoking now.
