How big is too big?

[frozenchurchwarden]

I think I'm happy with a 1" bowl. It's surprisig how much harder it is to maintain the cherry vs. a .8" diameter. It's important to determine where the air is flowing most and make sure to poke some holes on the other side, and maybe push the pack around a bit.

Shallower bowls can be nice just because they're easier to clean, but I have a lot of deep bowls and stacks anyway (that MacArthur Cob makes it hard).

 

[thomasmartin]

The sweet spot for me is a #4 Dunhill bowl.

 

[sparrowhawk]

I think it depends on the pipe itself. If it's a giant pipe, designed as a giant, like a Nording, then large is great. Yet I've had some large billiards that just didn't cut just it like my giant Nording.

 

[bigpond]

What do you smoke in that thing Sparrow? When I see a pipe like that I think I'll have to take a day off work to finish a bowl, but I have no experience with danish freehands and not quite sure I get them.

 

[sparrowhawk]

I use this pipe as a fusion reactor to power the Metro Detroit area. Actually, i usually smoke a non-aero like Red Cake or maybe a borderline aero like Trout Stream. The drawback is you need matches to smoke this behemoth; a lighter just won't reach down that far. I tend to puff a little too fast for my own good, so this giant lasts me about an hour or a little more before I hit the dottle. This is a great pipe for long, prolonged reading, so you can smoke it in intervals. Incidentally, I strongly recommend Nording freehand giants--just one, you'll never need another.

 

[pruss]

How big is too big...
I have two very large pipes which I use for long smokes and, generally, for complex blends which include Latakia and other Oriental leaf. These are long smokes, when packed full. I've taken to smoking partial bowls in the meer, as it is my only meerschaum pipe and is useful for smokes that might ghost briar. My big Rad-desian is a front porch smoker which is always accompanied by a book, and either a thermos of coffee or a pitcher of iced tea. In both instances the bowl is 1" wide and 2.5" - 2.75" deep.




-- Pat

 

[iamn8]

I'm with you guys, I'm somewhat fascinated by magnum pipes if all proportions are inline, but pipes like this one are simply bizarre oddities, good for decorative purposes, but just not practical.

 

[sparrowhawk]

That looks like a Moretti pipe: I bought one of his volcanos, but just found it too impractical and difficult to hold, so I had to let it go. But Morettif has a beautiful rustication style.

 

[iamn8]

Impractical is most defiantly the word for it!!! Cool looking pipe but only as an oddity.

 

[iamn8]

A pipe I commissioned with Michael Parks which is to be my ideal pipe, is set to be a large group 6 based upon the Diplomat shape. That's as large a pipe as I can conceive of ever smoking. It's bowl is wide and shallow. These massive deep bowls simply aren't practical... To me anyways. Obviously some love them else they'd never be produced.

 

[hiplainsdrifter]

>50 grams, too big.