Is it me?

[nickg]

I'm not sure but to me meers smoke hotter than briar. I'll put the same tobacco in a briar and a meer and the briar smokes great but the meer gurgles and smokes hot. Am I doing something wrong?

 

[smokindawg]

Depends on the meer too. Just like briar, the quality and engineering can make one smoke hitter. A lot of meers have a tight draw and you can tend to draw harder causing it to smoke hotter as well.

 

[batdemon]

@smokingdawg: I find that to be true also. Do you have any tips on opening the draw on a meer? I thought that since you have made quite a few pipes you might have some insight. Thanks

 

[nickg]

I'd like to know that as well. I'm just guessing but I'm thinking that the hole is so small because the meer wall would become to thin and could break, unlike briar.

 

[papipeguy]

That's the reason I gave 3 meers away 25 years ago and never looked back.

 

[baronsamedi]

Walker Briar Works has a draft hole improvement they can do on meers. I've never had a meer smoke hot, but the bowl will get hot because that's how they distribute heat. It goes through the bowl rather than in the smoke. If you get a gurgle, which is also common, a pipe cleaner down the shank will cure it. The rest is just adjusting your smoke for a different kind of pipe.

 

[gmwolford]

but the bowl will get hot because that's how they distribute heat. It goes through the bowl rather than in the smoke.

Really? I was told by the young man at our local B&M that it wouldn't get hot, the bowl, because of the mineral that makes up a meer…. I'm going to guess he was mistaken, huh?

 

[baronsamedi]

Yeah. The bowl will get hot. It is similar to the way a clay gets hot, only not as much. Of course the thickness of the bowl and smoking cadence affect it like any pipe. Mine has a small draft hole and I had to adjust my pack so that I don't work too hard to pull the smoke, which overheats the smoke and causes gurgles.

 

[foggymountain]

Yes, meers do smoke a little hotter than briars.

 

[lazydog]

Just got a nice angry sultan meer, & yes the draw isn"t great, I have to pack this guy loose or the draw is too hard. Especially packed loose down at the bottom of the bowl. Still a great smoke. Love the meer.

 

[sixmp]

From my limited experience with meerschaum pipes (i own 2) they are any other pipe in the respect of engineering and amount of material/quality of build.
My first meerschaum was cheap had a small hole thin sides this made me basically cook my mouth until i learned to pack it just so.
My second meerschaum a Peterson Dr Watson is a totally different experience, thicker sides and a huge draw hole compared to my first and due to this i found i could load it pretty much like any briar i have. I have found i can pack the meerschaum tighter than my briar s though and get away with it.