Is It Necessary To Rest Your Briar Pipe .Why?

[blueeyedogre]

I did a 6 month experiment with a Savinelli sport pipe...... 2 to 3 bowls a day, everyday, running a cleaner through it after every bowl, taken apart a thorough cleaning weekly...... After 6 months I noticed very little difference in how it smoked and the pipe showed no damage. I will add that I had to purchase a bowl reamer to keep the cake at bay.

 

[warren]

I think only two respondents have mentioned cleaning. If I had one pipe and smoked multiple bowls a day in it, day after day, I would be almost anal in my cleaning of it before retiring and the bowl would rest without the stem to promote airflow. After every bowl a couple of cleaners to remove the excess moisture and probably a gentle wipe down of the inside of the bowl.

 

[metalheadycigarguy]

metal, one pipe from one smoker does not make something a fact. You and I have gone back and forth over your friends experiment for at least 3 years. lol
Generally speaking, it is better to rest you pipes after every bowl so your pipe has the time to dry out and to smoke drier and more flavorful. I would be willing to bet, that more people dry their pipes after every smoke than smoke them all day, day after day for a year at a time. The idea that resting your pipe to get an optimum smoking experience has been around for probably 80 years or so. Everyone I know in the pipe community rests their pipes in some way or another.

cigrmaster - Yes, I have brought up this experiment several times in the past as this is a frequently asked question. I don't disagree with you that resting the pipe is better for the pipe and the smoking a experience; however, this experiment was done to prove that you can smoke the same pipe every day and multiple times if you choose to. It simply shows that a well made pipe made from good briar can hold up to the abuse of being a daily smoker. Which does answer the OP question. Is this ideal... no, but it can be done.

 

[ophiuchus]

A lot of conventional wisdom even post-novice pipers seem to have today never even occurred to me for the first eight or nine years I smoked a pipe, and I did not have a large collection. I would use the same pipe for days on end, smoke drugstore standbys and goopy cherry blends without drying, and even top burning bowls with more tobacco. In a beer session I'd burn one bowl after another without even letting the wood cool down. I think running a pipe cleaner after every smoke was the only helpful routine I followed, and it wasn't always a clean one. Indoors and out. Years. I never even heard of "resting" a pipe or the associated reasons for it.
Nothing systemic about the results (and no presumption of science on my part). A few got really rank and required some elbow grease and booze to exorcise periodically; a few, no problem, couldn't ruin them if I tried. It's a lottery of material and environmental conditions.
I've never heard of resting a pipe hurting a pipe.
::

 

[blueeyedogre]

On a side note...... If you're a one pipe kind of guy then give a meerschaum pipe a gander. No need for resting and it's fun watching it color up as you use it. My everyday pipe is a meer cutty/dublin that sees a lot of use and is a great little pipe.

 

[cigrmaster]

metal, I worked with a guy in the car business who only had one pipe. The stem was chewed through, the cake was probably 2 nickles worth and he smoked nothing but Borkum Riff Whiskey in it. He was old school and I used to ask him why didn't he get a new pipe or even have a few. He looked at me like I was crazy and he said until his pipe completely falls apart, he won't buy a new one. We were both managers so we were equal in regards to our positions. I took some pot and put it in his pipe while he wasn't looking. You should have seen his face when he started smoking it. He had no idea what it was, but he knew something wasn't right. Me and the salesmen were laughing our asses off and he swore at us up and down, telling us what assholes were. He dumped out the bowl, loaded it back up with BR and never left his pipe unattended again.
He finally cracked the stem so bad he had to get a new pipe. I am not sure what pipe he replaced it with, but it was fairly large. I was a cigar smoker at the time but when I did get into pipes, I swore I would never be a pipe smoker like he was.

 

[jefff]

"the car business". That explains a lot.