Most Improved Pipes

[mso489]

We've all heard of the most improved student or athlete, the one who has made the most progress in stepping up their scholastic or athletic performance. What's your most improved pipe? Mostly, I have been satisfied or excited by the various pipes I've bought. Eight or ten I've traded away over the years because they weren't good smokers or had some other deficiency. Most pipes need some breaking in, so "improvement" is more than that. In my case, it was a Peterson rusticated slightly bent K&P author, never a bad smoker, but taking a long time to break in, and still not at the head of its class. But as time has gone on, it has firmed up and become a really good smoker, with a wide bowl with some depth, great for more complex blends. A far better pipe than it was for the first two or three years, noticeably. Never a clunker, but recently an especially good pipe. I'm not a cake-builder, keep the carbon layer very thin, so we're not talking cake building here. Anyway, what's your most improved pipe and why? And how?

 

[iamn8]

I've been smoking pipes regularly for a very very long time, just over an entire year now and thus far my pipes haven't so much improved as multiplied... But we'll see I suppose

 

[deathmetal]

But as time has gone on, it has firmed up and become a really good smoker, with a wide bowl with some depth, great for more complex blends.

I've noticed this with pipes too. I have one, a generic Italian, which had poor draw. Ran a few hundred rounds of OJK and Five Brothers through it, and now it's a full-bore tobacco flamethrower. Wonder if it is the wood "settling" the way it does with old fashioned wood floors.

 

[warren]

As you said, "never a bad smoker . . . " I think that's a key observation. I believe pipes do improve as time goes on, proper care and use never hurt. It's a nice surprise when a pipe starts to really perform. I pick out a single instance but, it seems my keepers get better with use.

 

[derfatdutchman]

I have a Peterson Kinsale XL20 that would fit in the catagory most improved pipe. I pulled it out the rack the other night and she smoked very well, much better than when she was new.

 

[samcoffeeman]

Some of my pipes have improved over time. My most improved pipe was a Dunhill that had a poor replacement stem. When I had a new stem handcut for it, made a huge difference.

 

[hakchuma]

I have a huge and ugly meersham that I thought smoked like carp. I tried a bowl with that pipe a couple of weeks ago and was surprised to find the pipe smokes great and it was my technique that had improved. That or meer improves by sitting in a dark closet for.a year lol.

 

[jpmcwjr]

For smoked fish, I prefer salmon or trout! But I'd also say my practices have improved more than any one pipe I could pick out.

 

[brudnod]

I "won" a full bent rusticated Molina (truly lovely silver work) a couple of months ago for a song. When it arrived, it did not smell very good, had some wicked rim burn (torched more like it) and, worst of all, had NO draw. Obviously all those folks bidding against me knew this last little tidbit somehow. After cleaning the Aegean stables (2 sizes of reamers, 2 alcohol treatments, at least 30 pipe cleaners - bristle and fluffy), sanding the rim, restaining to the correct color, polishing then waxing, and cleaning out the little nuks and crannies in the rustication and buffing the stem to a bright shine, it did not smoke all that well. But after a couple of dozen bowls of my usual blends it smoked far better. The hypothesis here is that there is probably something microscopic going on to improve the fluid mechanics (AKA flow) of humidified gas (AKA smoke) through the bowl, shank and stem so that the smoke was more "pure" when it reached the mouth. Maybe the smoke residue filling in the internal scratches that either the maker or me put in the pathway makes it smoother, who knows? Now it smokes like a dream. Well, that's my story and I'm sticking with it!

 

[crusader]

I have a Citation lumberman that I was about to give up on, come to find out that once loaded with 1792 it was like a new experience. Ya never know, now it is set aside for the occasional 1792 puff.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

For me, its not that the pipe improved, however I do concede that they have to break in, but that I have to learn how that particular pipe smokes best. In my philosophy, any pipe can be smoked well, but I also have to step my technique up to the particulars of the pipe in question.

I've postulated in other posts that pipes are like vehicles. If we learn to drive small pickup trucks well, when we first drive a small sports car, we might have an adjustement to make to our skills to make the sports car perform well. Going from sports cars to big duelly pickups would also be a challenge. Same for pipes, IMO.

Just my $0.02.

 

[aggravatedfarmer]

My Pete Dalkey and Sav Trevi 320 both had to break in and grow into their own.

 

[okiescout]

I am in agreement with the idea that much of the improvement is with ourselves as pipe smokers. That said, I feel like the briars that I like and keep frequently in the rotation tend to come into their own far faster than those which I smoke occasionally, my churchwardens, for example.

 

[sablebrush52]

I mostly smoke used estate pipes, so they're generally broken down in already. I steer clear of the really expensive pipes like "Made In Italy" and buy cheap crap like "Barling". Of the new pipes that I've bought or commissioned, only one has needed a breaking in period, and that one wasn't much. Besides, depending on the blend that I'm smoking, I rather like the taste of wood mixed in. So far I haven't found a pipe that's improved in any noticeable way. Said pipe either is good or it isn't, and it tends to stay that way. What has improved are my packing, smoking, and maintenance practices and that, more than anything, has made the difference.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

Phhht... I don't even believe in packing the pipe.

We are always at odds on this, aren't we Sablebrush? We should have a show down... high noon, empty street, que the cliche Western penny whistle and drum beat.

Give me your worst pipe, and I will smoke it down to clean white ash... after a little practice to get to know the pipe... because I am just that great of a pipe smoker. There are NO BAD PIPES, just bad pipers. And, you can take that to the bank, hombre. :wink:

 

[mayfair70]

Every pipe I've had in the past thirty years has had its own quirks. I've had to adapt to those quirks, or give up the pipe. Every pipe I get now takes a few smokes to figure out what it likes best. One I can cram way too much tobacco into and it still smokes fine, another if it packs even the tiniest bit too tight it gives me hell. Dry, wet, fine, coarse... there are only so many variables in this equation and the most unpredictable one is myself. Hell, I had a great smoke out of an APPLE once.

 

[okiescout]

Hell, I had a great smoke out of an APPLE once.
Mayfair, I would have given a pretty penny to watch you smoke that computer :lol:

 

[mayfair70]

Hardest part was getting the screen lit.

 

[brudnod]

Mayfair, most of my pipes are older than 30 years, hell, they're older than 45 years! If you mean quirky as in the subtleties of smoking any individual pipe I agree. But to think that they require some special knowledge; with that I disagree. I do have 1 pipe, a Butz Choquin, in which the drilling down the shank was "off" a bit; too low to meet the chamber. I drilled it out to 4 mm but still had to drill the hole in the bottom of the bowl to meet it correctly. Pretty bad manufacturing and strange cleaning technique. But if I smoke it just right, slow and sure, it is a wonderful smoker! Who knew?

 

[mayfair70]

@Spencer- No special knowledge just individual pipe subtleties. I meant like with your Butz Choquin, adjusting technique to accommodate a quirk, or in your case, a badly drilled stem. I had a quartz pipe once and I would hate it today. I'm guessing a pipe would age and get better or worse over time, I've just never had one more than a year and went many years in between them. The ones I have now, I had to figure out how to get the best experience from each one. It seems to come down to the same things; How I pack, how I draw, qualities of the tobacco itself. I'm whole hog into pipe smoking now and if I wake up and pack a bowl before I have coffee... it's likely gonna be a shadier smoke than later in the day. That's what I mean by there are only so many variables and I am the most unpredictable one.