I smoked my ancient Bavarian Cavalier for the first time today... I got this thing off ebay last fall along with another pipe that I specifically wanted. Neither had a stem, and since I smoke churchwardens pretty much exclusively I put long stems on both of them. This thing was OLD and dry, and I wasn't sure if it would burst into flame along with my tobacco, but there was really nothing to lose.
I filled it with Cornell & Diehl's Autumn Evening, grabbed "The Life of William Whewell," an 1881 book full of wonderful historical detail, went outside to my swinging chair, and lit up. No, it didn't burst into flame, and I had a nice 40 minute smoke as I read my book. It got pretty hot toward the end of the bowl, which I smoked down to a gray ash, and while the finish suffered a bit on the lower front of the bowl, it gave a nice dry smoke, as my other, more modern cavalier pipe does.
These cavalier pipes always take a bit more cleanup than my regular pipes, and I use up more pipe cleaners after opening the lower "drain end." A little Renaissance wax seemed to help the dulled finish, and some poking with a sharp awl showed no evident break down inside the bowl. I don't think this will become one of my regular smokes, but it's a good dry smoke and a fun toy.
I took this pic before I headed out just in case I destroyed the old thing smoking it.
I filled it with Cornell & Diehl's Autumn Evening, grabbed "The Life of William Whewell," an 1881 book full of wonderful historical detail, went outside to my swinging chair, and lit up. No, it didn't burst into flame, and I had a nice 40 minute smoke as I read my book. It got pretty hot toward the end of the bowl, which I smoked down to a gray ash, and while the finish suffered a bit on the lower front of the bowl, it gave a nice dry smoke, as my other, more modern cavalier pipe does.
These cavalier pipes always take a bit more cleanup than my regular pipes, and I use up more pipe cleaners after opening the lower "drain end." A little Renaissance wax seemed to help the dulled finish, and some poking with a sharp awl showed no evident break down inside the bowl. I don't think this will become one of my regular smokes, but it's a good dry smoke and a fun toy.
I took this pic before I headed out just in case I destroyed the old thing smoking it.
