New Meer Coming: Any Big Differences?

[NC TX ID pipeman]

I have been told that about first 5 to 10 smokes you should not touch the warm pipe cause the waxes are still fresh and they working their way in....after that it is up to the smoker if he touch it or not..I have chose the pipe which is easy to hold by its stem-there is silver spigot looking ring and a wide ring on the stem so if you hold the pipe it will not slide down..I will try not to tough it but will not stress about it neither

 

[lukasstrifeson]

With it being a pocket pipe, I would say keep it generously waxed, it'll provide *some* protection against bumps and scrapes and drops.

Other than that, don't smoke it in the rain, don't think that'd be good for any pipe. And the usual meerschaum upkeep applies: pipe cleaners and wipe down bowls between smokes.

 

[Chasing Embers]

I have been told that about first 5 to 10 smokes you should not touch the warm pipe cause the waxes are still fresh and they working their way in.

A bit of a myth. Handle them with clean hands and there's no issue.

 

[Chasing Embers]

I would say keep it generously waxed

Unless an abrasive or solvent is used on a meerschaum, the pipe won't lose any wax. Adding more can make the surface of the pipe tacky.

 

[condorlover1]

@Chasing Embers: Mr. Embers is absolutely right. You turn your pipe into a toffee stick. Just smoke the damned thing and enjoy. People are so hung up on finger prints on their pipes and lord knows what else. I used to dismantle my Brough Superior SS80 which was habitually covered in Castrol 80 grade with a meerschaum pipe in my mouth.

 

[PipeIT]

Up until a point. Once heavily saturated with tobacco oils they smoke much the same as briar and are just as easily ghosted.

So, is there a preventative step/measure to help the oil build up, so the Meers don’t become more briar like, and the ghosting, etc?

 

[Chasing Embers]

So, is there a preventative step/measure to help the oil build up

Smoking them.

so the Meers don’t become more briar like, and the ghosting, etc?

Once smoked, there's no going back. A meerschaum is a natural sponge and more prone to ghosting than briar. A briar can be reamed back to briar and treated with alcohol to remove a ghost, a meerschaum is ghosted deep into the material. My CB Grape meer smells like grape on the outside of the pipe as well as within. Unless those non ghosting properties were started by smokers who regularly smoked widely varying genres in the same pipe, I can't imagine how stories of a material as absorbent as meerschaum is could've gotten started.

 

[lukasstrifeson]

Unless an abrasive or solvent is used on a meerschaum, the pipe won't lose any wax. Adding more can make the surface of the pipe tacky.

I figured with a pocket pipe like that you'll likely be directly handling the meerschaum - causing the wax to rub off with use more so than a 'at-home' meerschaum would. But I agree, we're just splitting hairs over the definition of 'generously waxed' here.

 

[Chasing Embers]

causing the wax to rub off

When cool it's pretty hard and even when removed it will surface from within the meerschaum when smoked. My standard sized meers are pocket pipes when I'm out.

 

[luigi]

Can you leave a meerschaum pipe half smoked and continue after a day or twoo just like with briars?

 

[Chasing Embers]

Can you leave a meerschaum pipe half smoked and continue after a day or twoo just like with briars?

Yep. You can treat them just like any other pipe.

 

[didimauw]

Can you leave a meerschaum pipe half smoked and continue after a day or twoo just like with briars?

Yup I do it sometimes. I like the second half a couple hours or day later.

Meers absolutely ghost.
They don't need to be "broken in" but I think they taste like crap for the first couple bowls. Like musty....ugh.
They can be smoked in the rain and snow.
They can be smoked in the wind and won't burn out.

After you get a nice coating in the chamber, I believe they are the greatest smoking pipes available.

Oh and yes they do multiply quickly. I've bought 6 in less than a year.

 

[Chasing Embers]

Meers absolutely ghost

Yep

They don't need to be "broken in" but I think they taste like crap for the first couple bowls.

They mute flavors something fierce when new.

I've bought 6 in less than a year.

Probably worse than any other sort of pipe.

 

[luigi]

After you get a nice coating in the chamber

A coating sounds nice. For briars they always say a nice thin carbon layer which is actually "a cake". So much about the myth of no need to break in.

 

[Chasing Embers]

A coating sounds nice. For briars they always say a nice thin carbon layer which is actually "a cake". So much about the myth of no need to break in.

It's more blackening the chamber than building a carbon layer but it makes a huge difference.