new to pipe smoking. need suggestions on pipe selection

[cajunplume]

So im new to this but have been enjoying it from bowl one. I also smoke cigarettes but Im on my way to quitting.(its been three weeks) Anyway i bought a "basket" pipe from our local tobacconist. it seems to smoke good gets a little hot but found via the world wide web that aromatics will tend to burn a little hotter so i'm not that concerned with that issue. i guess my question would be what would a better quality pipe do for me and how much should i expect to spend in comparison to the $30 i spent on my pipe?

 

[unclearthur]

Peterson Kapets are a decent entry level pipe.

http://www.cupojoes.com/cgi-bin/dept?dpt=H&srch=KW&search_text=Peterson+Kapet

 

[pstlpkr]

I'm with Arthur on this one...

I believe you can obtain a good entry level pipe that you will have the rest of your life, for circa $50 give or take 10 bucks.

Just remember the first rule of choosing a pipe...
If you don't like the way it looks (appeals to your aesthetic sensibilities) you won't like it.

Just buy something that appeals to you... over time you will learn your own mind and the finer points that are the art of smoking a pipe...
Welcome to the brotherhood!

And, our Repose of Pipers. :D

::

 

[stryder]

I am also new to pipe smoking and got a great piece of advice the other day. "Slow down, easy does it." Smoke 1/2 bowls for a while and work up to full bowls. This will allow the pipe to break in.....I was also fighting the hot pipe/ smoke issue once I slowed down and began to focus on the proper filling technique it is really making a difference.

Just FYI from one newbie to another!

 

[pstlpkr]

By George! I think he's got it!

Very good advice Stryder. :clap:

 

[brewshooter]

It's really quite amazing, when I first started smoking I got tongue bite, pipe went out constantly and bowls got pretty hot. The other day I was smoking a little of the classic Lane's 1-Q and realized the bowl never really got too hot and that I hadn't really experienced tongue bite in several months. While I still have to relight as I get down to the last quarter to third of a bowl, damping and tamping let me smoke through most of the bowl without a relight until the end of the pipe. I've also figured out how it feels when I pack a pipe. I can now get a pack with a decent draw and know that it's a tight pack that will last me a while or that it's a looser pack that I can smoke through in thirty minutes. It has kind of been fun figuring things out!

 

[cajunplume]

good stuff. takin it all in. about this packin the bowl, I was told by those youtube guys (it seems to be the same four or five in every video) that you pack lightly first, then a little harder, then real right. it seems to work i rarely relight so i feel im getting a good hang of this but is there other ways to pack a bowl. Gimme some different methods to try.

 

[brewshooter]

I tended to pack way too tight at first. I've kind of gone to my own two step method, as opposed to the normal three step. I pack the first half pretty lightly and then medium hard on the second pack, this gives me a decent fill that doesn't take a long time to burn through. I still use a three step fill when I want to pack a little more in for a longer smoke, but initially I was getting 90 minute smokes from pipes that should realistically be giving me no more than 45 minutes from a good bowl and the things were needing CONSTANT relighting.

 

[pstlpkr]

Gimme some different methods to try.

Tobacco Pipe Packing Methods - Part 1

Tobacco Pipe Packing Methods - Part 2
You've probably seen these:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kJP0JaNRw6Q

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9U5QbtyNxhA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OMtHOAiO8CI

 

[brewshooter]

Holy Carp!!! I just looked up pipe packing methods on Youtube and found Bob's Two-Step Method video. I've watched most of his other videos, but had never seen that one. Basically, that method is exactly what I do.

 

[cajunplume]

i have to be honest 45min is way to long for me at this point in my game. I find myself smokin for about 15 to 20, then setting the pipe down for a relight later. It has alot to do with the fact i really have no "great" place to smoke i guess (comin off cigs doesnt help either). I mean dont get me wrong i enjoy nothing more than smoking outside in my fold out chair on my carport watching life go on outside my bubble, but lookin at all theses other guys smoke pits, im a bit jealous. my ole lady would never let me smoke in the livin room while watching the game so I'll have to work on building me a cave but........baby on the way so I better work on that first.

 

[pstlpkr]

baby on the way so I better work on that first.

Congratulations Cajunplume! :clap:

 

[cajunplume]

thanks lawrence im 27 and this will be my first

 

[bigvan]

I would imagine that once the little one comes along, you'll appreciate the "calmative" effects of the pipe.
Cheers!

 

[thesmokindragon]

Get some MM cobs as well, then add an Uncle Arthur stem to them and they will be SWEET! ::

 

[classicgeek]

I'm with brewshooter. I came to a similar realization: It's not the pipe, it's the piper suckin' on the end. Practice makes perfect, so give yourself some time to learn the craft. Yes, there are bad / poorly made pipes, but even those can be fixed with a bit of time and a Dremel... I picked up an estate Dr. Grabow that had the world's tightest draw. I swear there was a family of rodents living in the shank or something. Bit of drilling and it's a new pipe. Stick with reasonably-priced pipes that you like the look and feel of. Collect a bunch and then learn what you like and dislike. Don't like one? At least you won't cry over the money spent.
Last night I smoked a bowl in the first pipe I ever owned. It's not much of a looker and it didn't break the bank, but it really worked and it was a great smoke.
Simon

 

[schmitzbitz]

i have to be honest 45min is way to long for me at this point in my game. I find myself smokin for about 15 to 20, then setting the pipe down for a relight later. It has alot to do with the fact i really have no "great" place to smoke i guess (comin off cigs doesnt help either). I mean dont get me wrong i enjoy nothing more than smoking outside in my fold out chair on my carport watching life go on outside my bubble, but lookin at all theses other guys smoke pits, im a bit jealous. my ole lady would never let me smoke in the livin room while watching the game so I'll have to work on building me a cave but........baby on the way so I better work on that first.

You sound exactly like I did when I first picked up the pipe (right down to the butts); albeit my boy was already turning my hair grey blessing my household. Believe me, there will come a point where you will be happy to sit down and spend an hourish just reflecting on your day / centering yourself. It doesn't come all that often, but man, when it does!
If I might be so bold as to suggest you look at some other genres of leaf too; a big step in cutting down my cigarette intake came when I discovered the joys of Perique and the wonderful flavours of the various Oriental leaf, and of course, the variants on Latakia.

 

[lordofthepiperings]

Peterson has a few lines that are around $60. The Aran series is another good one in that price range to go along with the Kapet. Also I think Savinelli has a few entry level pipes around that price range as well.

 

[marke]

If you don't mind the thought that somebody with a big screwdriver might have had to use it to pry open the deceased's mouth to retrieve it, an "estate" pipe sometimes offers a really good value. I've bought a couple of Dr. Grabow's old top-of-the-line Eldorado pipes on eBay for $20 apiece. These use high quality briar. You just have to spend 15 minutes or so thoroughly cleaning the bit with a Dawn dish soap, hot water, and a few reamer type pipe cleaners, until you can see daylight through it and it looks clean. Soaking the bit in Jim Beam didn't quite cut it.

 

[pawpaw]

call me crazy but for your 20 min smokes you may want to look at a Doc Grabow Lark its a small bowl and it will normally last me 20 min +/- i have been 4 weeks next monday with no cigs from 3 packs a day and i like my lark and i have a duke that has a small bowl as well and the 20 min smoke with a nice high nic blend really helps me when i get that urge to grab a nail