Overexcited Review of a Sav 320 KS
- Thread starter 12pups
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PAD. Just won a 320 Milano and a 320 Hercules for ~$50 each with low ball bids. Almost ended up with 3 but sleeping won out over watching minutes and seconds count down. I am very excited but I think I need to avoid sellers/auctions for a while before my wife kills me.
It is a gorgeous pipe the dark bowl with that stem is a great combination. I actually plan to craft a pipe with a similar color scheme for myself later in the year.
Okay - as requested, a report on the first smoke in the new Rossi...
I loaded up a full bowl of Prince Albert, which took a while as the chamber on this pipe is just small enough not to echo when I shout into it. Seriously, I can get the entire first joint of my thumb into this thing, and I've got big thumbs. I know some folks recommend partial bowls for breaking in, but this one seems to have been pre-carbed - and I had a fair bit of outlining to do, so settling in for an hour and a half sounded about right. Once I get used to this pipe, I expect it will be a nearly 2-hour smoker.
Between the newness of the pipe, the newness of the smoker, and several gusts of wind, the first part of the bowl smoked a little hot. No permanent tongue damage, thankfully - I figured out what was going on just about the time the first bit of gurgle started, and ran a pipe cleaner down the bit to clear it out. From that point on, it was a basically effortless smoke with decent flavor (not quite as sweet as I remember from the smaller pipe I'd smoked PA in previously), and I was just about exactly down to the end when my wife arrived with dinner - just a couple of unburned shreds on the ash pile, most of which was gray and powdery. The pipe fits well in my hand, and after a few adjustments to my clench, it sat neatly between my teeth on either side without feeling heavy or awkward.
As mentioned, this is my bribe to myself to sit and write, and it worked like a charm - I've outlined about 2/3 of the story arc so far in a lot more detail than I had previously done, and had several ideas for scenes and snippets of dialogue. All in all, a very pleasant maiden voyage for my new Author.
I loaded up a full bowl of Prince Albert, which took a while as the chamber on this pipe is just small enough not to echo when I shout into it. Seriously, I can get the entire first joint of my thumb into this thing, and I've got big thumbs. I know some folks recommend partial bowls for breaking in, but this one seems to have been pre-carbed - and I had a fair bit of outlining to do, so settling in for an hour and a half sounded about right. Once I get used to this pipe, I expect it will be a nearly 2-hour smoker.
Between the newness of the pipe, the newness of the smoker, and several gusts of wind, the first part of the bowl smoked a little hot. No permanent tongue damage, thankfully - I figured out what was going on just about the time the first bit of gurgle started, and ran a pipe cleaner down the bit to clear it out. From that point on, it was a basically effortless smoke with decent flavor (not quite as sweet as I remember from the smaller pipe I'd smoked PA in previously), and I was just about exactly down to the end when my wife arrived with dinner - just a couple of unburned shreds on the ash pile, most of which was gray and powdery. The pipe fits well in my hand, and after a few adjustments to my clench, it sat neatly between my teeth on either side without feeling heavy or awkward.
As mentioned, this is my bribe to myself to sit and write, and it worked like a charm - I've outlined about 2/3 of the story arc so far in a lot more detail than I had previously done, and had several ideas for scenes and snippets of dialogue. All in all, a very pleasant maiden voyage for my new Author.
Phred--
Great looking pipe!!!
As a writer, I have to say I find the name ironic. If I light it, it's because I have a lot of thinking to do. It's just so big. Mine is the "KS" after all (king-sized).
Right now, to write this, I set it aside. I have to use my smaller Kaywoodies and Grabows as my writing pipes. The size of this thing makes me squint and gag after a few lines. I've given up on it as a jaw adornment while I write.
Prince Albert sounds like a good choice. Working for you? The size of that bowl, I'm finding, just gives me too much work to do if I put anything prone to moisture in it, like my vanillas and such. Guessing that huge combustion chamber magnifies any moisture issues.
I have my own mix now of home-blended latakia, perique and stoved virginia. Only the perique was moist. Rest all came "crispy" from the store. I kept them crispy, figuring the slight moisture of the perique would get distributed.
Ahhhhh.... that made all the difference. Cool, dry smoke. I smoke it just on the edge of going out, or try to. Relit four times so far on this bowl.
Each to his own, but I thought I'd pass that along as possibilities as you experiment with what works best in yours. So much has to do with the individual and his/her technique (so everyone says, and it makes sense to me).
Now... back to "stalling." I have so much to write this fine holiday weekend. Holidays for me mean I get to work without continual interruptions. I'm a month behind on a publishing schedule for a reference book that got dropped in my lap. Technical articles for equipment and methods that not much content exists for yet, and the project engineers for it have been too busy to help me with it. (I'm not an engineer, just a writer, so... counting on my fiction skills to finish!).
Phones are off. I'm locked in my den (garage office). Windows are letting it the slightest of breezes. Tiny desk fan is on. Gonna finish this bowl, "walking around" the assignments for a bit, then set it aside and work. Maybe clenching a rotation of pocket pipes as I do.
And... so... I have to get out of here or I'll spend hours reading the fine posts here.
Great looking pipe!!!
As a writer, I have to say I find the name ironic. If I light it, it's because I have a lot of thinking to do. It's just so big. Mine is the "KS" after all (king-sized).
Right now, to write this, I set it aside. I have to use my smaller Kaywoodies and Grabows as my writing pipes. The size of this thing makes me squint and gag after a few lines. I've given up on it as a jaw adornment while I write.
Prince Albert sounds like a good choice. Working for you? The size of that bowl, I'm finding, just gives me too much work to do if I put anything prone to moisture in it, like my vanillas and such. Guessing that huge combustion chamber magnifies any moisture issues.
I have my own mix now of home-blended latakia, perique and stoved virginia. Only the perique was moist. Rest all came "crispy" from the store. I kept them crispy, figuring the slight moisture of the perique would get distributed.
Ahhhhh.... that made all the difference. Cool, dry smoke. I smoke it just on the edge of going out, or try to. Relit four times so far on this bowl.
Each to his own, but I thought I'd pass that along as possibilities as you experiment with what works best in yours. So much has to do with the individual and his/her technique (so everyone says, and it makes sense to me).
Now... back to "stalling." I have so much to write this fine holiday weekend. Holidays for me mean I get to work without continual interruptions. I'm a month behind on a publishing schedule for a reference book that got dropped in my lap. Technical articles for equipment and methods that not much content exists for yet, and the project engineers for it have been too busy to help me with it. (I'm not an engineer, just a writer, so... counting on my fiction skills to finish!).
Phones are off. I'm locked in my den (garage office). Windows are letting it the slightest of breezes. Tiny desk fan is on. Gonna finish this bowl, "walking around" the assignments for a bit, then set it aside and work. Maybe clenching a rotation of pocket pipes as I do.
And... so... I have to get out of here or I'll spend hours reading the fine posts here.
I love my 320 - the heft, the feel, and the wide bowl that makes so many tobaccos taste better. But then I've always been an author fan (although I'm not a hefty body type, I just feel that the author suits my personality). My three favourite pipes are authors: the Sav, and a Rattray's Butcher's Boy and Old Gowrie.
I find the author the most comfortable shape, even while clenched.
@12pups, great quote from a great movie.
@12pups, great quote from a great movie.
"Its made of HONEY"From 13th Warrior:
"It's okay, Little Brother--there are more..."
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