Pipes That Take Long Rests

[mso489]

This is a tricky questions, but I hope not a trick question. Among the pipes that you have available and

consider part of your pipe rotation, what is the longest rest a pipe gets? I don't mean the ones in storage,

or that you have decided are only occasional smokers or just collector pieces. Do you have pipes that go

a week, ten days, a month or two before they get smoked again? Do you have any pipes bought a good while

ago that you have never smoked, though you intend to? I think a few of my pipes go for two months without

getting smoked, though they are good smokers. It could be longer. What happens is the urge to go back to

another one, a favorite, or one I'm breaking in, before I get back to some of the less magnetic but equally

good smoking pipes on the rack. How long have your biggest wallflowers waited for a dance?

 

[billypm]

I am a smoker and not a collector. If any of my pipes go for a month without seeing flame I sell or give it away. I'd say 3 weeks is the absolute max between bowls for me.

 

[voorhees]

Short answer? Yes. I have several in rotation, but they may not get smoked for a month or so. One in particular a Savinelli Dry System. I used to smoke it two times a week, lately not so much. But its always ready. Along with a few GBD's/Bing's fav/Ben Wade/...

I'll get back around to them.

 

[plateauguy]

I have a Peterson Rustic Kapet 03 that I just can't warm up to. Can't explain why other, than it's rustic and the feel isn't right in my hand. Since it was bought online, I didn't have the opportunity to hold it. A definate drawback from buying online.
It's been smoked twice and has sat for 8 months. It was bought for camping originally, but has yet to see a trip. After the new year, it will probably be time to pull the plug.

 

[kashmir]

I guess it depends on how big one's collection is, and how frequently one smokes. I have some 60 pipes, in four wall racks, and I usually smoke 5 to 8 bowls a day. I tend to smoke two or three bowls in a given pipe, cleaning between each smoke, before racking and giving the pipe a rest. So in a given day I'll go through 3 or 4 pipes. Usually I won't hit the same pipe again within a week, so at the minimum my pipes rest about a week between smokes. It doesn't always work out that way however. If I have a new pipe that needs breaking in and I'm wanting to build up cake, why it'll see more action. Some pipers go through their rotation systematically. I don't. I just pick a pipe based on my mood for a certain shape, or because a particular pipe is good outside, say on a windy day, or because it pairs up nicely with a certain book or tea. Or sometimes because I say to myself, Hey, I haven't smoked that one in quite a while ...

 

[voorhees]

Same here Kashmir. I pick my pipe based on mood. I only smoke about 4-5 times a week and may smoke the same pipe twice.

 

[trailspike48]

I have three large, heavy pipes, that tend to sit for 30 days or more between uses. I like them, and get a two hour or even longer smoke from these pipes. However I'm a clencher, and at around 3 ounces they are better suited to smoking while seated so they can be held. I have thought of selling two of these pipes. One is a Ser Jacopo and the other a Sav Author,
I just can't seem to make myself sell them, so they sit around looking pretty instead of being used.

 

[phred]

I only smoke on the weekends, so there are some pipes in my meager collection that have not been lit up in a month or two - party due to time constraints, and partly because I'm actively using up some of the less favored tobaccos in my current rotation in order to clear the decks for more experimentation. It's not that I don't like particular blends, thankfully - it's just that I've found a few that I REALLY like, and want to make space for future discoveries - as with Escudo, for example. Definitely need more of that, and less of the "Creme Brulee" aromatic that I'm almost done with. At this point, I've got a briar for Aros, English/Latakias, and Va/Pers (and a couple of cobs for each), plus a dedicated Black House cob that needs to be used soon... so depending on the weather, there are some cobs that won't see action for a few months.

 

[sablebrush52]

I've come to realize that I have a fairly extensive collection. Not huge, but large. So it is inevitable that all of my pipes will go through periods of use, followed by periods of inactivity. I rotate rotations. From what I've read in other forums, this is not necessarily a bad thing. A pipe which has been overly enjoyed may benefit from a long period of rest.

 

[jeepnewbie]

Never really thought about it, I have a couple I never smoked. One was being saved for when I got out of the military but then decide to smoke when we bought our house (still haven't smoked it after we bought one).
I usually pick them out on mood and also depends on what I'm doing, mowing the grass I go for my lighter corncobs to hold in mouth. Working in shop, the lesser pretty ones and small ones. Laying in hammock in yard, bents. Setting on patio relaxing, straights or any others I haven't touched in a while.

 

[petes03]

I'd say at least a month for some of mine. I have pipes that are dedicated to certain kinds of blends, and I routinely go on long kicks of a certain type of tobacco, so some that are dedicated to other tobaccos may not see action for quite some time.

 

[yazamitaz]

I also have a pretty meager collection and I would say I go to some more than others. I bought a brand new pipe in May that I haven't even smoked out of yet and I have a few that I go to more. My 4 Trypis pipes seem to get family time, which means if I smoke 1 today (I only smoke maybe 5 bowls per week) the pipe I pick tomorrow will be a brother and so on until I hit all 4 of them.
Great question by the way. I have enjoyed reading everyone's "reasoning" to their selection du jour.