Popularity Of The Cutty Style Pipe.

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Yeah, every time someone mentions seeing inside the bowl while smoking I come away feeling very confused. I'm pretty new but I have never needed or wanted to do that, nor can I see wanting to in the future. Perhaps it's hard to understand because those guys are aliens. With eye stalks. In which case; "bleep beep areep."
Yeh, everyone has a different take on different aspects of the hobby. Seeing down into the chamber is just one I had yet to think of.
 
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mso489

Lifer
Feb 21, 2013
41,210
60,610
That tiny tilt doesn't count as canted in my book. I suppose it is in the eye of the beholder. I've never bought a cutty pipe because I don't like a bowl that far tipped, but I have several that tilt as much as the one pictured, and I have no complaints with any of them.

If I was gifted a cutty, I might like it. My wife gave me my first church warden and my first Oom-Paul, which I wouldn't have bought for myself, and I like them well.

The dumb spell check keeps wanting to spell cutty as cute. Infuriating.
 
Mar 1, 2014
3,658
4,960
Can anyone really see inside a straight pipe when clenched? Why would someone need to? If I need to check to see if there is anything wrong inside the chamber, I can just take it out of my clench.
Otherwise, it is ok to just not like a style of pipe. I am not very fond of most bent pipes, myself.
Smoke an Oom Paul and you can see right down to the dottle.

Part of my attraction to the bent pipe is the pyromania of wanting to see what's being burned, but also trying to avoid charring the rim.

On the most practical level I just need the top of the pipe angled below eye level to be able to see that my lighter is actually above the tobacco, which might sound silly on a smaller pipe where 90% of the top surface area is tobacco chamber, but it does become harder to tell on wide pipes with a very broad rim as with the pipe in the OP.
If I were to try and smoke that pipe I can guarantee the rim would be covered in soot after just a few bowls.
 
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condorlover1

Lifer
Dec 22, 2013
8,477
30,019
New York
@Chasing Embers : Is indeed correct. The word 'cutty' implies a short pipe between 5' to 6 1/2' in length. They are usually easy to walk around with them stuck in your mouth without giving you jaw ache. They are no different than clay pipes apart from the extreme heat issues thrown up by clays. The cant of the bowl was to keep the smoke out of your eyes. Love them or loath them they are an enduring pipe style!
 

anotherbob

Lifer
Mar 30, 2019
16,660
31,227
46
In the semi-rural NorthEastern USA
I was just browsing some pipes and saw this:
I'm a big fan of the carver, and I love the oversize long shank pipes, but why is it tilted like a cutty?
Does anyone honestly prefer to not be able to see the tobacco in the bowl?
Sometimes I wonder if people make pipes like this just to be contrarian.
if you can't tell what's going on without seeing the tobacco you need more practice. Seriously you should be able to taste if it's taken to light properly or not. Also the tilt allows for the draft hole to be closer to the dead center. Keeps the smoke out of your eyes.
I have one very canted cutty and it's not hard to deal with.
 

obc83

Starting to Get Obsessed
Sep 4, 2023
244
1,147
I have read that the foot thing, while just an aesthetic remnant on briars, was meant to bolster the heel on clay pipes. Which made me wonder why it wasn't directly under the furnace, but while flipping through this thread I'm now wondering if the thinnest part of the clay was where the bore enters the bowl, and thats why the foot is placed where it is. Either that or it was just a remnant of the mold. Or both. I'm going to go read about it right now and obviate the past need for this post. That's retrocausality. Don't look it up. I'm just right.
 
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Lucashly

Can't Leave
Jun 21, 2023
382
338
California
Yeah, every time someone mentions seeing inside the bowl while smoking I come away feeling very confused. I'm pretty new but I have never needed or wanted to do that, nor can I see wanting to in the future. Perhaps it's hard to understand because those guys are aliens. With eye stalks. In which case; "bleep beep areep."
I like looking into the bowl. It's fun.
 
Mar 1, 2014
3,658
4,960
Different styles of cant but all uniform in style!

View attachment 246393
Ironically there are several pipes in this image where I would say it is disqualified from being a cutty because the top is flattened level with the stem, which according to my ideals would be the best of both worlds (centered draft hole, and it blows smoke away from your eyes, and at least you can still see the tobacco on the charring light).
 

OzPiper

Lifer
Nov 30, 2020
6,743
36,383
72
Sydney, Australia
A
Ironically there are several pipes in this image where I would say it is disqualified from being a cutty because the top is flattened level with the stem, which according to my ideals would be the best of both worlds (centered draft hole, and it blows smoke away from your eyes, and at least you can still see the tobacco on the charring light).
A Cutty is not defined by the cant of the bowl 😏