Resting a Pipe

[Wet Dottle]

I think that the notion that a pipe "needs to rest" has been taken out of context and, forums being forums, now just keeps being echoed in its chopped-up version. Let me try to explain its origin the best I can remember.

During the time when ASP was very active, in its early years (late 90s), there were many discussions about pipe cleaning. One of the questions was how thorough of a cleaning should a pipe go through between smokes. In the midst of this discussion, there was one dude that decided to do this experiment: if all we do is to run one cleaner down the pipe after smoking it, how long do we have to let a pipe dry between smokes so that it never goes sour (i.e., where perhaps we wouldn't have ever to pull the pipe apart for deeper cleanings). Unfortunately, I forget the name of who did this, but that guy carried out the experiment. He found out that, if he let the pipe rest for one week between smokes (one week or more, obviously), he could smoke the same pipe over and over again without having to clean it, and the pipe would never sour. In other words, if he didn't clean his pipes, he could let the pipes rest for one week and then smoke them again, over and over, without further worries. Or something like this.

Well, the rest is history: people started repeating his idea with fewer and fewer details, and soon it mutated into the concept that pipes must rest between smokes, without further explanation given. Note, however, that this was not the original concept, just a severely mutilated version of it. Hope this was entertaining to read. And, perhaps, a lesson to those who keep parroting what they read on the internet.

 

[C.S. Smoke]

I think that the notion that a pipe "needs to rest" has been taken out of context and, forums being forums, now just keeps being echoed in its chopped-up version. Let me try to explain its origin the best I can remember.

During the time when ASP was very active, in its early years (late 90s), there were many discussions about pipe cleaning. One of the questions was how thorough of a cleaning should a pipe go through between smokes. In the midst of this discussion, there was one dude that decided to do this experiment: if all we do is to run one cleaner down the pipe after smoking it, how long do we have to let a pipe dry between smokes so that it never goes sour (i.e., where perhaps we wouldn't have ever to pull the pipe apart for deeper cleanings). Unfortunately, I forget the name of who did this, but that guy carried out the experiment. He found out that, if he let the pipe rest for one week between smokes (one week or more, obviously), he could smoke the same pipe over and over again without having to clean it, and the pipe would never sour. In other words, if he didn't clean his pipes, he could let the pipes rest for one week and then smoke them again, over and over, without further worries. Or something like this.

Well, the rest is history: people started repeating his idea with fewer and fewer details, and soon it mutated into the concept that pipes must rest between smokes, without further explanation given. Note, however, that this was not the original concept, just a severely mutilated version of it. Hope this was entertaining to read. And, perhaps, a lesson to those who keep parroting what they read on the internet.

Very enlightening. How much does this effect burn out? Or is that altogether a different issue

 

[proteus]

I would say you'd be safe to smoke all day and clean at the end of the day. Dump the dottle. I use a 12 gauge bore mop to dry out the pipe bowl a bit and relight on the off chance I am smoking the same pipe all day. My pipes range from 45 minutes up to 75 minutes to smoke. So at times I get about 6 to 8 bowls a day. That equates to cleaning a pipe once per week smoking it only once a day per week or cleaning at the end of the day smoking it all day. So not much difference.between daily or weekly cleaning in terms of performance. The swabbing helps out a lot I believe for me. I would definitely dump the dottle in all cases.

 

[Coreios]

You can definitely smoke the same pipe over and over. My grandfather smoked the same pipe everyday all day and was buried with it. The flavor and burn might be better with resting though.

 

[OzPiper]

When I started with a pipe in the 1970s, I was a notoriously wet smoker.
Being an impoverished undergraduate I had just the one pipe, which soured very quickly. And it stank.

My solution was to buy a few more pipes when I could afford to, and let each rest several days between smokes.

Fast forward to today - learning to dry the tobacco and slow down my smoking cadence has gone a long way towards drier smokes and less dottle.
I use meershaum chips or Nording Keystones at the bottom of my bowls as I find that I can almost always eliminate dottle when I use these. Much less moisture and gurgles.

I use pipe cleaners to dry out the airways and swab out the chambers immediately after each and every smoke

 

[C.S. Smoke]

Lots of great info here. Thanks a lot gentlemen! I was a bit nervous to over smoke my pipe but I now feel pretty good about it

 

[ThermionicScott]

Lots of great info here. Thanks a lot gentlemen! I was a bit nervous to over smoke my pipe but I now feel pretty good about it

You won't hurt it by smoking all-day, every day. There's just the chance of off flavors if you put it away wet too often. And that can be fixed by a decent cleaning. Pipes are tough.

 

[judcole]

I smoke a briar pipe several times a day, then I rest it for at least a couple of weeks after wiping the bowl and running cleaners through it until they come out clean. I'll run cleaners through it during the day, as need be.
This is for a broken in briar. To break in a pipe, I smoke one bowl a day, every day, for two weeks, of a fairly neutral blend, that I know well - Lane RR, Stokkebye NDC, Sutliff Virginia Slices. Cleaners applied,of course.

 

[Sigmund]

Sometimes I will smoke a pipe a couple of times in a row. Half the fun is collecting pipes so I will just change the pipe depending on my mood.

 

[RookieGuy80]

I think it's like other specialized forums. Accepted best practices tend to be the rule for people such as ourselves, deeper into a hobby than the average population. I saw the same things happen in a couple saltwater aquarium, photography, reptile, and gardening forums. The ideal becomes the standard when in reality most things are a lot more forgiving.

In your case, a few pipes a day should be ok. Try to clean it out between smokes as much as you can. Maybe in the not distant future pick up another pipe. But you should still be good.

 

[Old Millwright]

I'm basically a new pipe smoker but I guess I am a utilitarian smoker. I have my pipe with me all day at work and smoke it many times. I run a pipe cleaner through it after each use and have had no issues. I mainly smoke cobs and MM hardwoods at work due to the environment I work in and they take the abuse!!

 

[Sobrbiker]

I smoke away all day. Cleaner between smokes, usually one through stem and doubled over through shank (this is why I like mid-century American screw-together pipes, or Army mounts).
End of day if rode hard, and so they don’t get put away wet I do the same with leading end of cleaner dipped in everclear.

 

[warren]

For some smokers, the more complicated, the better. For others? Well they can enjoy a pipe perfectly without all the "romance" and rigamarole. It's all personal choice and whatever pleases you. All the rest? Just listings of personal preferences. Pick and choose or, just stuff, light and enjoy. Do what provides you with an enjoyable smoking experience and take nothing we seasoned smokers write too seriously. It's really about how you are "wired", what you need to be comfortable with the pipe. Lots of set routines and procedures are great for some, satisfying some need. Me? I prefer stuff, light, and enjoy the nicotine, satisfying my, apparent, oral fixation at the same time.

This is not to say that good advice can't be found here regarding drying blends, carvers, and all the differences smokers have, draw, humidity, shapes, bits, and on ad infinitum.

 

[Doctor Chopper]

+1 with all the above, however....

I am surprised that nobody has come down on the rest a pipe side. There are advantages to allowing a full dry in between smokes. While I don't hesitate to smoke bowl after bowl from my workhorse pipes, such as my Peterson System pipe as some who saw me do just this on my European trip, I would not do the same with my expensive artisan or Dunhill type pipes.

There are downsides to allowing the briar to stay on the high moisture side. Meerschaum is an exception IMO and can be smoked all day long.... and you can do it all night long!

 

[Akoni808]

I smoke a same pipe up to five times a day with no issues. I just make sure to disassemble and clean after every bowl,

 

[obc83]

How true is it that you can’t smoke a pipe multiple times a day? At this point I’ve just got the one briar and one cob. I don’t smoke much. Usually only on the weekends or if I’m with some friends maybe but on those days I might like to smoke multiple bowls, especially if camping

I'm pretty new so, get your pinching salt, but I tend to smoke the same pipe all day, multiple packings without much tlc in between, maybe swab out the moisture. I often have two with me but I just tend to keep one going. I do however have around 10 pipes and I probably don't smoke the same one more than twice in a week. Im trying to build my cake building.

 

[woodsroad]

I think that the notion that a pipe "needs to rest" has been taken out of context and, forums being forums, now just keeps being echoed in its chopped-up version. Let me try to explain its origin the best I can remember.

During the time when ASP was very active, in its early years (late 90s), there were many discussions about pipe cleaning. One of the questions was how thorough of a cleaning should a pipe go through between smokes. In the midst of this discussion, there was one dude that decided to do this experiment: if all we do is to run one cleaner down the pipe after smoking it, how long do we have to let a pipe dry between smokes so that it never goes sour (i.e., where perhaps we wouldn't have ever to pull the pipe apart for deeper cleanings). Unfortunately, I forget the name of who did this, but that guy carried out the experiment. He found out that, if he let the pipe rest for one week between smokes (one week or more, obviously), he could smoke the same pipe over and over again without having to clean it, and the pipe would never sour. In other words, if he didn't clean his pipes, he could let the pipes rest for one week and then smoke them again, over and over, without further worries. Or something like this.

Well, the rest is history: people started repeating his idea with fewer and fewer details, and soon it mutated into the concept that pipes must rest between smokes, without further explanation given. Note, however, that this was not the original concept, just a severely mutilated version of it. Hope this was entertaining to read. And, perhaps, a lesson to those who keep parroting what they read on the internet.

The pipe rest notion predates the interwebs by several generations. My guess is that it was a well intentioned misnomer that was exploited by pipe manufacturers and marketers.

 

[Cloozoe]

...the notion that a pipe "needs to rest" ... Let me try to explain its origin the best I can remember.

During the time when ASP was very active, in its early years (late 90s)...

Respectfully, the idea that a pipe needs to "rest" --putting aside the merits/lack of-- was widely promulgated looooong before the late 90's; unless you mean 1890s, in which case that's probably about right.

 

[tobakenist]

I was born in 1955 and most pipe smokers here in the UK only had one pipe and it was smoked over and over again without resting, if you were a bit wealthier you might own up to 4 pipes, but you went out for the day with one of them and smoked it all day, this is how it was when I started, when I started my apprentice I just took my Falcon and it was easily cleaned after each smoke, then in late 71 I got my first Peterson System Standard and it lived with me every day for the next year until I got my second Peterson S/S, this is where my obsession with Petersons started, lost count of how many Petersons I have, there is no cure for me.

 

[RudyG]

Sometimes I smoke the same pipe several times a day and others get "rested" for no reason, and I see no difference.

I do keep my pipes clean though