Rotation of Pipes
- Thread starter Cap
- Start date
I guess I'm both an old-timer and a new-timer. Decades ago, I smoked four or five pipes, not in any rotation, cleaned them only with pipe cleaners and occasionally some proprietary pipe stem cleaner. When I finally reamed my old Dunhill shell billiard the had tooth marks in the stem, I got a good teaspoon of carbon out of it. Nowadays I have twenty pipes that I keep in pristine condition and rotate randomly. For the sake of variety, I rarely smoke the same pipe in the same week, although it would be fine if I did.
I don't think about rotation any more. I smoke maybe one bowl a day and have enough pipes to go a month without smoking the same pipe. But on occasions, I do DGT. Then of course, same pipe for two days.
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Sure enough does!!
"Be Happy - Smoke Your Pipe - Be Happy & Dont Wory About Everyone Else - Stay Happy"
"Be Happy - Smoke Your Pipe - Be Happy & Dont Wory About Everyone Else - Stay Happy"
And now, does that answer your question?
Truth for SureGenerally speaking, a dry pipe will smoke better that a wet pipe.
Thank you !!
Thats kind of what my plan is. Have a few nice ones and a few for things like the tackle box, garage etc.
+1. There have been a few threads on here where people challenged themselves to smoke the same pipe every day for a year. The foulness and disaster I expected never happened, in those threads at least.
Want to give it a try, @Cap? What kind of blends do you smoke?
No Sir i dont !+1. There have been a few threads on here where people challenged themselves to smoke the same pipe every day for a year. The foulness and disaster I expected never happened, in those threads at least.
Want to give it a try, @Cap? What kind of blends do you smoke?
Many different kinds as i search for those i truly enjoy.
Its not that i want to smoke the same pipe all day long.
I simply have no desire to be a pipe fanatic and only smoke a particular pipe once a month or year or week.
I rotate them. I think the tobacco tastes better when the pipe is dry, I probably don't deep clean them as often as some guys although I run a pipe cleaner through each time I finish a bowl. I have smoked these things for almost 50 years which is amazing since I am only 39.
The dry pipe comments are puzzling. Briar's density makes it mostly moisture resistant. If you wipe out the chamber with a paper towel and clean the airway and the mortise out after smoking, there'll be no leftover moisture. Hanging a damp pipe on a rack to dry is just asking for a sour pipe and need for alcohol cleaning.
That's because he cleaned the pipe after each smoke. Keep them clean and you can smoke them as often as you like.
Whatever works, for sure. However, I find that if you take the pipe apart each time {when cool, of course} to clean the mortice you run the risk of loosening the mortice/stem connection. This will leave some moisture, which can lead to a sour pipe. Also, I am not sure how moisture resistant briar is and I think it retains some moisture whatever you do. I believe it is good practice to dry your pipe in some kind of rotation.
That only happens from smoking a pipe too hot and the mortise compresses the tenon which can be reversed by heating a tenon and allowing it to cool. I disassemble mine immediately after smoking and have encountered no loosening issues.
Search the forum for water cleaning. There was little to no weight difference between a pipe that had been soaked in water overnight and the same pipe that hadn't.
I just tried the other day for the first time (successfully) an overnight charcoal and alcohol soak on some old estates followed with some simple damp paper towels and then pipe cleaners. May not be necessary, but I’m leaving them sit a couple of days - some are 100 + years old and I figured a little extra time won’t hurt even if it may not be essential.
What exactly is sour pipe?
I have read many opinions on this but leave me still asking what exactly is it?
I had a pipe once that no matter what i did - it still smelled like amonia.
It went out to the dumpster.
Thanks
A condition where the pipe has a nasty flavor to it. Though I've never personally had it happen, my guess would be it's caused by failure to keep a pipe properly cleaned between smokes.
Was it an estate pipe? I've ran across ammonia in estate pieces that were used for heavy English blends.
I suspect the fact that they were used for "heavy English blends" is just a coincidence. I have many pipes over 50 years old, that have been smoked with nothing but English and never encountered a problem.