Rotations?

[samuelgawith01]

While away at work,I have seven or eight pipes with me to carry the load for the 4 to 7 months I'm gone.Each pipe gets smoked once or twice per day.They're all pretty well hammered by the time I get home again,even with a monthly cleaning. When at home,I don't follow any rotation,as I own well over seven pipes in total.I just allow those 7 or eight working pipes to rest unmolested. ?

 

[Richmond B. Funkenhouser]

Pipes multiply.. But I really only smoke about 5 of mine, and in no particular order.

 

[bullet08]

No idea how many pipes I have. Not because I have so many, but because I don't count my pipes. This way, if my wife asks me how many, I can tell the truth and say "I don't know." But I do know I can go about a month without smoking a same pipe.

 

[anotherbob]

The rule I always followed was smoke it if it's dry. Funny thing is you'd notice the difference and choose to wait in that situation anyways.

 

[elnoblecigarro]

My rotation consists of five briar pipes. I have one extra briar pipe that sees action rarely. Pipe choice for the day depends on the type of blend I want to smoke.

After smoking I wipe the mouthpiece with paper towel and run a pipe cleaner through the stem and wipe the bowl with it. I only remove the stem and deep clean twice per year. Once during the "smoking season" and once before I put my pipes to rest for the winter.

 

[originalnutcracker]

Interesting to hear different views! I went through a phase of buying old pipes on eBay and restoring them, and collected a lot of pipes. This has been aggravated by some I bought because I enjoy them as pieces of art ( e.g. a collection of all the Peterson Sherlock Holmes pipes - I now have 12 of the common 14). Then of course pipes of the year and pretty shiny things I see online.

The long and short of it is one lands up smoking only 10 or 15 with any regularity - because they are good smokers. My real workhorses tend to be rusticated, as I live in a windy place, and if outdoors smooth briars get their rims scorched.

I’ve had to start culling the herd a bit, which allows me to buy more shiny things.

PAD is real, however much we joke about it!

 

[highwaycobbery]

About a hundred pipes, but these two are my everyday smokers, every once in awhile I’ll load up a different pipe, get halfway through it and just can’t get behind it and go back to smoking these.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

Pipe rotations...

 

[hairvise]

I smoke the same pipe multiple times per day for a week or more at a time before switching to another. Rotation's a bit of a marketing gimmick.

Do you insist on allowing the pipes to rest at least half an hour in between smokes to cool them cool down? Or is that a myth as well that can be put to rest?

 

[The Clay King]

I've only smoked 2 of the box of clay pipes I've had from a forum member, the rest are still unsmoked. I gave given a friend of mine one of them and the homeless man I knew who died recently had another, I wonder what happened to the clay pipe...

 

[cosmicfolklore]

I have well over 100 pipes, but sometimes when out and about, I'll chose to smoke the same one all day.
In the beginning, when I only had one pipe, I thought that having a bunch of pipes would help me enjoy them, because of this rotation fresh pipe thing. But, all in all, it really doesn't matter IMO. Sometimes a fresh pipe can suck just as bad as a just-been-smoked pipe, if the tobacco, cadence, mood, stars don't line up.
But, the idea of a rotation keeps people buying more and more pipes, so that's a good thing.

I don't think it's possible to prove or disprove the notion of a rotation. It all comes down to what you believe and think.

 

[cigrmaster]

Do you insist on allowing the pipes to rest at least half an hour in between smokes to cool them cool down? Or is that a myth as well that can be put to rest?

I have to force myself to give the pipe at least a couple of hours to cool down as I like cleaning a pipe after just smoking it. The nasty shit is easier to get out when the pipe is warmer. The first time you snap off your stem, you will tell yourself well I guess they were right and you won't do it again for a long time. Then one day you will tell yourself it was probably a fluke. Then you will start cleaning while still warm and keep doing it till you snap your next stem. It is just one aspect of being a pipe smoker.

 

[Chasing Embers]

Do you insist on allowing the pipes to rest at least half an hour in between smokes to cool them cool down? Or is that a myth as well that can be put to rest?

Sometimes yes, sometimes no.

I have to force myself to give the pipe at least a couple of hours to cool down as I like cleaning a pipe after just smoking it. The nasty shit is easier to get out when the pipe is warmer. The first time you snap off your stem, you will tell yourself well I guess they were right and you won't do it again for a long time. Then one day you will tell yourself it was probably a fluke. Then you will start cleaning while still warm and keep doing it till you snap your next stem. It is just one aspect of being a pipe smoker.

In thirty years, I've never broken one. I disassemble them immediately after smoking to clean them.

 

[Ahi Ka]

Grab a cob and smoke the heck out of it. Save the last 2 spots for something special (Ashton is a good choice) or something different.

But let’s be honest. You’ll smoke the cob and sell the rest of your pipes to make room for more

 

[OneGoodBulldog]

I should add that I'm smoking typically three to four bowls a day, and using the same pipe all day. Right now I'm on bowl #2, some of that Kentucky Burley with a pinch of English Mix to help dry it out. It take a bit to dry by itself as it seems to be quite wet and it tastes pretty good either way. Sometimes I don't finish an entire bowl and come back to it later as well.

It seems rotation, like most things with pipe smoking, is entirely subjective and dictated by the whims of the individual smoker. This is fine. The only conundrum I see that poses a real threat is this; should I get a Canadian from Brigham or from Ashton? I don't think it's right to be a Canadian and not smoke a Canadian, but I'm torn as to whether or not said Canadian must be made by a Canadian or not! Does being part English assuage this fear or exacerbate it? I'm sure you can see the extreme dilemma I face, but fear not my fellow pipe-tooters! I'll resolve this issue by smoking on it.

 

[tobefrank]

I only smoke every so often so the only reason I have a rotation is that I enjoy buying and owning pipes that I consider to be attractive and enjoyable to smoke.

There is also a loose element of having multiple pipes so I can dedicate pipes to blend genres.

I"m working towards having 7 pipes that I really like and enjoy smoking, but this number really doesn't make sense from a logical point of view because I don't smoke every day of the week anyway... But I feel that limiting the number of pipes gives me an excuse to buy higher end pipes.

So in summary, PAD is the reason that I have a rotation.

 

[Mr.Pink]

I smoke the same pipe multiple times per day for a week or more at a time before switching to another. Rotation's a bit of a marketing gimmick.

Agreed. Never had a problem. I smoke back to back pipes most wouldn't even remove from the box. Never had a problem.