Ruminations Regarding Rapid Reloading

[Briar Lee]

As part of a deal to buy a Marxman Royal and a Lee 7 point star Three Star Bulldog I got a little cheap bonus pipe stamped Bentley, varnished with a nylon stem.




I scraped out the cake, cleaned it all up, removed the varnish and applied grapeseed oil and found it’s a good smoker, about as good as any not a Marxman.

I remembered seeing old men in the barbershop reload their Grabows without letting them cool between smokes, but when I tried that it didn’t work out well.

This morning for my first pipe of the day I smoked my Bentley and turned around and reloaded it, and when I fired it up it was sort of sour, heavy, wet and not pleasant.

Just a minute before, that same hot pipe tasted and smoked well, all the way to the bottom.

Like the little boy said about the thermos, how’s it know, how’s it know?

Why is rapid reloading a bad practice?

Stumps me.

 

[didimauw]

I just run a pipe cleaner between pipes. My tobacco is so dry, it rarely leaves a drop of moisture these days, unless I'm smoking in high humidity. So these days I can reload with no issue. There's nothing worse than a wet sour pipe.

 

[ThermionicScott]

Codgers of old must have had a lot higher tolerance for wet, sour smokes as they kept smoking that one pipe a dozen times a day, every day...

 

[tobakenist]

I like to leave a couple of hours between reloading and after a quick clean, I have always thought that a pipe needs a rest, I was brought up in the times when most pipe smokers only had 1 or 2 pipes and and didn't sit down and clean them until the end of the day. I remember when Falcons became popular in the UK, mid to late 60's, Falcons easy to clean, no moister build up in the bottom of the bowl, resulting in a dry smoke and no waiting for the bowl to dry out, but not the best smoke, can't beat a full briar pipe, but to get the best smoke they have to be rested to get the best out of your best tobacco's.

 

[Briarcutter]

I smoke my pipes back to back quite frequently. Sometimes smoke the same pipe for days in a row in the shop. Always taste great. If they didn't, I would not smoke them that way.
However, I understand most people like to let them rest.

 

[bullet08]

Possibly lack of taste buds help them greatly.

 

[Tate]

I can reload pretty quickly after a pipe cleaner without an issue. I'm noticing more condensation in the winter now though. Still not too bad

 

[telescopes]

I have no issues with reloading - other than too much nicotine exposure. However, I tend to smoke my pipes so that they are a dry smoke rather than a wet gurglely smoke.

But more to the point, I keep my pipes cleaned and I don't remove the varnish. The pipe gods are punishing you for all that steel wooling you do to those pipes.

Years From Now....


Pipe Reseller: (Examines tin buckets full of old pipes. He has a confused look on his face as he holds up a pipe and slowly turns it.) Damned it Albert, where did you say you came across these pipes?

Albert: (Tilts his head and quizzically replies) I found them in some old codgers barn. He was a hoarder. Must of had 20 buckets of old pipes, just piled up everywhere. I figured they must be worth something.

Pipe Reseller: Well, they might have but for some reason, it looks like someone took some steel wool to the finish of each and everyone and rubbed off the finish and .... I am not sure, but it smells like whoever removed the finish replaced it with grapeseed oil.

Albert: Why on earth would anyone go and do a thing like that?

Pipe Reseller: Beats me. Damnedest thing. Ruin a nice old pipe like that. Not to just one or two, but the whole kit and caboodle. It's almost like he wanted to brand them or I don't know, maybe he hated them. One things for sure, whatever they might have once been worth has gone up in smoke and blown away with the wind. I sure hope he enjoyed them because they ain't good for nothing now, except maybe kindling in the fireplace.

Albert: It's a shame. I think his widow was hoping to recoup a little money so she could get him a grave marker. Not sure how I am going to break the news to her now. Kindling you say. Well, how much for the whole truck load?

Pipe Reseller: I'll give you $5 dollars to take it off your hands. Looks like it'll be a cold, cold winter.

 

[bangzoom]

At first, I thought this thread was about firearms...

 

[PA Piper Mike]

At first, I thought this thread was about firearms...

Ha, same here.