Small Pipes

[maxpeters]

Anyone a fan of smaller pipes? You know, around a Dunhill size three or so.

I have about a half dozen fitting that size. When I first stated smoking a pipe I preferred the larger sizes like maybe a size 6 ( I am using Dunhill for a refrence ) or even larger.

They were certainly hand filling, and part of my reasoning was that I thought that large pieces of perfect briar must have been hard to come by, so must make the pipe more valuable.

That may be true, but as time went on I started prefering size 5's, and within the last couple years, size 4.

Don't know why, but it just happened. I have picked up these size 3 pipes over the last two years and am really enjoying them. They are light and handle beautifully. They will also give you about a 30 min. smoke if you sip instead of puff. This is also a good idea because they will quickly overheat if you puff frequently.

I have noticed that a lot of the older pipes I see in antique shops and flea markets were of the smaller variety. Maybe they were more concerned with the price and amount of tobacco they had available, or it could be that they knew something a lot of people seem have to have forgotten. That small doesn't necessarily mean inferior and in fact could mean quite the opposite.

Here are two photos of my small pipes.
GBD Pedigree Sasieni Fantail

Comoy Selected Straight Grain Henry Straus

Edwards Virgin Sasieni 4 Dot

Charatan Selected Free Hand approx. size 5 for comparison against the GDB Pedigree

What size do you prefer most often?

 

[rhogg]

I have a large Boswell with a small bowl. It smokes Virginia's and vapers like no other pipe I own. The flavor comes out better in a small bowl for me when I am smoking these blends. Purely based on taste it may work for me, but I tend to gravitate towards larger bowls for most tobacco.

 

[unclearthur]

I like small pipes for my Lakeland tobaccos. They can get to be a bit much at times in large doses. The little guys are nice for some of the old time codger butt kickers too.

 

[riptide]

I love my Bent Bob I need more in that size.

 

[jchaplick]

I have more large pipes than anything, I love them, but i do have some smalls that smoke awesome, just time and place for me to pick

 

[olderthandirt]

Most of my pipes are on the small side.

Enough larger bowls to give the Lat blends their proper due but the smaller bowls are the way to go for the Kentucky blends and flakes I love.

 

[shaintiques]

Yeah i just smoked my small pipe, its a little billiard with a silver band, not fancy but a good smoke.

 

[buster]

I have one smaller bowl pipe that I like but want to add a stanwell 240 sand blast to the collection. I have been eye balling that and one with an oval bowl at my local shop.

 

[thesmokindragon]

+1 w/UA~They are great flake pipes for my Vs/VaPers and lakelands

 

[yontz]

A buddy just got me a "Mini Meer" made from Turkish meerschaum. Its a small bowl nosewarmer. Its a ton of fun to smoke! It doesn't get too hot if you just sip at it. You can't go all steam engine on it.

 

[dburrows]

I actually like both larger and smaller pipes and have found I reach for a smaller pipe if I'm going to be up and about but a larger if I'm going to be sitting still. I think the predominant reason is there's a decent difference in weight and I tend to clench when I'm walking around or doing something while enjoying my pipe.

 

[seakayak]

I have several small pipes in my collection. I find them very useful for those times when my smoking break time is limited to 30 minutes or so after lunch.

 

[yohanan]

I have 5 Bent Bob's and a Peterson Calabash. They work very well for a 20 minute smoke. ::

 

[spyder71]

I like them to be whatever a standard DG bowl is and smaller. You see I would rather smoke several bowls of different baccy than three. I like 15-20 minute smokes and kinda smoke all day. I wonder if it's because I was a nail smoker for 25+yrs?

 

[nsfisher]

spyder71
Same for me here, i like smaller bowls and more often also a reformed 30 yr cig smoker

 

[dimm]

MM makes a corncob that's literally like... 2" total length. I can fit it in the palm of my hand. I'm always tempted to buy it when I'm at my pipe store cause it's only 5$. But it kinda looks like a corncob crackpipe haha.

 

[brewshooter]

The mini MM cob!!! I have one, but I've never actually smoked it.

 

[dimm]

Yeah I wanna try it for when I'm with my friends who smoke cigarettes. The bowl on that thing will only last like 7 minutes max :D

 

[brewshooter]

I do notice that the draft hole enters about a third of the way up the bowl. Might be best to put a little mud in there before the first smoke.

 

[dimm]

Agreed! That's what I always do with mine.