Thanks! That helps a lot! I did not understand why pipes needed to rest, but from what you said it is because they go sour. Very informative.
Smoking All Day
- Thread starter dane5560
- Start date
SmokingPipes.com Updates
Watch for Updates Twice a Week
PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor
Site Sponsors
PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor
PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor
PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor
PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor
- Status
Thank you! A lot of great information in your post. As you said, you definitely touched on other questions I will need to research. Particularly the water/alcohol flush, also mentioned earlier by didimauw, which it sounds like I need to learn soon.You have asked a perennial question which has been discussed quite a bit one here. So, no clear answer. The official method is one bowl in a pipe followed by at least one days rest, as you said. Many here smoke one bowl in a pipe and rest for a week.
It's pretty likely that much care is not needed. How promiscuous you are with cleanliness will ultimately be up to you. It's almost surely true that you can smoke a pipe all day and then rest it for a week. I smoke a pipe for about a week and then rest it for at least a week myself. I alcohol/water clean before I put it up to rest. Fill the bowl with alcohol and let it sit for a while, then hot tap water through the pipe and go to town with cleaners while warm.
Oops. Water cleaning is another perennial question.
You are likely asking this because you don't have a ton of pipes since you are new to the hobby. I'll be the first to recommend that you try a cob. I'm not going to sing their praises since that is another perennial discussion.
The first few bowls in a cob are not stellar and you may like cobs and you may not. If you do like cobs, then problem solved. Get 4-5 cobs and start playing. If not, you've got a knock around pipe. I smoke mostly cobs.
My recommendation to anyone new to the pipe is to start with a clay, a cob, and a briar. If you can afford a meerschaum after a while that is great, but clays and cobs are fairly cheap. A tobacco will taste a bit different in a different material pipe. (gosh darn it, that's another debate)
Anyway, the "official guidelines" are likely a bit stringent. Figuring out what works for you is half the fun. It ain't rocket surgery
I have read that alcohol soaking isn't good for briar, I dunno. For now, if you fill the bowl with just alcohol on a briar, just soak for a few seconds. Lots of people swear by the hot tap water (only) thing.
I'm a cob guy.
Would love to see a pic of the bowl! How often do you clean it during the day? Do you clean it? Seems like that would be a pain. No judgement here though, really just curious what that kind of use looks like on a pipe.
Edit-I see you answered the cleaning question. Can you post a pic? I am curious what that looks like.
Here ya go. This is the current progress. You can skip to the last page for a current picture.
And you want to see a picture of my dirty pipe cleaner?
1 Grabow for 1 Year (8/2/19) :: General Pipe Smoking Discussion
Picked up this Dr. Grabow Grand Duke brand new in box. It arrived today. Planning on smoking only this pipe, for an entire year. Similar to my cob thread. I'm interested to see how these inexpensive pipes will hold up. I'm not going to baby it, it will get treated like all my other pipes. This...
pipesmagazine.com
And you want to see a picture of my dirty pipe cleaner?
Oh, now I understand the quick, sharp wit “load master” makes sense as a “crew chief”
I only smoke a pipe once a day and then let it rest 24-48.
I never some the same tobacco more than once a day.
I clean my pipes after every smoke and use 2 fluffy cleaners for the stem and 2-3 bristle cleaners for shank and mortise. My system works for me as I like to taste my tobacco not a dirty pipe. I have around 85 pipes.
I never some the same tobacco more than once a day.
I clean my pipes after every smoke and use 2 fluffy cleaners for the stem and 2-3 bristle cleaners for shank and mortise. My system works for me as I like to taste my tobacco not a dirty pipe. I have around 85 pipes.
don't worry Warren is our grump. It suits him well by the way. Honestly I think like lost of things with technology they can make things better then they used to or at least have better quality control. I think maybe back in the day it was harder to see if a pipe had an underlying condition, which could break or crack the chamber if smoked wet. That's my theory and it's little more then a hunch.
My father smoked Granger in briar pipes mostly from about age 15 until age 65, when he quit cold turkey and lived on to age 89. He smoked from just after breakfast until bedtime, with time out for lunch and supper, including at work when that was routine, with ashtrays on the desk. He smoked only one pipe at a time, and from my child's point of view, it appeared they lasted about a year or sometimes up to two, when burnout would prompt him to buy another, sometimes saving the burnt out pipe as a back up if it still smoked at all. The occasional cob pipe would last less than a year. I think didi's year-long Dr. Grabow experiment is the other definitive data on this question.
Do what you like obviously. If I get to the end of a bowl and it smoked dry, I will load it up again. If I was multi tasking and the pipe ended up a soggy mess then I put it aside to clean and grab another.
Yes, I did run across didimauw's year-long Dr. Grabow experiment this morning. I found it quite interesting (especially the cake buildup in the pictures)! didimauw mentions he did a similar experiment with a cob pipe before this one. I have tried to find that on this forum, but have yet to do so.
I asked and he sent it to me. Great read. Here it is.
One Cob for One Year :: Pipe Talk
All these recent posts about corn cobs has gotten me excited. So I'm going to try an experiment. I'm taking my brand new Missouri Meerschaum Rob Roy Legend corn cob, and it's going to be the only pipe I smoke for a whole year. I may end up changing the stem at some point, but for now I'll be...
pipesmagazine.com
Thank you!!! I just haven't figured out the knack for this forum's search engine yet.
Wood expands when wet and contracts on releasing the moisture. Is this bad for a pipe? No one knows. But although there is very little objectivity about pipe smoking, there are many opinions. Some say that pipes need no rest and some say the longer you rest a pipe between smokes, the better. But these are opinions, and within opinion there is no truth.
But since I bought pipes to smoke burning tobacco, and since making the pores of the wood expand and contract might not serve this, my opinion is that pipes should be rested so that the pores return to normal before the next onslaught of moisture. Do they return to normal defined as where they were before being subjected to moisture? Can I measure this or anything about pipe smoking? No, but I can ask about your opinion to inquire of your subjective experience, because this is all I can do. I can't be inside you to taste what you taste and evaluate your satisfaction with the tobacco, the burn and the overall smoke. No, but I will have opinions about my smokes.
A scenario: If you had a prized piece of furniture and someone put a sweating glass down on it without a coaster, wouldn't you quickly remove the moisture, place the glass on a coaster and tell the interloper to be sure to use it? Quite possibly.
A final opinion about cleaning pipes under running water, which, like microwaving tobacco, I feel is beyond the pale. I usually say these practices are barbaric but this is probably not best, as it is just my opinion. I don't know if it is right or wrong, but even if right, any prescription fails if I give it to you..
But since I bought pipes to smoke burning tobacco, and since making the pores of the wood expand and contract might not serve this, my opinion is that pipes should be rested so that the pores return to normal before the next onslaught of moisture. Do they return to normal defined as where they were before being subjected to moisture? Can I measure this or anything about pipe smoking? No, but I can ask about your opinion to inquire of your subjective experience, because this is all I can do. I can't be inside you to taste what you taste and evaluate your satisfaction with the tobacco, the burn and the overall smoke. No, but I will have opinions about my smokes.
A scenario: If you had a prized piece of furniture and someone put a sweating glass down on it without a coaster, wouldn't you quickly remove the moisture, place the glass on a coaster and tell the interloper to be sure to use it? Quite possibly.
A final opinion about cleaning pipes under running water, which, like microwaving tobacco, I feel is beyond the pale. I usually say these practices are barbaric but this is probably not best, as it is just my opinion. I don't know if it is right or wrong, but even if right, any prescription fails if I give it to you..
On pm there are gui9derlines and there are rules. No talking about politics, a rule. You will be banned. Having your post excised if gloomy/covid, that's a very strong rule, but not necessarily banned.
I didn't think it was rude at all.
I'm new too. Welcome aboard. These folks are welcoming and have excellent info.
- Status