So, I am in the market for a Clay pipe...

[ozymandias]

Hello all! Sorry for my recent absence, it was, and still is, mostly unavoidable, for my laptop recently broke.
Anyway. I have around $25 dollars to spend on a pipe or two, and considering the amount briars are out.
So, I narrowed it down to either Clay or Cob.
Originally I was leaning towards cob, but I spoke to my Mom about it, (for you see, I am trying to get her off the Nails) and she says that she would rather have a Clay pipe if she were to smoke one. (She is a huge Sherlock Holmes fan.)
So! Clay it is! I was looking for input in the areas of where to procure them, and then general maintenance and so forth.
Thanks in advance,
Ozymandias

 

[matchstickman]

Penn Valley Pipe and Tobacco are the only people I have bought clay pipes from. They offer fantastic service and a wide variety of styles, pipe lengths, and they can be found for a great price. You can also buy two or three pipe bundles through them and save even more. Heres their website Penn Valley Pipe and Tobacco

 

[ozymandias]

I think your link is a bit wonky there... It seems to direct me back to the main page of the forums!

 

[matchstickman]

Thats odd. The address should be www.pipeshoppe.com Try that and see if that works. Dont know how the hell that happened.
EDIT: Nevermind. I know how that happened. Damn me and my big, overly quick typing fingers! :mrgreen:
Sorry dude

 

[ozymandias]

Ahhh! Much better! Indeed, it looks perfect! It would seem that dimensions other than length are not their fortè, however! Have you a specific style you would recommend?

 

[matchstickman]

I got the two Sherlock pipes and I only smoke one. I keep the other around as a collectors piece. You also asked about caring for clays. They are an odd beast. To properly smoke one, you won't want to hold it by the bowl. The bowl gets very hot during the smoke no matter what you do. I hold mine by the stem. The upside to this is that the material by its nature will naturally help to keep the tobacco burning. The smoke from a clay is very cool and dry and flavorful. Another nice thing about clay care is that there isn't really much care to speak of unless you're really anal about them. There are a lot of days that I smoke my clay 4 or 5 times in a row. Finish smoking the bowl, use a pipe pick to GENTLY break apart the ash and dottle at the bottom, then just empty the pipe. No pipe cleaner required, and the guys at Penn Valley will tell you not to use a pipe cleaner on most of their clay pipes. What I do is empty it out, then I wait about 15 minutes to smoke it again, and before I fill it again, I gently blow through the mouthpiece to get out any blockages in the stem. Over time, they will start to color and patina just like a meerschaum. Just be careful with them as they are EXTREMELY fragile.

 

[ozymandias]

I am liking them more by the minute; and the Sherlock seems just the ticket for Mum!
Thank you very much, my dear PipeNovelist!
Just as a side note, Why would you not want to use a Pipe cleaner on one?

 

[matchstickman]

The diameter of the stem opening combined with the fragile nature of the material means simply this: If you try and force a pipe cleaner down the stem, it is likely going to cause part of the stem to snap, or worst case scenario could break the pipe into several pieces. The diameter of the stem is not wide enough to accomodate a cleaner, at least not on most of the models that Penn Valley offers. Clays a very absorbent material anyway, so I have never had a problem with not cleaning mine. I smoke mine several times in a week and it never tastes foul or ghosted from any of the tobaccos Ive smoked in it, and Ive smoked everything from Aro to English in it without problems.
PS, Im not some sort of shill or representative of Penn Valley. I have no affiliation, Im just a really really happy customer.

 

[ozymandias]

Ah! That is quite interesting! It is obvious that you a a happy customer, and that is why I think I shall be going with your recommendation!
To me, it seems that the Sherlock/Dutch Gouda combo is perfect(And astoundingly cheap, to boot!)!
I am very excited, indeed! This will be my first pipe purchase (Thank you so very much again, Life2on! I love the pipe, and have smoked it every day!) and I am expecting great things!

 

[matchstickman]

Happy to help. Also, one last thing to remember: Dont try to clench it in your teeth because you will likely bite off a part of the pipe. It does not have a glazed tip on the end, so it is a good idea to wet your lips a little and get the end of the mouthpiece moist before you smoke it otherwise it may feel a little odd. Good luck with your endeavor!

 

[ozymandias]

Duly noted! Also, I heard somewhere in my wanderings that it is a good idea to dip your bowl in water before smoking, and I was wondering if you have any insight into this (seemingly) strange bit of Clay Smoking advice.

 

[matchstickman]

Not really sure what purpose it would serve or how it would help it to smoke better. I never did that with mine, just loaded it and smoked it as I do with all my pipes and it has been just fine. I suppose if you get two pipes you could try it with one and leave the other dry. If you do decide to do it, let me know how it turns out. After dipping it in water I would think you would want to let the material dry out completely before you load it and smoke it, otherwise your smoke will be a mess. Just my thought anyway.

 

[ozymandias]

I also had a hard time understanding the point, though perhaps someone else will have some insight, when the sane people awake!

 

[matchstickman]

If anyone has experience doing this I would love to hear how it turned out for them. Never heard it until now. It is what it is. As with all things in pipe smoking there is really no right and wrong as long as you enjoy it. Let us know how it works out for you.

 

[ozymandias]

I, for one, am going to hold my breath until someone chimes in.

 

[matchstickman]

You know, its been too long since Ive been on the Penn Valley website because the last time I logged on, they weren't selling Meerschaum pipes. Theyd be a good price but I dont see any shapes that catch my eye. Thats cool though. Thanks for giving me reason to dig that link out. I see theyre back to selling corn cobs too. I might have to spend some money here now.

 

[ozymandias]

I am glad to have given you the necessary reason to lighten your purse of gold a bit!

 

[thesmokindragon]

I also really like the Pamplin clays with wood reed stems, bowls

are a little bit heavier but offer a larger bowl than the Dutch Gouda,

for which I have both...really a matter of preference/look, etc and

the wood reed might feel more comfortable

 

[shaintiques]

Here is a good site with tons of cool clays. http://www.dawnmist.demon.co.uk/pipesale.htm

 

[schmitzbitz]

Also, I heard somewhere in my wanderings that it is a good idea to dip your bowl in water before smoking, and I was wondering if you have any insight into this (seemingly) strange bit of Clay Smoking advice.

That seems rather counter intuitive to me; however I could see merit to dipping the end of an unglazed stem into water prior to smoking for the first time, simply to avoid the "sticky-lip" syndrome. Of course, a dab of Carmex (or other lip-balm) works just as well.

Perhaps the thinking is it positively impacts the hydrodynamics of the material, rather like waxing a meer?