Stingers

[mingc]

Stingers are an abomination and a testament to the gullibility of the pipe smoking public. They are based on junk science and pointless over-engineering. Thankfully, we've learned enough over the years that you have to look hard to buy a new one.

 

[leonardbill1]

I like them on my older (late 1920s through the 1930s) Kaywoodies.

 

[PaulTheScandinavian]

and I can't stop wondering why the White Spot A Dunhill are still fitting 90% of them pipes with removable aluminium tubes ,and a lot of pipes for domestic market in France do still come with 4mm stingers

 

[Chasing Embers]

why the White Spot A Dunhill are still fitting 90% of them pipes with removable aluminium tubes ,

That was to keep the airway of the pipe clean, not to act as a stinger. They used to be available for purchase once the old ones were dirty.

 

[craig61a]

I have numerous old pipes with stingers in them. They smoke just fine. There was some method to the madness, even though the necessity might be questionable. In any case I don’t get too hung up about it…

 

[FLDRD]

Anybody like them?

I see some Kaywoodies I like the looks of, but the only one I ever owned—which was a nice sandblasted pot—I got rid of, because the stinger just seemed to condense moisture and lead to gurgling. I admit I didn't spend a lot of time with that pipe. Before you respond by saying I need to dry my tobacco more...please...just don't. The question is, do you like stingers? Do they work for you? Do they serve a purpose? Seems like a lot of them were produced. Must have been a reason for 'em.

No.
No.
Yes.

 

[cigrmaster]

You couldn't pay me a hundred bucks to smoke a pipe with a stinger or a Peterson system pipe.

 

[lraisch]

I have always removed stingers before even lighting up a pipe for the first time. The three Kaywoodie "Drinkless" pipes I had were the worst for "getting a drink" and gurgling that I've ever had.

 

[Winnipeger]

I have always removed stingers before even lighting up a pipe for the first time. The three Kaywoodie "Drinkless" pipes I had were the worst for "getting a drink" and gurgling that I've ever had.

That was my experience too.

 

[Winnipeger]

Why all the talk, indeed.

I think it's mostly 25 years of pipe forums doing the fractal thing. Pipes ARE pretty simple, and if you didn't "deep dive" subjects conversation would die after a while. Human nature did the rest.

What am I basing that on? I've known pipes with .110" diameter airways that smoked no differently than ones with .177" airways. That's 2.57 times the volume of air moving from the chamber to the button with each puff.

I've also known pipes with massively off-line drilling that smoked really well, and perfectly aligned ones that wouldn't stay lit if you squirted gasoline on the tobacco.

And so on.

The longer/more you smoke a pipe, the more you realize that craftsmanship is only a general indicator of smoking quality AT BEST. Good craftsmanship and/or internal alignment(s) probably improves a pipe's CHANCES of it being a good smoker, but it guarantees nothing.

Why? Because there are too many variables in play with every smoke: Ambient air temperature, ambient humidity, tobacco brand, tobacco label, tobacco lot number, tobacco moisture level, and so forth all combinatorially churned with pipe dimensions, angles, hole sizes, and etc. which is then churned AGAIN by the smoker himself. Puff rate, puff strength, the angle the pipe is held/clenched, how cool is it allowed to get between re-lights, and so on.

Oh yeah... there's also the Placebo Effect. Expectation modifying experience. It's very real. Not imaginary. And there are a thousand reasons someone could have different expectations about a given pipe.

Still more: the smoker's mood overall, what he last ate or drank, and how long ago he consumed it.

Anyway, you get the idea.

Seems like you're of the "It's all bullshit and it's bad for ya" crowd. I can appreciate that.

 

[Keitha]

I have a small Kaywoodies with the Stinger and just enjoy it for what it is. I don't smoke it all that often, I do think it's kinda cool though to occasionally dip into part of the pipe industry's history and try a novel concept, whether gimmicky or not.

 

[Nicolasylvain]

French pipes usually come with stingers/metal filters and they are my favourites. The full taste of unfiltered tobacco with the convenience of a dry smoke.

 

[anotherbob]

I think stingers didn't disappear because they're garbage or people didn't want them. I think some people clearly really liked them at some point. I used to collect old magazines when that was more affordable if you looked in used book stores. Stingers seemed to disappear around the same time that ads for pipes in magazines did too. I find it interesting that all the "gimmicks" have devotees and who really cares if I like the pipe and haters... but almost all the other attempts at engineering a cooler drier pipe are visually obvious to some degree. A stinger you have to take apart the pipe to see, and that makes it hard to find the target market. And from my understanding Kaywoodies used to have stingers when they were often cited as the premium of the pipe world.

 

[chopper]

Me no like stingers. I remove them before lighting a new pipe.
Not only are they a pain to clean, they block pipe cleaners.

I've got a rather nice German made Bulldog that has an aluminium stinger that I'm unable to remove.



I'd hate to ruin the pipe by damaging the original stem. [For a brief moment of exasperation I even considered cutting it off at the stem but I simply couldn't do that to this fine NOS antique]

I've also got another 30-40s Dobbelmann Lincoln that also came with a condenser that I was able to remove easily, so I'm hoping that means that the DL25 Bulldogs condenser is just stubbornly stuck due to its age rather than permanently fixed.


It's a very good smoker.

Does anyone have any idea how I could loosen the Bulldogs condenser without risk of damaging the stem? [Yes Cosmic, I haven't forgotten my promise to you. Hope you like condensers if it continues to refuse to budge ]

 

[Keitha]

My recommendation: Don't cut stringers on old pipes. Enjoy them for what they are then buy a new pipe.

 

[bullet08]

Not really concerned about the stingers. Most bees die afterward. But the hornets? They are like a sawing machine. I personally chase after them and pull out. And firmly tell them "don't do it again".

 

[tklee]

I don't. I feel that they are redundant. I'd take them out whenever I saw them in any of pipe I got.

 

[Searock Fan]

Did you ever notice how high quality, great smoking pipes never come with a stinger, but cheap, low end, krappy pipes almost always do?

 

[crashthegrey]

Kaywoodie had them from about 1930 to approximately 2000. They were great for especially new smokers, as they helped trap some moisture and slow your cadence. I love mine. But I also love my modern Kaywoodie pipes without them. People love or hate them but there is a reason they got 70 years of use.