Most of my pipes are straight, or about 1/4 bent. The Savinelli 626 is my deepest bent. Lately I have been eyeing a Savinelli 614 which has a very deep bend. There is something about it that just looks cool. So for you that have deep bents, how do they smoke?
The deep bent pipes. (A Question)
- Thread starter drwatson
- 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
I'm probably the odd ball, (don't say it. I know what you're thinking, ha ha) but I rarely ever grab my deep bends or Oom Pauls. I like the way they smoke ok. None are my bestest smokers, but mostly I just can't stand the feel or the way they make me look, all frowny and droopy. I prefer to see my pipe while smoking it, so I don't bump it or forget it's there. Plus, cleaning them seems to more of a chore, and they're more likely to gurgle on me if I forget and speed up my cadence.
I am a fan of Hungarians (also called Oom Pauls). I keep one in my car: perfect for driving. Yes, a bit harder to clean, but that's not an impediment for me.
I enjoy my fully bent pipes, about a quarter of the stable, with others partially bent or straight. I always avoided Oom-Pauls. But then my wife gave me a Sav Hercules Oom-Paul for Christmas, and I really enjoy it. It hangs so comfortably, and it has a big deep bowl that is perfect for Semois and burley blends, so I'm a convert. No problem cleaning it.
Bent pipes are the WORST pipes ever. They smoke horribly. DO NOT BUY THEM!! A nice straight pipe is the safest and most handsome type. Again...do NOT buy bent pipes. You would be wise to spend your money elsewhere !! They are made of poop. I heard they are radioactive...for your safety and the safety of your family, stay away!!
Wow, I see these are like escargot, you either love them or hate them, but are never neutral on them. That said, I would love to have an Oom Paul. Extensive family history in South Africa helps the intrigue.
Deep-bent pipes are great when both of your hands are busy with something else, or you just feel like channeling your inner Sherlock Holmes. For me they tend to gurgle -- I think because the curving stem is conducive to condensation. Oh, no, my technique couldn't possibly be at fault! :lol:
JPM: was that question meant for me? If so, are you asking about the pipe or the man the pipe is named after?
I have two full-bent pipes. One is a no-name-piece-of-crap; my first pipe. The other is my Radice Rind G O bent bulldog. I like them both. They both smoke very well.
And, I think that the Oom Paul is the ugliest, traditional-shape pipe there is. They should be removed from the earth along with the word "lunting."
Stupid word.
And, I think that the Oom Paul is the ugliest, traditional-shape pipe there is. They should be removed from the earth along with the word "lunting."
Stupid word.
Oom Pauls have been "my shape"... maybe I must be squat and ugly too! That being said, I have about a dozen, they all smoke just fine and I enjoy them very much. Several of them have to be approached from both ends of the stummel with pipe cleaners to get properly swabbed out, but practice has made perfect. The convenience of the hang is always nice, as some have mentioned. One of the chief attractions for me is that they resemble a lot of the older German folk pipes of yesteryear that my grandfathers and earlier smoked. Also, they have tended to be broad across the beam as it were, presenting absolutely lovely fields of grain for aesthetic appreciation and enjoyment. And a couple of mine are just plain HUGE!!! 3 hour smoke on one load!! What's not to love??!!!
Question was a bit off topic, about the man named Paul Kruger. Many say he was a bastard of the first order. In any event, I always call them "Hungarians". There are ugly specimens, and beautiful ones in my eyes. There's not a shape extant that someone hasn't made a crap example of.
Actually the first time I heard about his connection to the pipe was when researching this thread. As for Paul Kruger himself, he was a very influential man in Afrikaaner history. The British hated him, because he was the enemy. But he did his best to unite the Bores, if his methods were contriversial. (From what I remember from history.)
jpmcwjr... I think I went decades before ever even encountering the South African/Paul Kruger connection... To me, and I suspect others, Oom Paul was just the very odd name for a pipe shape. If I were to encounter "hungarian" in text as a pipe shape, well, I have never heard it before until here and now. I remember a particularly almost silly pipe from a 1970s E A. Carey catalog... the Oom Paul Apple, that I would have loved to have gotten at the time. I have always enjoyed the pipe world without the terrors or guilts by association of the evils of the "real" world. If someone were to christen a pipe shape "Apartheid" or "Auschwitz" or Joe Stalin... I would be sorely disappointed and angry... but Oom Paul???!!! I just like the Oom-ph. I also play tuba... 75% of my part is always Oom(pah pah). Etc. I also suspect that if one casts one's net wide enough, many pipe shapes begin to take on airs, say, of British oppression and imperialism, or Viking raids and rampages, or of Bushido, or Irish "Troubles" or or or or... and the list could just keep getting longer. Or, when once an absent minded wearing on my part of an NRA ball-cap on a walk in the park got me pigeon-holed and castigated out of the clear blue by some starry-eyed punk... to which I could only sigh and say, "it's just a goddamed hat". (Being totally bald, I need simply to protect my cranial solar collector and grab whatever is at hand.) So anyway.... back to my dear ugly-assed Oompies and a bowl of something that transcends all the trouble and history of the world.
Jerwynn- Thanks for a thoughtful reply.
It so happened at the Chicago Pipe Show that I sat at a table and as one guy brought out a Hungarian, calling it an Oom Paul, I broached the subject. Turns out he collected them. Then a fellow sitting between us started in on how bad Paul Kruger was as a person and a leader. Quite a debate went on, with my being the slightly chagrined bystander.
Some "facts" stated: Oom Paul Kruger was indeed a pipe smoker, but no photos exist of his using that shape. He was a racist. Brit makers, abhorring the fellow, called that shape "Hungarian", but it seems we Yankees use the cuter name. (Oom Paul means Uncle Paul). I can verify only that Brit makers, and at least one French marque, call them "Hungarians".
It so happened at the Chicago Pipe Show that I sat at a table and as one guy brought out a Hungarian, calling it an Oom Paul, I broached the subject. Turns out he collected them. Then a fellow sitting between us started in on how bad Paul Kruger was as a person and a leader. Quite a debate went on, with my being the slightly chagrined bystander.
Some "facts" stated: Oom Paul Kruger was indeed a pipe smoker, but no photos exist of his using that shape. He was a racist. Brit makers, abhorring the fellow, called that shape "Hungarian", but it seems we Yankees use the cuter name. (Oom Paul means Uncle Paul). I can verify only that Brit makers, and at least one French marque, call them "Hungarians".
If you are new to fully bent pipes, I'd just say, with many/most, the pipe cleaner just won't bend clear into the bowl. Just clean it as far as it will go and keep on truckin'. Clean that last little bit now and then, and don't worry about it. If you have a problem with moisture, for example if you clench a lot, these may not be ideal, a little more saliva may accumulate and give a gurgle. I don't have many moisture problems, almost none that a little tamping won't cure, but just FYI. I too love straight pipes, and could happily do all of my pipe smoking with straights, but if you find you enjoy fully bent pipes, they are a pleasing addition to the stable. I'd really miss mine, especially the Oom-Paul and the Ferndown, and my first pipe, a Tinder Box fully bent pot. I like the Hungarian nomenclature for the Oom-Paul, since Kruger is not a sympathetic historical figure in my mind. But his pipe selection was pretty good. Stalin liked Royal Yacht, and I don't hold it against the blend.
- Status