Thoughts on Giant Pipes

[pruss]

Build them jaw muscles, Pruss. Chew some gum. Practice balancing a claw hammer in your clench. Work it, work it!

I'm about to switch to my summer diet which is almost exclusively biltong (think Jerky, but dryer). That should help.

-- Pat

 

[burleyboy]

For natural rather fast burning burley blends like OJK I nowadays prefer larger chambers as a group 5 or 6. I guess, none of mine them would truely classify as a giant pipe. For everything else, especially flakes, I would rather use a group 4 or three. A genuine "giant" pipe wouldn't feel convenient to me as I nostly clench and prefer straight stems.

 

[cigrmaster]

I'd love one of Boswell's!

View attachment 54592

Those pipes are too cool. They are way bigger than any thing in my collection, but I still like them. My biggest pipe is probably an ODA which is a Ruthenberg XL Caliper grade. Here is a pic of when it was new.


Here is what the pipe looks like now. It probably weighs around 75 grams.

 

[karam]

My outdoor pipes are "standard" size (about 3.5-3.8 cm deep, 1.9-2.0 cm wide chamber) and that's practical for me as I like to keep my hands free. At home I prefer deeper and wider. My largest can give me a relaxed smoke, with plenty of relights, for more than 2 hours.

 

[Chasing Embers]

Those pipes are too cool. They are way bigger than any thing in my collection, but I still like them. My biggest pipe is probably an ODA which is a Ruthenberg XL Caliper grade. Here is a pic of when it was new.


Here is what the pipe looks like now. It probably weighs around 75 grams.

You know me, if it's got a ring blast it's loved. Man that's pretty!

 

[keith929]

My Peterson Pub Pipe is about my limit for large pipes.

 

[lochinvar]

I usually stick in the Group 4-5/kkkk-g sizes. Something with a 2" bowl and around 1.5 oz. I've had a few Rinaldo Titanias and larger Upshalls, and while they are proportionally perfect, they are too large to hang in my jaw. About the only large pipes that are comfortable for me are Ben Wade. For some reason, those old chonks of briar are easy to clench.

 

[swampgrizzly]

And I bet it didn't fit in your bear pipe-holder in your avatar there, eh? ?

Amazing sculpture, that one, by the way. ?

Absolutely didn't fit in my avatar pipe holder or any other pipe rack that I owned. Pics of my Boswell Jumbo that I sold after 18 years of ownership attached.

 

[olkofri]

Absolutely didn't fit in my avatar pipe holder or any other pipe rack that I owned. Pics of my Boswell Jumbo that I sold after 18 years of ownership attached.View attachment 54743View attachment 54743View attachment 54744View attachment 54745View attachment 54746

Oh, man, that's not a pipe, that's a sidearm!

 

[swampgrizzly]

Oh, man, that's not a pipe, that's a sidearm!

LOL, nice big hunk of briar for sure and a really great smoker. The novelty of it wore off for me and my inability to clinch it caused me to smoke it more infrequently as the years went on. So when I was able to get the same price I paid Boswell for it 18 years before, I sold it to someone who was super thrilled to get it. I still have 2 Boswell medium sixed pipes and 1 Boswell small size pipe in my collection of pipes that are good smokers and will not ever sell.

 

[pruss]

Absolutely didn't fit in my avatar pipe holder or any other pipe rack that I owned. Pics of my Boswell Jumbo that I sold after 18 years of ownership attached.View attachment 54743View attachment 54743View attachment 54744View attachment 54745View attachment 54746

Boswell’s ... breaking jaws for ever.

I’ve seen smaller shillelaghs.

— Pat

 

[hauntedmyst]

I like large pipes, not giant. I said large, not embers big. I'm convince when they dig him up in a thousand years, they'll find a titanium jaw. I like Dunhill group 5 and 6.

 

[Lawyer66]

The SP post of today featuring a number of GGG Castello pipes (a group of very large 55's and 84 Hawkbills) led me to think about pipe preferences. The pipes, there were 15 originally and nine were gone by the time I saw the email, are undeniably beautiful and eye catching. A number of years ago my PAD would have immediately kicked in and I would likely not have been able to resist. However, my tastes have changed and I now prefer smaller, albeit not dainty, pipes. I have had a Castello GGG in the past. It was beautiful to look at but I found it uncomfortable to smoke so it rarely got used. I ended up trading it. The same thing happened with several very large Ardors which I had. I now want pipes to weigh in at 2.00 ounces maximum and, ideally, less. In this instance some of the pipes weigh between 4.50 oz and some top out over 7 ounces. Perhaps a function of getting older but I do like to clench and that is very obviously not going to happen with any of these beautiful pipes. So, what attracts you about very large pipes? Have your tastes changed over the years? Anyone gone in the opposite direction and abandoned smaller pipes for the siren call of Giants.

I just ordered a Savinelli Hercules 114EX and I am not sure if it qualifies as a giant pipe. However, it is larger than any pipe I have owned.

 

[philairfoil]

Ok,OK...these are NOT my pics. But...I did buy this pipe from a astute Fleabayer for around $50.

It tips the scale at 86 grams, and it was drilled too deep, which I fixed, and smokes for long, long time.

But now I feel it needs a wider chamber and I'm considering drilling it out to say an inch from it's present 9/16"...sacrilege? A pipe this size should have a thumb sized chamber...I think.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

Ok,OK...these are NOT my pics. But...I did buy this pipe from a astute Fleabayer View attachment 55642View attachment 55643 for around $50.

It tips the scale at 86 grams, and it was drilled too deep, which I fixed, and smokes for long, long time.

But now I feel it needs a wider chamber and I'm considering drilling it out to say an inch from it's present 9/16"...sacrilege? A pipe this size should have a thumb sized chamber...I think.

Is the stem not upside down on that pipe?
Why use grams instead of ounces? I have to keep using an online converter to figure out what 86 means in real numbers, ha ha. Is this a European thing?

 

[autumnfog]

Different sizes and shapes makes a collection look interesting and I could buy a giant for collecting reasons but smoking them, no. That would be too inconvenient.

 

[philairfoil]

Is the stem not upside down on that pipe?
Why use grams instead of ounces? I have to keep using an online converter to figure out what 86 means in real numbers, ha ha. Is this a European thing?

Why yes, now that I look, the stem IS upside down...who woulda known...certainly not the fella who sold it.

28 grams to an ounce for you paleface heathens, a coupla cunt hairs short of three ounces

 

[stokesdale]

The SP post of today featuring a number of GGG Castello pipes (a group of very large 55's and 84 Hawkbills) led me to think about pipe preferences. The pipes, there were 15 originally and nine were gone by the time I saw the email, are undeniably beautiful and eye catching. A number of years ago my PAD would have immediately kicked in and I would likely not have been able to resist. However, my tastes have changed and I now prefer smaller, albeit not dainty, pipes. I have had a Castello GGG in the past. It was beautiful to look at but I found it uncomfortable to smoke so it rarely got used. I ended up trading it. The same thing happened with several very large Ardors which I had. I now want pipes to weigh in at 2.00 ounces maximum and, ideally, less. In this instance some of the pipes weigh between 4.50 oz and some top out over 7 ounces. Perhaps a function of getting older but I do like to clench and that is very obviously not going to happen with any of these beautiful pipes. So, what attracts you about very large pipes? Have your tastes changed over the years? Anyone gone in the opposite direction and abandoned smaller pipes for the siren call of Giants.

My teeth can't handle anything over 2 ozs...

 

[olkofri]

My teeth can't handle anything over 2 ozs...

Ditto. Now that I've gotten my incisives repaired even small pipes are a bother to clench (and in my case, 'clenching' actually means 'holding the pipe in my mouth for a few seconds whilst I shift gears or perform manoeuvres that require both hands'). ?

 

[stokesdale]

Ditto. Now that I've gotten my incisives repaired even small pipes are a bother to clench (and in my case, 'clenching' actually means 'holding the pipe in my mouth for a few seconds whilst I shift gears or perform manoeuvres that require both hands'). ?

I sympathize...5 grand in dental work here...still have my original teeth and would like to keep it that way as long as I can! I may be gettin old and my dick may be gettin limp, but I can still chew my food!!!!