Vulcanite vs Acrylic Stems.....Which do you Prefer?

[ebnash]

I'm mostly good with them all as long as they are made correctly.

I agree with this statement. I don't care how rubbery soft the bit is if the bit is not comfortably shaped. I ordered 4 Castello's at the same time because I thought they wee beautiful and had reputation of being great smokers. They all felt awkward and unstable in my teeth, so eventually they were all sold for a considerable loss...

I suppose I could have just had stems made to my liking, but none of them were "dropping my panties" in the smoking department.

 

[hoosierpipeguy]

I agree with this statement. I don't care how rubbery soft the bit is if the bit is not comfortably shaped. I ordered 4 Castello's at the same time because I thought they wee beautiful and had reputation of being great smokers. They all felt awkward and unstable in my teeth, so eventually they were all sold for a considerable loss...

I suppose I could have just had stems made to my liking, but none of them were "dropping my panties" in the smoking department.

I wish I could find copious numbers of attractive females who would drop their panties for the right pipe. My collection would be 10x as large in an effort to please them all.

 

[fjc623]

Vulcanite in my opinion is a superb material for the stems.
The reason many pipe makers are turning to acrylics and other materials is that vulcanite is becoming more difficult to find and with that I’m sure it may effect the profit.

 

[Sweet Home Alabama]

My other hobbies include vintage straight razors and fountain pens. I enjoy restoring them. What is referred to as hard black rubber is a material used for straight razor scales and some old 1930's Esterbrook pens. Honestly, it not a favorite material, but its all that was available.

I find I prefer the tactile experience of acyrlic over vulcanite.

 

[tschiraldi]

Cumberland definitely doesn’t show the oxidation nearly as much as vulcanite.

Cumberland IS vulcanite. The colors.make them Cumberland.

 

[Toast]

I like really thin mouthpieces, & that seems to be easier to achieve with rubber. So that would be my mild preference.

But I own lots of both & I'm not too bothered.

 

[username]

My most smoked pipes are cobs with acrylic forever stems and a meer with a acrylic stem. I like the green swirly acrylic on my cobs for looks and they feel fine on my teeth. Vulcanite is fine and given the choice between materials it’s a coin toss for me personally. Guess I’m stem material agnostic.

 

[bent1]

Acrylic

 

[tenton]

Don't much care anymore, as for the last couple of years I always use a rubber softie bit. Without a softie bit, definitely vulcanite as acrylic is too hard and slippery for me to clench.

 

[cigrmaster]

I haven't bought a pipe with acrylic in at least 7 or so years. I only buy pipes that have high quality German Ebonite. Once I am done smoking I clean my pipe and then use Obidisian stem oil on the stem. I let it set a while and then rub it down and it keeps my stems looking shiny and pretty. I hate the feel of acrylic and I wish I didn't because there are some makers like Cavicchi and Castello and others whose pipes I would like to own if it were not for the acrylic stems.

Years ago when I first began smoking I owned some Castello's and some high end Winslow's that were great smokers and had some really nice straight grains.
Back then I owned a number of Viprati pipes and the quality of the grain was one of the best out there.

Normally being the lazy ass that I am I would have gone for the ease of acrylic over Ebonite. I ended up falling in love with American made artisan pipes and they all have high quality German Ebonite for their stems. I have no regrets as to how I ended up with the collection that I have.

 

[mso489]

I like vulcanite for its softness, especially where this matters with heavier pipes at or above 2 ounces. Usually, with some care, it can be kept acceptably oxidation free. For smaller pipes, acrylic works as well and doesn't oxidize, so it is probably preferable, though I give extra points for vulcanite for its traditional look. The last two new pipes I've ordered claimed to be vulcanite but were acrylic. I don't think the young hires grading them these days know the difference; I don't think they're pulling one on us. Since the pipes were light in weight, I didn't complain.

 

[didimauw]

I prefer acrylic stems. The way I clench, Vulcanite and abs plastic stems don't last.

 

[Chasing Embers]

For those that prefer the softness of vulcanite but find the cleaning too much of a chore, go for juma stems.

 

[FurCoat]

Makes no difference to me as I rarely clench any of my "good" pipes. I do like the variety that acrylic offers in terms of color. I clench when I'm working outside and for this purpose I use seven day seconds cobs. The plastic stems are perfect for clenching in my opinion and a new one is only sixty five cents.

 

[weezell]

Acrylic...

 

[Chasing Embers]

I do like the variety that acrylic offers in terms of color.

Vulcanite might surprise you.

 

[FurCoat]

Vulcanite might surprise you.

View attachment 70705

I stand corrected.

 

[Chasing Embers]

I stand corrected.

Juma has even more of a range of colors.

 

[macaroni]

Juma has even more of a range of colors.

I like both
mike

 

[mingc]

There's gotta be a way to keep rubber from oxidising. It's not like car tires turn green.