***What Are You Smoking, May 2023?***

[Ahi Ka]

Goose creek red in a ww2 dunny

 

[warren99]

Bill Bailey’s Balkan Blend in an Ashton Oldchurch billiard.

 

[PipeIT]

I post new pics each time I smoke any of my pipes, so any progress in terms of colouring that might be occurring, you’ve seen—which is very little, since at present, I actually wear a white cotton glove when handling it—I’m not keen on it getting soiled or grubby looking from skin oils like my unfinished Savinelli Corallo di Mare pipes. After I smoke it, I disassemble, and wipe the rim with alcohol to prevent lava build up and even wipe out the chamber to get all the tars out so the presentation box doesn’t get all funky when the pipe goes “back to sleep” after use. I’ve only smoked it a handful of times since getting it, and it hasn’t changed that much. I imagine it will naturally darken a bit over time from heat and oxidation, but its exposure to air and light is fairly minimal since it goes back in the blue box after use.

So, do yo think, if anyone has a nice natural finished Briar, it’s better to not touch with the hands, use a glove instead?

I just assumed if the hands are clean when smoking, any oils of the hand, wouldn’t really effect it in a bad way, unless someone has a really bad sweaty hand condition.

hmm

P.S. Not to pick on ya LOL, but @alaskanpiper your Smith House natural finished, Lovat is it? Do you have a before and after pic of that? All I know is the colors I remember seeing later as you smoked it are really nice.

 

[cshubhra]

Comoy’s Cask No 4 from December 2019 in an Altinay translucent meerschaum billiard

 

[Backwoods Briar]

Edward G Robinson blend in a danish billiard, great blend and pipe

 

[PipeIT]

Ennerdale Flake in a Tom Eltang Blasted Apple for today. Every time I smoke Ennerdale I always am amazed how good it is. I need to pick up a pound of it.....
View attachment 224887

And, maybe it will ENCOURAGE you to hang around here and post more.

I always like to click on names and see when people joined, and where they are from, and like I was WOO 2013 and 25 posts! LOL

Sir, you get the ‘Least Activity Award’! LOL

P.S. Yeah Ennerdale, nice stuff, and nice pipe too by the way.

 

[didimauw]

Briar Fox

 

[das3353]

Uhle’s 44 in a Castello Sea Rock

 

[AppalachianPipe92]

Breaking in a Barker dublin stack with some Capstan Blue.

 

[PennyStonks]

Pork Chops & Apple Sauce (2020) in a Vauen poker. I’m going to be sad when I run out of this stuff.

 

[warren99]

Peterson Old Dublin in a Ferndown two star bark tomato.

 

[TheIronMonkey]

So, do yo think, if anyone has a nice natural finished Briar, it’s better to not touch with the hands, use a glove instead?

I just assumed if the hands are clean when smoking, any oils of the hand, wouldn’t really effect it in a bad way, unless someone has a really bad sweaty hand condition.

hmm

P.S. Not to pick on ya LOL, but @alaskanpiper your Smith House natural finished, Lovat is it? Do you have a before and after pic of that? All I know is the colors I remember seeing later as you smoked it are really nice.

No, people should treat their pipes however they choose to; I wouldn’t presume to think how anyone should handle his or her pipes (I would hope with some modicum of respect, as I hate seeing nice pipes get damaged). I don’t particularly like smoking with a cotton glove, but at the present time, preserving this pipe in its present condition outweighs the inconvenience. Because there have been so few Extraordinaire Fans from Savinelli issued without a finish (I’m aware of only three including mine), I’m not in any rush to transform it into a darkened, burnished pipe that looks like pipes from Savinelli’s regular lines just yet.

I probably have half a dozen or more pipes with no finish that I handle with bare hands, skin oils and all. They’re either a bit grubby looking, or have become darkened and finished looking as @mso489 has so often mentioned with regard to his unfinished Savinelli. Skin oils are always there, regardless of how clean your hands are; take a look at books with black pages and you’ll see fingerprints galore. If I could keep my Meerschaum pipes completely white, I would do so, but that’s not the nature of the beast.

Maybe someday I’ll skip the glove. We’ll see. Or not.

 

[gamzultovah]

Smoking 2020 Bayou Morning in my Castello Sea Rock, Long Lovat.

 

[The Clay King]

Captain Black in another new clay.
So far I like it. These tiny bowls certainly don’t last as long as my larger meer.
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@aspiring_sage Looks like an Old Dominion Jamestown clay. I like the banding on the mouthpiece!

 

[aspiring_sage]

@aspiring_sage Looks like an Old Dominion Jamestown clay. I like the banding on the mouthpiece!

Indeed it is! I acquired a few clays to see what the hype is about. Testing out how well I like/tolerate canted pipes and small bowls.

“Common whipping” the stem until I find a less soggy solution.

(Started a thread with some clay questions here)

 

[woodsroad]

GH “Unscented” Flake in a Nachwalter NYC-era. This blend, a favorite of mine, has (like most GH “unscented” blends) just the barest hint of Lakeland. The tobacco is dominant, which is what makes it so enjoyable.

 

[WildTurkeySurprise]

Reiner Gold Blend #71 in a Savinelli Bing’s Favorite.

 

[renfield]

5 year old FVF in a lattice globe meer again.

 

[Hillcrest]

C.S. Whatever ????? in my 38 yrs old Savonelli 2614 KS with 6mm Filter. The first 2/3rds tasted like CS Hunting Creek, then the taste changed to something piney like Ralph Lauren Polo cologne or pine nuts or pine sol ... maybe it will make cleaning the pipe easier.

 

[AppalachianPipe92]

G&H Brown Flake Unscented from a L'Anatra lovat.