What Do You Mean When You Say….

[ashdigger]

It means absolutely nothing. A great smoking pipe to me is firewood to someone else and vice-versa.

 

[Papamique]

“This pipe is a good smoker” means something different to each of us that says it, probably each time we say it. I don’t place much value in it when I hear it, while also respecting that the person saying probably means it, even if I have no idea what it means.

You lost me until this paragraph. Agree with this sentiment 100%

 

[Papamique]

In general, if it’s not a pipe that I avoid, then it’s a good smoker. All of the factors previously mentioned by others here do come into play, but there are indeed pipes in my collection that I avoid, despite their uniqueness or eye pleasing appearance.
If a pipe tends to be a wet smoker regardless of what I put in it, or if it has a rather obstinate draw no matter how much I clean or ream the draft, it will fall into the “skip it for now” category and generally not get as much attention.
Fortunately, I don’t have many that fall under that description, except perhaps a few novelty pipes and a couple of “basket pipes.”

Same. For whatever reason I reach for the same pipes over and over and they are not necessarily bad looking pipes and they “behave” like the good pup talked about in this thread but they just don’t “do it for me” and I have to force myself to reach for them.

Maybe it’s voodoo. Maybe it’s the curing process. Who knows.

 

[telescopes]

There is such a thing as a great smoking pipe by virtue of the fact that there are pipes that are the absolute worst when it comes to smoking.

Draw

Area and circumference and depth of the inside of the bowl

The alignment and size of the pathway from the bowl to the bit

And finally, the overall feel and comfort of the pipe as it is being smoked.

I find that all these qualities matter when it comes to how the tobacco burns and the flavor reaches the mouth. It all can be quantified.

 

[telescopes]

For what it is worth, all though the pot shaped bowl is not my favorite, a pot shape pipe seems best, at least for me, for pulling out the flavors of the tobacco. Many will proudly say that none of these attributes of the pipe matter. I don't know why they would say this, but why wouldn't they matter?