I know there are "no dumb questions" but this may push the envelope....
Why do some pipes have "stingers" in them? What exactly is their purpose?
Why do some pipes have "stingers" in them? What exactly is their purpose?
What is a "Stinger" for?
- Thread starter Choatecav
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Supposed to have made the smoke drier and better etc etc but never really did as much so people would cut them off.
They were used as a condenser, to cool the temperature of the smoke.
I find them to be pretty useless at best and worse at times. Mostly just cause condensation where it isn't needed. That said, I have several older Kaywoodie pipes with the large stinger and I do enjoy them. Might like them better without them but history and all.
I have found them to be next to worthless, but they were supposed to eliminate moisture in the tobacco leaving a dryer and cooler smoke for the user.
They were created to piss off future pipe smokers, and by overwhelming consensus, they succeeded amply.
They don't bother me and I like for them to be intact when I aquire a vintage pipe.
Were I the King, there would be a one dollar tax on any new pipe without a removable airway metal filter (stinger).
We call them stingers today. In their day they were called metal filters or condensers.
They work, or else you’d not have to clean the gunk and tar off them.
The water they trap would have gone in your mouth, as would have the gunk and tar.
They also act to cool the smoke, however slightly.
And if removable you can take them out, which is what I’ve done for years.
My first bicycle had training wheels and I liked the training wheels, until I didn’t, then my father removed the training wheels.
The only objection to a removable stinger is cost.
When Kaywoodie was the 800 pound gorilla in the market the others added a removable stinger.
We call them stingers today. In their day they were called metal filters or condensers.
They work, or else you’d not have to clean the gunk and tar off them.
The water they trap would have gone in your mouth, as would have the gunk and tar.
They also act to cool the smoke, however slightly.
And if removable you can take them out, which is what I’ve done for years.
My first bicycle had training wheels and I liked the training wheels, until I didn’t, then my father removed the training wheels.
The only objection to a removable stinger is cost.
When Kaywoodie was the 800 pound gorilla in the market the others added a removable stinger.
@Briar Lee Do you keep and use the stingers? Just curious as to your experiece with them.
Stingers here are a buck a piece. I imagine they last a long time before needing replacements. Ive had old worn out pipes and the stingers would still have worked if I bothered to clean them. Almost every old french pipe Ive seen has one. I like 9mm filters and the costs add up but so what I figure. Nothing much on top of paying for good tobacco in the EU. Here you may as well buy the good stuff because the crap stuff is also expensive....heavy tax. We dont have bulk tobacco so its always paying the cost of tins. You might save 3 bucks buying crap stuff vs good.
Stingers here are a buck a piece. I imagine they last a long time before needing replacements. Ive had old worn out pipes and the stingers would still have worked if I bothered to clean them. Almost every old french pipe Ive seen has one. I like 9mm filters and the costs add up but so what I figure. Nothing much on top of paying for good tobacco in the EU. Here you may as well buy the good stuff because the crap stuff is also expensive....heavy tax. We dont have bulk tobacco so its always paying the cost of tins. You might save 3 bucks buying crap stuff vs good.
I still pick a penny up off the street.
So of course, I save the stingers.
Aluminum stingers outlast the pipes.
A steel one might rust.
I might have to give one a spin in a non filtered pipe. I know a lot of people hate them but I really prefer smoking with a 9mm filter. Its less steam and less to me any flavor it removes are flavors that mask some of the perique and other flavors in the tobacco.
Their primary purpose is to interfere with running a pipe cleaner through the pipe.
I find them to be an unnecessary part of any pipe. I don't find they enhance the smoke in any way, and in some cases they even disrupt it.
Different strokes for different folks.
Different strokes for different folks.
Frankly if you're getting so much steam along with the smoke that a stinger would help then you're doing something wrong.
Besides a 6mm balsa filter will do the same thing better.
Besides a 6mm balsa filter will do the same thing better.
To be 
with myself and the community, Stingers have a purpose in which helped me learn to slow down my cadence. The first pipe with a stinger I own is a kaywoodie magnum 3-hole I think. The first time I smoked it I hated it and dumped the bowl in the trash and loaded up an Ashton. As I learned to smoke cooler and slower the stinger found its home with certain blends that tend to smoke hot. The way I can tell is because if it start to gurgle I'm smokeing wet if the bowl gets hot I'm smokeing to fast etc etc. So no they aren't a life changer or anything but It helped me. Freaking thing would burn my hand it got so hot, now I can smoke a whole bowl through to the bottom without it getting hot enough to feel the difference on my palm.
with myself and the community, Stingers have a purpose in which helped me learn to slow down my cadence. The first pipe with a stinger I own is a kaywoodie magnum 3-hole I think. The first time I smoked it I hated it and dumped the bowl in the trash and loaded up an Ashton. As I learned to smoke cooler and slower the stinger found its home with certain blends that tend to smoke hot. The way I can tell is because if it start to gurgle I'm smokeing wet if the bowl gets hot I'm smokeing to fast etc etc. So no they aren't a life changer or anything but It helped me. Freaking thing would burn my hand it got so hot, now I can smoke a whole bowl through to the bottom without it getting hot enough to feel the difference on my palm.
Stinger is an industry term for a condenser. The idea was that a condenser would cool the smoke causing moisture to condense and drop out of the smoke and be trapped in the shank or "well". The end result would bea cooler drier smoke. Condenser materials varied from aluminum to bone and vulcanite. In theory they are sound science, in practice they are not so straight forward.
They can be categorized into a few different things.
Integral- a stinger that is a non-removable part of the tenon, often having screw threads that interact with the mortise.
Removable- a stinger that is interference fit or threaded into a tenon. These can be removed from the pipe without affecting functionality.
Both can also be sub categorized as,
Straight through- meaning the smoke path is inline with the tenon/draft hole
Tangent- meaning that the smoke path deviates from the path between the tenon/ draft hole.
They can be categorized into a few different things.
Integral- a stinger that is a non-removable part of the tenon, often having screw threads that interact with the mortise.
Removable- a stinger that is interference fit or threaded into a tenon. These can be removed from the pipe without affecting functionality.
Both can also be sub categorized as,
Straight through- meaning the smoke path is inline with the tenon/draft hole
Tangent- meaning that the smoke path deviates from the path between the tenon/ draft hole.
The majority of my smoking is done in old Kaywoodies, and to a lesser extent Lee’s.
I have a collection, but am by no means a collector-therefore I have integral stingers, cut integral stingers and pipes with removable stingers removed.
Pipes with stingers (cut, removed, and intact) all tend to gather moisture at the attachment fixture of stem to shank. Dissimilar materials and disruption in airflow probably is the cause (I’m no engineer).
I like these pipes because stinger or not, I can unscrew them and blow out the collected moisture mid-smoke when necessary, wether or not I have a pipe cleaner handy. Conventional mortise/tenon I need to keep a cleaner for gurgles, and I smoke fast enough that I can get a gurgle in almost any pipe.
To the point of me not claiming collector status, I do tinker with pipes with intact stingers. I usually will file the airway opening on the stinger to allow the max airflow possible, but leave the stinger intact. If a pipe is received with a cut stinger, I will cleanup and chamfer the neutered remains for best airflow as well.
Here’s two examples I happen to be carrying in my lunchbox that will be seeing 2-3 smokes each today.
First is a KW Drinkless that I’ve opened up the draft hole on the existing stinger, and second is a KW 7409 Thorn that came to me with stinger cut-I actually just chamfered and cleaned it up this morning before seeing this thread.
I make such modifications because I’m not worried about resale value, I just get a kick out of smoking old American pipes as daily beaters in the same manner of use most members here reserve for cobs (and these old briars take the beating actually as well, if not better than my cobs).
As always, YMMV, and the only person that’s gotta like what you choose to do you’ll find in the mirror
I have a collection, but am by no means a collector-therefore I have integral stingers, cut integral stingers and pipes with removable stingers removed.
Pipes with stingers (cut, removed, and intact) all tend to gather moisture at the attachment fixture of stem to shank. Dissimilar materials and disruption in airflow probably is the cause (I’m no engineer).
I like these pipes because stinger or not, I can unscrew them and blow out the collected moisture mid-smoke when necessary, wether or not I have a pipe cleaner handy. Conventional mortise/tenon I need to keep a cleaner for gurgles, and I smoke fast enough that I can get a gurgle in almost any pipe.
To the point of me not claiming collector status, I do tinker with pipes with intact stingers. I usually will file the airway opening on the stinger to allow the max airflow possible, but leave the stinger intact. If a pipe is received with a cut stinger, I will cleanup and chamfer the neutered remains for best airflow as well.
Here’s two examples I happen to be carrying in my lunchbox that will be seeing 2-3 smokes each today.
First is a KW Drinkless that I’ve opened up the draft hole on the existing stinger, and second is a KW 7409 Thorn that came to me with stinger cut-I actually just chamfered and cleaned it up this morning before seeing this thread.
I make such modifications because I’m not worried about resale value, I just get a kick out of smoking old American pipes as daily beaters in the same manner of use most members here reserve for cobs (and these old briars take the beating actually as well, if not better than my cobs).
As always, YMMV, and the only person that’s gotta like what you choose to do you’ll find in the mirror
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