What to do with Pipes that Just Don't Click?

[boston]

I have never tossed a pipe. My poodle ate one, and I dropped one or two and broke them. But the ones that don't work for me I polish up and clean and pass it on to someone in some cases, and in others like some well carved wide - bowl artisan pipes and a dunhill I was gifted...I keep trying and hope my technique improves!

 

[bullet08]

It's in your head. Anything other than Peterson looks like shit to me. Get rid of it and pick up another Dunhill.

 

[LeafErikson]

Donate to a thrift store. Give to a friend. If higher end, sell it here.

What he meant to say was..

 

[starrynight]

With neither being virgin briar, difference in residual ghosting can significantly affect flavor. Even minute difference in packing pressure and smoking cadence can make the difference between night and day. A pipe is just a straw, once broken in its adopted many flavors that have been through it, and if new, it'll mute flavors until broken in.

Yeah, I can get onboard with that.

 

[craig61a]

Spend a few months hyping up the brand here in the forums then turn around and sell them here for big bucks!!!

 

[shermnatman]

It's a tough call.

I've got this one beautiful fully bent acorn pipe which has never smoked right.

It lives in the rack and I look at it from time to time, much like a parent would look at their out-of-whack teenager, who you love; but, you know just can't get it together.

Somehow, you hope that magically, with time, it will change.

So, every other blue moon, I give it yet 'one more chance', and once again, it fails to perform.

I'm too cheap to throw it away; and, I'm too honest to stick someone else with my 'problem child'. - Sherm Natman

 

[alsatmem]

Title says it all. I've been an a virginia/vaper run for a few months know and decided to try some of my favorite English Westminster. It, just, sucked. So much so, that I filled my dunhill with a bowl and did back to backs, before realizing it was the pipe. In the dunhill it was amazing. In this Peterson, I couldn't get the intricacies--at all.

I've tried a few different blends in this pipe, and, they all come off incredibly muted and one dimensional. It's a very large bowl, which I thought were supposed to do well with English's. I'm bummed by this, and dropped a good amount on it.

Any suggestions? Keep it and come back to it over the years and see if it jives better? What do you do when a pipe just doesn't work for you?

If you’re certain it’s not ghosted, be done with it. Life’s too short for a bad pipe.

 

[B.Fee]

Mine just sit, alone, on a Desert island. Hoping to someday be picked up.

 

[Pipeoff]

Trash em if it’s there’s something objectively wrong (bad drilling for example). If it’s something subjective (chamber size isn’t my preference, bit doesn’t clench comfortably) I’ll try to trade or sell it on the forum. If that doesn’t work I trade it in to SP for store credit.

Right sell the looser to some one on this forum ?

 

[didimauw]

So how many times have you smoked this pipe? If I read this right, it sounds like your favorite tobacco is delicious in your favorite broken in pipe, but you hate it in a new pipe?

 

[reloader]

There are a lot of Peterson lovers here, so just put it up for sale or trade and you'll be rid of it in no time.

 

[Doctor Chopper]

I take it as a challenge to find the right tobacco and technique to make it a great smoker

 

[Silvrbdgr]

I think weather plays a part too. Barometric pressure, humidity and such. Some days I can smoke my favorites and the taste and aromas are very pleasing. Other days, just kind of "meh". I haven't figured out the correlation yet, but that's the only difference I can determine.

 

[Doctor Chopper]

I think weather plays a part too. Barometric pressure, humidity and such. Some days I can smoke my favorites and the taste and aromas are very pleasing. Other days, just kind of "meh". I haven't figured out the correlation yet, but that's the only difference I can determine.

This is a HUGE factor for us up north. Smoking pipes is so much simpler when I vacation in the south or in summer over winter. Tobacco is more finicky in the cold weather, even indoors without wind or cold just with a lower humidity. Cold air is heavier and has higher concentration of oxygen.

 

[LeafErikson]

Right sell the looser to some one on this forum ?

Wow someone didn't learn how to read in elementary school. You must either not know the difference between subjective and objective or just be trolling. After perusing your previous posts I'm going to go with the latter.

 

[mso489]

I'm with wyfbane on this. Send it to SP for a few bucks of store credit on a pipe you think will be more satisfying. This is an opportunity to cull the herd and get rid of this one and maybe a few others that aren't fulfilling their spot on the rack.

Someone else might find these good enough, and you'll likely be pleased with a new or new-to-you pipe.

 

[ThermionicScott]

Title says it all. I've been an a virginia/vaper run for a few months know and decided to try some of my favorite English Westminster. It, just, sucked. So much so, that I filled my dunhill with a bowl and did back to backs, before realizing it was the pipe. In the dunhill it was amazing. In this Peterson, I couldn't get the intricacies--at all.

I've tried a few different blends in this pipe, and, they all come off incredibly muted and one dimensional. It's a very large bowl, which I thought were supposed to do well with English's. I'm bummed by this, and dropped a good amount on it.

Any suggestions? Keep it and come back to it over the years and see if it jives better? What do you do when a pipe just doesn't work for you?

What model is it, out of curiosity? Have you tried Virginia/VaPers in it as well, or just a variety of English blends? Is the draw too tight, or does it whistle/gurgle?

My first answer to this thread was pretty glib, but in some cases, sitting on a pipe that I didn't like at first and trying other blends in it has eventually produced a match. When a pipe doesn't work for me, I figure there's an above-average chance that the problem is just beyond the button.

 

[Sjmiller CPG]

Try to figure out why. Bowl coating? Dye in the bowl? Drilling off? Try cleaning the stem?

 

[jpmcwjr]

A pipe that doesn't work for smoker A might be a total treat for smoker B.

 

[BarrelProof]

This is a HUGE factor for us up north. Smoking pipes is so much simpler when I vacation in the south or in summer over winter. Tobacco is more finicky in the cold weather, even indoors without wind or cold just with a lower humidity.

It is?