Wooden filters vs charcoal filters

[wlrountree]

The only pipe I own that smokes flake tobacco well is a 9mm filtered Big Ben. When I purchased the pipe, I ordered the charcoal filters for it. I intended for it to be an aromatic pipe, but the first time I put a flake in it, I changed my mind. I was just window shopping on the internet today and saw that they make the balsa wood filters for a 9mm pipe as well. I've never smoked a pipe with any wooden filter, but this peaked my interest. Does anyone have any experience with the wooden filters and charcoal filters. I've used the paper rolled style filters before in cobs and they seemed to take more away from the smoke than the charcoal. What can I expect from the wooden style; more specifically, the 9mm wooden filters.

 

[pagan]

Toss the filter altogether, just my 2ct :puffpipe:

 

[tuold]

What pagan said. I've never found filters to be of any use at all. I've tried some of the balsa filters from Savinelli and I can taste it in the smoke. It's not a bad taste, sort of reminds me when I built model planes as a kid. It's just that I'd rather just taste the tobacco.

 

[ray47]

I don't use filters, but if I did I would prefer the Savinelli Balsa filters because they don't get as soggy as the charcoal filters like the Medico brand.

 

[stvalentine]

I like filters for absorbing the moisture and would use all of them: Activated coal, meerschaum, balsa or even the ones form Denicotea with the crystals. Having said that I have a lot of non-filtered pipes as well and I can´t taste any restriction in aroma or taste whatsoever in comparison with the filter pipes.
In the end there is only one way to find out what works for you - try them all.

 

[dread]

Don't let people tell you what to do, decide for yourself.
The balsa filters let more of the taste through and smoke with better flow at first. They are more expensive but you can reuse them, up to four times allegedly, though I only use them twice. You only use charcoal filters once. Both types remove an enormous amount of particulate matter. When smoking without a filter I find that there is a long lasting and fairly strong. Not so with the filters. They also remove a lot of the nicotine and virtually eliminate tongue bite. I became very sensitive to nicotine and find the filters really help a lot. I also really enjoy Aros now.
I find the balsa 9mm filters quite good for flavor and would give them a shot with a VA flake for sure.

 

[wlrountree]

Thanks for the responses. I only use the filter because some how, some way that's the difference. I've tried smoking the pipe without the filter and it's just not the same. It's the only filter pipe that I smoke and I only put VA flakes in it. Thanks dread and valentine for giving me some information about the filters. I do believe I will throw some of the balsa filters in my cart the next time I make an order. They are more expensive but I don't mind spending a little more if it makes the smoke better.

 

[tschiraldi]

+1 Pagan. Ditch the filters!

 

[64alex]

As said do your personal test and see what is best for you. In part depends also from the pipe you use. Pipes designed for filters such as most of the corn cob and some of the Savinelli are more likely to benefit from filtering. The reason of filters is to absorb moisture and block tobacco particles being aspirated in the stem and pipes designed for filtering used with no filters have an increased incidence of these two issues. I have both filtered (corn cob) and unfiltered pipes. I think the balsa filters are superior as they just absorb moisture and block particle with very little if any effect on the smoke itself. I prefer to use filters in filtered pipes. As a note in the unfiltered pipes I use brass screens in order to block tobacco to go to the stem and also they make the smoke drier decreasing moisture as they make a little cooling chamber below the screen. But as said make your own tests.

 

[balkisobrains]

Try a 6mm balsa triangle filter in the 9mm pipe. I can still pass a pipe-cleaner that way. I cut my own and use 'em once and throw away, but you can buy them if you want to.
Brass screen in the pipe? No thanks. If it gets hot enough, that can oxidize and flake away. Try some meerschaum chips down there. It will hoist up the tobacco above the bottom and draught hole, and will somewhat prevent pieces from falling down into the hole. Plus it offers a drier smoking characteristic, does not really alter the flavor, and retains just a bit of early-bowl flavor waiting for you at the end. These in conjunction with a balsa filter seem to work great together, because I think that the chips stay warm and allow condensation to happen later on, around where the balsa filter is, instead of in the bottom of the bowl. The deni-cool crystals that go in the bottom really pull a lot of flavor out during the entire smoke. I would guess that the deni-cool inserts would act similarly, as well as activated charcoal in the bowl or in an insert. You could try meer inserts, but then you can't pass a cleaner.

 

[woodsroad]

FWIW, the balsa wood bits that you put in a pipe stem are not filters. Nothing passes through them. They are there to absorb moisture, and I find they do a good job of it. Especially nice if you smoke outdoors in cold weather, when moisture condenses in the cold pipe stem and causes gurgle, the balsa "filters" draw up that moisture, eliminate the need to run pipe cleaners all the time and make for a more enjoyable, less tedious smoke.

 

[dread]

The Savinelli balsa filter system is a filter. From Savinelli's site:
http://www.savinelli.it/en/balsa-system
They call it a filter, it removes particulates like a filter, and reduces nicotine (77%) like a filter.
Walks like a duck, quacks like a duck, must be a filter ( or something like that).

 

[64alex]

[The Savinelli balsa filter system is a filter. From Savinelli's site:
http://www.savinelli.it/en/balsa-system
They call it a filter, it removes particulates like a filter, and reduces nicotine (77%) like a filter.
Walks like a duck, quacks like a duck, must be a filter ( or something like that).]
That's correct as technically even if removing only moisture it is a filter as it filters out moisture. I find however that the Balsa "filter" other than removing moisture and blocking tobacco particles are less intrusive in the remaining smoke. I know they claim they reduce nicotine by 77% but I am not sure how much it is real and much it is marketing on this regard.

 

[dread]

Quack quack.

 

[woodsroad]

Not a filter.
A filter functions by retaining or blocking things as materials pass through it. Nothing passes through the balsa bits, they just soak stuff up. That makes them absorbents, not filters.
Savinelli might call them filters, however they are incorrect.

 

[dread]

I use them every day and I promise you smoke passes through them, not just around them, which is also not coincidentally why you can only use them a few times - they get plugged up! If stuff wasn't passing through them then why, or how, do they get plugged up?
Brigham' Rock Maple insert, different design and mechanism, where the smoke does not pass through the wood. But not so with the balsa filters.
And they quack. But very quietly.

 

[stvalentine]

I am quite with Woodsroad with that. You won´t be able to blow through a balsa filter, that´s why they have the grooves. But anyhow, it´s what they make of our smoking and to each his own I´d say.

 

[wlrountree]

All good information guys. keep it coming

 

[stvalentine]

Maybe you want to try meerschaum chunks or even Denicotea filter crystals in your bowl. They absorb a lot of the nasty stuff before it even reaches the filter. I am using the Denicotea crystals since a week or two and love them. Keeps the bowl much dryer.

 

[dread]

Well boo. I'm outvoted by some Smart guys, but they do filter out the bad stuff despite the claim that they aren't filters.
Perhaps they don't quack, though . . .