Your Disappointing Pipe: Ugly, Runs Hot, etc.
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I don't have a picture of it on hand, but I had an Ashton tanblast straight poker that felt like it was going to combust into flames everytime I smoked it, no matter what I tried. Needless to say, I got rid of it. It was a visually beautiful piece, so I was very disappointed
I don’t keep disappointing pipes. They were all destined for the trash heap. My Peterson 305 that i bought in Cork. It broke my heart.
This is one of the cheapest brigham pipes you can buy, 49usd on smokingpipes.com.
Out of 8 pipes I have (some inherited, some bought new and some bought used), this is the only one that really disappointed me. I do like the shape and the feel of the rustication, but it's really not finished properly. The black stain never stops coming off. After using it for over 30 times, it still darkens my fingers. Very unpleasant.
Also, it gets hot very quickly and did get burnt at the bottom. Wasn't smoking fast and this never happened to me before or after with any other pipes. Well.. it gave me a chance to work with pipe mud and now it smokes fine. I am more conscious with my cadence while smoking this one tho.
I might have picked up a lemon, but now I try to avoid getting pipes that are too cheap
1. An eltang pencil shank dublin which smoked so hot that it really was impossible to use.
2. All four F. Becker pipes that I have owned. Love how they look. Every one gurgled and whistled.
3. I once loved my Castello 10s. However, is it possible for Castello to produce a tapered stem? How about one that is at least close....
2. All four F. Becker pipes that I have owned. Love how they look. Every one gurgled and whistled.
3. I once loved my Castello 10s. However, is it possible for Castello to produce a tapered stem? How about one that is at least close....
With many hundreds of pipes passing through my hands over the past few decades, I only recall two objectively bad ones:
- Jockey brand, leather-covered pot that smoked like a zinc incinerator burning yesterday's garbage
- Nording 2000 Hunter pipe, the "boar." Loved the pipe and tried everything, but I couldn't keep it from gurgling.
Those two are long gone, and I think both were aberrations. I certainly have had plenty of fantastic Nordings -- two of which remain in my now-savagely-culled pipe collection.
- Jockey brand, leather-covered pot that smoked like a zinc incinerator burning yesterday's garbage
- Nording 2000 Hunter pipe, the "boar." Loved the pipe and tried everything, but I couldn't keep it from gurgling.
Those two are long gone, and I think both were aberrations. I certainly have had plenty of fantastic Nordings -- two of which remain in my now-savagely-culled pipe collection.
Just threw my one troublesome pipe away. Smoked great, ugly as sin and absolutely reeked of old lady perfume. I sanded it down and it still stunk so in the trash it went. Felt good.
Never had this issue. If they fail to meet my standards, into the trash they go.
I had a Savinelli that had a church warden stem and stretched out bowl. These things are called "opera" bowls. It was stamped "Gandalf". Only cost $100 so I bought it. Couldn't get it to work for me. Sold it through Pipestud.
I have stopped buying any pipes with filters or filter adapter. They require me to break the pipes down every time to get the condensation that forms around the filter adapter. I have only one with a 9mm filter and the adapter is a pain to deal with so I will most likely give it away to a newbie who wants it. The 6mm adapters are more manageable to me but I still dislike the gap they can leave in the stem if the filter sits too far back. I have no problem with people using filters. It is just a personal preference of mine, and I don't believe them to offer any sort of health benefit as they just ensure that more fine particulates constitute the smoke that passes through anyway and we are not inhaling like in cigarettes. I do see some advantage in the balsa wood "filters" in removing some moisture, but that has also not been a problem for me personally.
One note is that I did have one pipe that I thought I disliked very much as it ran hot and never made blends taste good to me, but I just kept "working" on breaking it in by choofing down full bowls of burley flake twice daily for a week and once I got a solid bowl break in, it is now very much improved so maybe don't be so quick to toss one aside if you have the patience.
One note is that I did have one pipe that I thought I disliked very much as it ran hot and never made blends taste good to me, but I just kept "working" on breaking it in by choofing down full bowls of burley flake twice daily for a week and once I got a solid bowl break in, it is now very much improved so maybe don't be so quick to toss one aside if you have the patience.
My clay pipes have been my biggest disappointment so far. Tight draws, gurgles, and not much I can do to fix them. Sure, in theory I could use my driest tobacco and most immaculate sipping/breath-smoking technique, and that does help, but that much focus gets in the way of my relaxation, and sometimes that's not the tobacco I want to smoke anyway.
Makes sense if they weren't doing it for you. They sound like they were lookers; too bad they didn't perform as well as they looked.
Another with no pic. I usually don't feel bad about passing on a "bad smoker" as many I thought were bad had great results in other people's hands. The one I feel bad about passing on is an old Tim West that gurgled no matter what I did. The pipe has subsequently come up for sale no less than 5 times. I haven't seen it up for sale in about 5 years so maybe it found a home or maybe one of you trashed it. Sad because it was beautiful but dang did gurgle.
Most of the time I can fix a pipe with an issue like gurgling, smoking hot, bad draw....
The one thing you can't fix easily is an uncomfortable stem.
And, they can be very difficult to spot without putting it in your mouth. Ive seen plenty of pipes where the stem looks comfortable, but turns out to be too fat, too thin too curved.....
I'm getting better at spotting the bad ones, but they still fool me sometimes.
Too wide is the worst for me....can't stand them.
The one thing you can't fix easily is an uncomfortable stem.
And, they can be very difficult to spot without putting it in your mouth. Ive seen plenty of pipes where the stem looks comfortable, but turns out to be too fat, too thin too curved.....
I'm getting better at spotting the bad ones, but they still fool me sometimes.
Too wide is the worst for me....can't stand them.
