Search results

I've got my sights set on a nose-warmer myself. I hope to snag a nice, short Icarus apple at the Nashville pipe show next month. Never owned a nose-warmer before. I'm going through the same process of selecting a go-to blend for it, since I know the general bowl proportions I'm looking for...

Love this idea! I think one problem it might encounter is the ever-pervasive "do what works for you" mentality I see so often on pipe forums. While I totally see/appreciate where this is coming from, I would still point out that we all speak of pipe smoking as an "art," or at least a skillful...

When a bulldog becomes just bull...

Anyone know anything about Mimmo Provenzano pipes? Quality, smokeability, etc.? Any experience with his pipes? I only ask because he has several beautiful shapes on Smokingpipes, and at prices way below normal artisan price points. I'm saving my pennies for an Icarus or Neptune pipe (which...

...And another facet of the hobby opens up. I just watched a video on YouTube documenting the 2014 World Championship slow-smoking competition. The man who won smoked his pipe for 2 hrs, 26 mins. I want to know how. I'm starting from having to re-light every 5 to 10 minutes, so this is an...

This makes sense. Maybe there's a continental difference: American and European. To my knowledge, blends like Old Gowrie are manufactured in Germany, K & K. I do know Pease advertises "Union Square" as completely unadulterated, pure, 100%, no funny business, "just" tobacco. But then, with a...

So, I think I've finally figured out the thing about G L Pease tobacco. I've always found it kind of rough, harsh. But I've been smoking "Sixpence" recently (having discovered a taste for dark fired KY) and it dawned on me that his tobaccos all taste very pure. I love Old Gowrie, Dorchester...

Smokingpipes recently had a blog post concerning Doblone D'Oro. I'll have to revisit that. I do enjoy those medallions. I'm also looking forward to trying some GLP Sixpence I bought. I'm currently in a position where I feel a little shame-faced opening another tin with six or seven halfsies...

For quite some time, Old Gowrie has been my go-to blend. Thus, for years, I figured, "I'm a VA man." And for years I've bounced from disappointing blend to disappointing blend. They all seemed to flake out on me (pun, of course, intended). So the half-emptied jars of tobaccos piled up on my...

So, a friend loaned me his Hackert to try out (he's a good friend), which has a chamber about the size of your average Nording and I loaded it half way--not even--with Gawith Best Brown. Holy smoke, billows upon billows and the first nic'ed-out feeling I've ever experienced. There's simply too...

So, I am in the process of unloading some old pipes in order to afford a new, "the one" pipe (I do not suffer from the common disorder, but suffer instead an idealist dream of the one, true pipe, till death do us part forsaking all others). I've done my homework, and I think a Nording might fit...

Excellent post!  Just a thought to add to the conversation: Whenever I decide to sit down and "deep clean" my pipes, I find that what comes out of the shank on my alcohol soaked cleaners is mostly small (sometimes not so small) pieces of cotton soaked in tar and dried.  I'm starting to wonder...

I rub it out first. I've come to the conclusion that flakes are flakes for storing (they retain their moisture as flakes better than ribbon or the like), but should be rubbed out for smoking like any other tobacco. I know others will disagree with that. I've never had St. James, so I can't...

I thought I would contribute a method of drying.  I'm impatient (aren't we all) and I've found SG flakes especially need a little more than air-time, in my opinion.  I've recently fallen in love with Best Brown Flake, and I've found that placing a bowl's worth on a metal tin lid that I've saved...

I've heard from a few sources that spit/pipe ash (okay, any ash will do) are an excellent way to polish brass, silver, etc. I tried it out on my 10 year old Zippo lighter today. I can't believe how well it worked: ash, a little spit, and a Kleenex and the thing looks almost new. I just thought...

If you had said you bought that for $25 online, I would have believed you. Which means you could probably sell it for $25 online. Get back to that wood pile! Very nice indeed.

It's International Pipe Smoking Day (so the Smokingpipes newsletter tells me).  It's a little late in the day, but any special tobacco picks lit up to celebrate? Mine is a bowl (and a half) of 1-year C&D Bayou Morning, enjoyed as I type in a Stanwell brandy.  Lovely. PS: Enjoyed while I clean...

I bought some Bayou Morning about a year ago and found it rather harsh: dry in the throat and somewhat bitter. So I jarred it up and forgot about it. I just opened it a week ago and it's wonderful! Much smoother to my taste, in taste and aroma. So never give up on a tobacco, at least not a VA...

Second the Sebastien Beos. I have three: no fills and each one drilled to perfection. Two have a reasonably decorative grain to boot. The engineering/smoking quality for the price is really remarkable, at least in my experience. I've owned a Peterson and several Stanwells and, while good...

I always thought it was derived from the process of storing tobacco in rum barrels for transport on ships across the Atlantic. Hence, "navy" implying a rum or rum-like topping? Then again, it most likely bears the same type of meaning as "natural" on many products you see on the market today...