Give It A Rest.

[Kyle Weiss]

Greg Pease provides a follow-up to the notion of "smoke the hell out of it" (read this one first, if you will... http://pipesmagazine.com/blog/out-of-the-ashes/the-virtue-of-persistence/ )... by going into theory on the hows and whys of pipe resting.

http://pipesmagazine.com/blog/out-of-the-ashes/give-it-a-rest/

A lot of you likely read Greg's seemingly random columns over at pipesmagazine.com, but check (as eagerly as I can with work) for new updates. This one was important to me.

As mentioned, Greg outlines the typical discussion of "to rest" or "not to rest," and the camps drawing lines in the sand therein. That's all fine and dandy, folks can have a field day on that stuff. Me? I'm generally a "rester" in regard to my briar. I guess I started doing it on suggestions in my "new phase" and it hasn't treated me wrong so far. Then again, I've gone after cobs in marathon smokes and they've sometimes seemed to smoke better. Certain briars, when I go against my "resting" norm also seem to smoke a little better when smoked day-to-day--usually when I'm out of town, after a day of work, and I only have three pipes to last me a week or more. Gasp if you will, but sometimes they don't even get a proper cleaning. Each pipe seems to have its own needs, at least in my case.

The part that really spoke to me, personally, was the idea of "palate fatigue." I probably get this more than most do, because I only smoke one or two bowls per day--anything more, and I have at least a couple days of recovery from overindulgence. The tongue is raw, the roof of the mouth sometimes feels leathery (yet sensitive), and naturally, things don't taste right (food and drink, as well). That's if I didn't smoke so many bowls at Tinder Box or with friends that I'm not getting perpetual tongue bite from the mildest of tobaccco. Hot wings are out of the question. :lol:

Also, it was great to read something I had already "known" but taken for granted: the tobacco's flavor strength. Something strong is likely always to come through in some regard, but more subtle blends that rely on their own delicate makeup to deliver your smokey nirvana have a challenge to overcome, whether it be "palate fatigue" or the fact your pipe might have been smoked hard and put away wet. Or then again, not put away and rested at all.

Good food for thought, good experiments and tests from the Pease Laboratories.

 

[Rob_In_MO]

Briars - Yes. I give them 24-48 hours rest in between smoking them again. Sometimes more or less depending upon the blend, but at least 24-hours either way.

Cobs - No. I generally use one Cob for the day. It might be only 1 smoke, might be 4 or 5, but usually the same Cob throughout the day. Of course it's a week before that Cob gets used again, so I guess there is the resting time for it.

Meers - Yes. I only smoke it occasionally, so resting time isn't a concern anyway...

 

[monbla256]

As usual, Greg puts forth some interesting and well written ideas. As for me, I would have to agree with the 24 hour rest idea with briars as well as Meers. I do not smoke cobs so I could not speak about them. Of course, the number of pipes as well as the type of 'bac would have a lot to do with this whole idea. I'm fortunate to have been smoking long enough to be able to enjoy 4/5 bowls a day while allowing each briar to get the mentioned 24 hours due to the quantity of pipes I own. But I do have a few pipes which seem to have a remarkable "recovery" ability such that I have smoked them more than once in a 24 hour period, but only a few. And it does depend on which type of tobacco I smoke in them as well as my "tatse" that I desire.

 

[Kyle Weiss]

I know how that is--there's some times I've really been into a particular flavor or mix/blend that I seem to have run out of the right pipe to put it in, as they were "resting." I have "cheated" a few times and pulled a resting pipe out, and have gotten mixed results. There's a few old briars, however, that respond favorably, and it just helps to get familiar enough with them to know which are more tolerant.

Cobs are usually what I reach for in these situations, more often than not, one is always waiting for me.

That reminds me, I still have yet to smoke my only meer. :|

 

[Puff Daddy]

I've seldom had really good back to back smokes from a pipe. The briar needs a rest. Usually a day is sufficient. I've also not really found a pipe to need more than two days to rest, so the 7 day set notion is not necesary from a practical point. If you smoke one bowl a day, 3 pipes would suffice, given we're talking about 1 kind of tobacco. 3 pipes for each type would seem a reasonable minimum for a rotation. 3 slightly wider, slightly shallower pipes for English/Balkans (author, prince), 3 group 4 straight or bent billiards for ginnyweed, 3 bent ball or bent bulldog variants with 13/16th X 1 1/2 chambers for burleyweed.

Not that I have formed any personal opinions on the subject or anything :lol:

 

[Kyle Weiss]

:lol: Not at all, PD.

The seven-day set thing is kind of silly beyond bragging rights if you have a matched set of briar. Maybe in certain places where humidity is consistently above 90% or something would seven days be a "required" rest period. I think 24 hours is just fine, at least in my neck of the woods. Hell, 12 hours might suffice.

 

[Rob_In_MO]

I think 24 hours is just fine, at least in my neck of the woods. Hell, 12 hours might suffice.

I usually have higher humidity levels here, but some blends (English/Balkan) - Yes, I can get by with 12-hours and no problems. A goopy Aromatic, No.

 

[MisterE]

In general, I've come to expect less than stellar smokes from pipes that I've smoked earlier in the day. Not always, but enough so I do my best to avoid it.

The only time I'll have back-to-back smokes in the same pipe is when I'm out and only have one pipe with me. Knowing I'll be out working and running about, many times that same bowl will be DGT'd three times. I have much less expectation of a "great" smoke under those circumstnces.

Sometimes I'm surprised though. I drove in to work today smoking Bow Legged Bear in a Smoker's Haven basket pipe. Wasn't bad. After the concert all I found in my bag was some crunchy-dry Louisiana Flake. Deciding between that and nothing, I packed it up and smoked away. It ended up being an unusually fine smoke, even with the unrested pipe and Latakia residue. Go figure.

At home I have a different routine.

I'll have one or two pipes that I know work well with whichever blends I have out. If I'm particularly fond of one blend, I might even have three: That way there will always be a rested pipe to grab for. There will be anywhere from 24-48 hours between each pipe's call to duty. Doing it this way is easier when you know your pipes well. Newer pipes will get bounced around until I know where they'll best fit in the roster.

As the active pipes begin to get dirty, they get rotated out and get a long nap. The pipes usually tell you when they need a rest.

 

[Anonymous]

Roughly 15 pipes here, winnowed down from more. All anywhere from good smokers with maybe tight-ish draws (older ones, as-made) to LL fine-tuned, state of the art smokers. And that number is more than enough.

With two tobaccos in play, that's a theoretical seven pipes each.

Factor in that, with age, smoking them has gone from a near compulsion to a planned enjoyment -- the centerpiece of a block of time long enough to accomodate it comfortably.

Pipe smoking when rushed, distracted or otherwise unable to sit, focus and sync with it just doesn't happen any more. (Exceptions : internet surfing & Steeler games).

FWIW, I could get by on one day's rest OK, but not as a long-term arrangement. That's like sports injuries : playing when less than 100% recovered means the residual damage is cumulative -- playing when 98% recovered, followed by playing when 98% recovered from that, followed by playing when 98% recovered from that = playing @ 6% impaired. Etc. When a pipe's not all the way back from its last outing yet, that's the situation you're putting it in : the deterioration in performance is progressive.

On this end, it's not unlike aging tobacco : there are noticeable improvements at intervals. One week's rest about equates to two years' aging of a Virginia flake ; a month (or more) to maybe five years.

I don't recall having a less than bone-dry smoke in even an unaltered ca. 1970-something pipe that's been rested for a long time.

Bottom line choice, IMHO, ends up coming down to quality vs. quantity.

:face:

 

[MisterE]

That's like sports injuries : playing when less than 100% recovered means the residual damage is cumulative -- playing when 98% recovered, followed by playing when 98% recovered from that, followed by playing when 98% recovered from that = playing @ 6% impaired. Etc. When a pipe's not all the way back from its last outing yet, that's the situation you're putting it in : the deterioration in performance is progressive.

Great analogy, Yak!

 

[Harlock999]

When I buy a new pair of pants or a shirt, I tend to follow the manufacturer's cleaning instructions.
Machine wash warm, then air dry? No problem, I can do that.
But after a dozen washes, it really doesn't matter anymore.
The same with a pipe.
I may feel compelled to baby a virgin briar by resting it for a few days, but once it's been well seasoned, I don't think it matters much if it sits for one day or seven. Especially with vintage pipes from the 1950's to the 1970's that have probably been smoked furiously, hundreds of times, without much cleaning.
I would no sooner fret about rest intervals for my pipes as I would my guitars. Pun intended. 8)

 

[George Kaplan]

The other day I was asked by non-pipe-smoking friend, "just how many pipes do you need, anyway?" We've all been asked that, and most of us have fallen back to that age-old excuse of "pipe resting". I happened to be smoking a Jobey Stromboli at the time. (one of the older ones that look like a vaguely pipe-shaped moon rock) I started to explain to him that pipes needed to dry out between smokes, when he interrupted me.
"C'mon, it's plastic!" He said.
I assured him it was, in fact, briar, showing him the smooth underside where the polished grain could be seen.
"Looks like the dashboard of my minivan," he replied.
While most pipe smokers would take offence to the accusation of smoking a plastic pipe, I had to laugh this one off. He's not a pipe smoker; he doesn't KNOW that's a bad thing.
To the subject at hand, I've found humidity does have a lot to do with resting time. In the dead of winter here in the Great Lakes region it gets very dry. A briar pipe smoked before bed will be ready to go in the morning, with no detectable change in smoking quality. In the hot, muggy summer months, however, it seems to take forever. Consequently, my pipe rotation picks up pace through the spring. I smoke a lot of cobs in the summer as well.

 

[Brewdude]

A days rest seems sufficient for my regular smokers. Not had a problem with funky tastes so far.

I've got a 2 pipes that get a daily workout and they're always reliable. One is a Maestro Poker, and the other a Wiley Rhody. Neither were expensive, but have proven to be workhorses.


Cheers,

RR

 

[Rob_In_MO]

While most pipe smokers would take offence to the accusation of smoking a plastic pipe, I had to laugh this one off. He's not a pipe smoker; he doesn't KNOW that's a bad thing.

Glass not Plastic. At least you weren't smoking one of these. :mrgreen:

I don't think drying time really matters here.





Hey - at least it's a freehand... 8)

 

[Kyle Weiss]

Yakster: Interesting theory on not-quite-100%-recovered pipes. Added with that some pipes (as I assume with some athlete's) ability to dry (heal) between smokes all kind of factors in. The pipes, too, all will soak up different amounts of moisture let alone be able to dry differently, simply due to different briar harvested from tree-to-tree. It would make sense to me that a more fibrous briar, dense and not prone to "soaking" would also take longer to dry once it was "full," and the opposite for looser-grained briar that might tend to soak up more (and more quickly) but dry faster.

Harlock: I have gone full-steam ahead with new briars, and babied others--the full-steam ahead pipes seasoned quicker by my reckon, so goes the "smoke the hell out of it" side of things. *shrug* As you said though, you get over it after a while. Kind of like cars, too... when new, you park in the back of the lot. After a few years, you don't get that sinking feeling when you see a shopping cart next to your fender.

GK: Cobs are so forgiving during the summer, but we hover around 5% humidity here. The nice thing is, the cob might soak up a lot, but it seems to gives up the moisture just as quick (similar to what I guess briar does to some degree above), and they smell quite nice once they're all dried out and waiting for another bowl.

 

[idbowman]

I don't know that I've really been too worried about the whole resting business. Have I smoked the same briar more than once a day? Yeah. Have I smoked the same briar back-to-back? Yeah. Are the second smokes better than the first ones? Not usually.

So I generally don't smoke the same briar in the same day...most pipes get anywhere from 24-48 hours rest between smokes, but that's not really a conscious decision, things just seem to work out that way.

 

[Anonymous]

You kind of intuit your way to what works.

:face:

 

[Hermit]

Just buy way too many pipes, then worry
more about smokin' em all than restin' em. :twisted:

 

[s.ireland]

Just buy way too many pipes, then worry
more about smokin' em all than restin' em. :twisted:

Problem solved! :twisted:

Actually, my opinions about resting pipes are similar to most of the replies this thread has accumulated so far...

I don't honestly think about it very much. I usually rest pipes simply because I want to smoke the next one! Sometimes just because I like my pipes and naturally distribute my affection accordingly. Sometimes it's because I'm switching between types of tobaccos.

Like E said: I'll smoke the same pipe back to back, and/or all day if it's the only pipe I have with me. Certain pipes seem more cut out to take that kind of "abuse". I can categorically say that I own a few pipes that, on more than one occasion, have ended the day after a few bowls smoking sweeter than the first bowl! I do clean my pipes fairly well after each smoke. E also mentioned letting pipes rest for long periods every so often... I do this as well but again it's mostly subliminal. I just recently started smoking a Thilo bent brandy after letting it sit on the rack since last October without any action. Why? I don't know lol I just didn't reach for it for months

Like Harlock, I don't worry about smoking pipes that are well-seasoned without resting them.

If its clean, then it will smoke well. This has been my experience. :albino:

 

[SpeedyPete]

Just buy way too many pipes, then worry
more about smokin' em all than restin' em. :twisted:

Yes!!! With 52 pipes at hand, my biggest "problem" is with smoking all of them. Out of this bunch, I usually only smoke about 12 of them. They are my top favourites and they hardly get any rest. And.....they never let me down!!!!!!