Resting a Pipe... educate me

[Slow Puffs]

What is the purpose of resting a pipe... my assumption has been that a "dry out" time is helpful for the briar.

Why not put your pipe on the window sill in the sunlight during the summer? Or in the winter/colder seasons, why not place the pipe by the heating vent on the floor? (The image I have in PB trucking along for days at a time, placing his pipe near the heating vent in the cab... :sunny: )

Is this a :no: :no: .
-Paul :elephant:

 

[Vito]

Puffs:

The purpose of resting a pipe is so it can drive when you're too tired.

Actually, like just about everything else in the pipeweedic world, there are no hard and fast rules. It depends on the pipe. In my
experience, I only need to dry out a pipe that's wet. Not every pipe gets wet on every smoke. I have some old Caminettos that consistently give the most wonderfully dry smokes. When I get to the bottom, there's nothing but dry ash, and I can reload the pipe and go again if I want. So much depends on the moisture in the tobacco, P-V-T (pressure, volume, temperature) of the ambient air, its relative humidity, the thermodynamics of the pipe itself, the way you smoke, how often you swab out accumulated condensate with a pipe cleaner while you're smoking, and of course the construction of the pipe (e.g., if it's a bent pipe, does it have a moisture trap, or does condensate run back into the bowl?).

For that matter, do you really need to "dry out" a pipe in the first place? Well, if a wet heel doesn't affect the way the pipe smokes or the taste of the tobacco, and you want to burn another bowl, it's your call. I've done it, and I've never seen any long-term ill effects from it. I don't do it as a habit, because I seldom want to smoke two bowls of the same tobacco back-to-back. When it does happen, I don't have any hesitation about reloading and relighting. But I'm usually ready to smoke something else by the time I've finished a bowl, so my pipes usually get time to dry out anyway. It's not something to which I've ever needed to give much attention. Of course, having more pipes than a person could possibly need might have something to do with it. But then, "need" is a relative term.

I wouldn't set a pipe in the sunlight unless I wanted to sun-bleach it to a lighter color, or bake out some residue of a previously burned tobacco, or some other objectionable taste or odor. I use sunlight when I want to do an inspection that requires a light source more intense than any artificial source I have, but I don't leave the pipe there. The only time I've ever done that is when I bought an estate pipe that must have been stored unsmoked in a very damp place for a long time, and had a foul odor. The sunlight treatment helped, but I probably would have needed to repeat it many times for greater effect. Ditto the rock salt and alcohol treatment. I think the thing that has made the most difference is just smoking it...with straight Latakia. :heart: Yum! Due to the graces of pure Latweed, the odor problem has slowly gotten better. If I ever get a round tuit, I'm going to send the pipe to LL and let him whup his magic on it.

In any case, I wouldn't put any pipe near a heating vent. I could probably come up with reasons if I thought about it, but my intuition tells me that it's a pretty severe thing to do. My preliminary sense is that it could cause expansion/contraction fatigue on the mortise and tenon. Also, a forced air heating vent usually contains very low humidity. I'm not so sure it's a good idea to expose a pipe to such severe high-temperature, low-humidity conditions. Just doesn't seem like a good thing to do.

If the pipe is wet, why not just get another pipe off the rack? If it's a tobacco you really like to smoke, you'll probably have more than one pipe dedicated to it anyway.

Vito

 

[thomas james]

Air circulation, not heat, is what drys the moisture out of a pipe. Pipes contained in pipe cabinets don't recover as quickly. I have often thought of a "drying chamber' that would circulate air through the pipe. cksbak could rig up something and sell a ton of em if they were priced right. Even a small light, 25 watt, could add warmth and de-humidify things. I would think even a small fan placed in front of a rack of pipes would do wonders. The trick would be to provide a constant low level movement of air through the pipes. Warm dry air would help but any movement of air would do it. I bet this would eliminate many salt/alcohol baths. C'mon cksbak PSPR&R. I keep feeding you guys revealations and you keep and :bounce: !


:clown: tj

 

[Slow Puffs]

Vito, those are helpful comments and observations (U 2 TJ). I have left a pipe on the window sill or air vent but not for long. The truthiness (Colbert) is, as you share, when you got many pipes, why do it? But I always wondered about potential damage.

-Paul :elephant:

 

[Anonymous]

What is the purpose of resting a pipe... my assumption has been that a "dry out" time is helpful for the briar.

The "dry-out time" is, indeed helpful for the pipe. In the longer run (day after day) it's essential.

The purpose of resting a pipe : Tobacco smoke contains moisture. In the course of smoking, said moisture accumulates toward the bottom of the bowl and -- especially -- in the narrow throat behind the bowl. Some of this is removed via pipe cleaner after you're finished, but some remains. Especially in the throat and in the heel of the bowl. (Note : the heel may well feel dry while the bowl's still warm. But half an hour later, once the humidity relative to temperature thing has kicked in, the actual state of affairs shows itself). (A lot of people sprinkle ashes into the bottom after cleaning to absorb what they can, blowing them out before the next smoking).

This moist glook contains all kinds of sugars and other hydrocarbons that, if allowed to remain soggy, ferment and mildew.

The way you keep the excellent taste residue from previous smokings (which you want) while avoiding sour pipe syndrome is to keep it clean and allow it to thoroughly dry out between outings.

The best way to do this in the shortest time is to leave the stem out of the stummel, both in a place where air can circulate. In the summer, I park mine in front of fans.

By the time you've accumulated 50 (or 500) pipes, you won't need this kind of drill perhaps. But while you're still in the situation of getting the most milage you can out of two or three, I suspect you'll find this a good way to look at it and go about it.

:face:

 

[howellhandmade]

If a pipe has a vulcanite stem, leaving it in sunlight is a Really Bad Idea. Unless you happen to *like* a military olive drab stem. Won't happen instantly, of course, but over time.

Jack

 

[Anonymous]

If a pipe has a vulcanite stem, leaving it in sunlight is a Really Bad Idea. Unless you happen to *like* a military olive drab stem. Won't happen instantly, of course, but over time.

Little worry about that up where Mr. Puffs lives, Jack... They get to see the sun for one day per year. Just a faint, silvery disc that peeks above the horizon for a couple minutes at noon each June 20th. The rest of the time they play hockey in the dark on snowmobiles while drinking Moosehead and listening to Gordon Lightfoot.

 

[thomas james]

:ewe: are soooooooooo sympatico.

:king: tj

 

[Slow Puffs]

That's why I have been assigned the :elephant: :elephant: .

Paul :elephant:

 

[thomas james]

Maybe one way to answer the resting issue is for some of us to describe their own routines. Mine is very basic. I have eighteen pipes evenly divided into two categories, English and Va. I rotate through them in a strict systematic rotation, a "line up." Two pipes come "up" every day, one for each category. I will smoke vas early and mid day then english for the evening and late nights. A pipe can get as many as three or four bowls smoked in it back to back or as few as one bowl. I use cleaners during a smoke so as to wick out moisture before it can accumulate. At the end of the day they go home to the pipe rack and the next day two more pop up. I don't fret over how many times a given pipe gets smoked in a given day. Rack time then becomes nine days per pipe. Appears to be plenty of rest. Never encounter a sweat sock pipe. Probably less time would also work for me, but that's a function of the number of pipes I own. I will add new pipes over time and rest time will therefore increase. My best guess is that I could probably do quite well with this procedure and six pipes, three for each category.

tj

 

[luckydogguy]

I can't believe how much I'm learning by just reading other peoples posts! You guys are great!


Thanks,
Lucky

 

[Anonymous]

Maybe one way to answer the resting issue is for some of us to describe their own routines.

Seeing as Wessex BC is getting a rest at the moment (hardly any left in the jar, and not inclined to open another tin soon) the Wessex Bulldogs (sounds like a football team) have the winter off.

Which leaves the Embarcadero Project billiards. Which are just coming back around again after LatMan roto-rootings & stems. These are five in number, with one getting smoked every day -- kind of Tee Jay-like. Sometimes once, sometimes twice.

When each is done for the evening, it gets its stem pulled, cleaned, the tenon face wiped and put aside. The stummel gets its airway cleaned with a doubled-over cleaner (another Tee Jay-ism, I think -- surprising how much more gunk comes out this way) and the headspace (these are all old-timers) cleaned by twisting in a rolled-up kleenex. If the bottom of a bowl feels at all dampish after it's cooled, it gets a pipe nail load or two of fine grey ash out of the empty tin this is kept in for the purpose. This is mashed down with the little finger to absorb everything possible. After an hour or so, once it's done it's thing, this gets loosened and poured out.

The two halves stay apart until the next day, usually. Then it goes back into its spot in the rotation rack. In the summer, when there's a fan going, this speeds up the drying process. As does leaving it on a windowsill when the window's open in nice weather.

The Robusto pipes, being kind of in the mood food category, have no set regimen since My Lady Embarcadera's been pretty much monopolising my attention.

For whatever this is worth (if anything).

:face:

 

[thomas james]

For whatever this is worth (if anything).

:face:

Lots.