Still finding my pipe legs, looking for advice

[kieveryuu]

This is my first post outside of the “welcome” thread. Therefore it seems only right to post a picture of two of my pipes. My first pipe acquired in early November and my most recent pipe (making nine in hand with a 10th in the mail) which arrived Monday. Photographed on a tin of Peterson Sweet Killarney which Dreadgerbil gifted me.

The first pipe is a no name bulldog stamped “imported briar” which is a good smoke now that I have some practice with it. At fist it gurgled a lot, which it does not anymore, now I get a good clean smoke with some black cavendish. The second and smaller pipe is my new, very very lightly smoked estate, Big Ben “Jockey”. The Jockey is now my shortest pipe and I have yet to smoke it.

Ok, as to my request for advice: I am interested in what tips you knowledgeable individuals have regarding a general rule of thumb for matching different pipe styles with different tobacco type. Some of it is personal preference, which is one more reason I seek your input. Especially as I am building my tobacco collection right now and also as I think about what to smoke in such a short pipe.

 

[alfredo_buscatti]

Take this with a grain of salt, but it's my experience that different pipes have little or nothing to do with optimizing the experience of a certain tobacco; but for my view there are probably 25 who would say the opposite.

As long as a pipe is a good smoker:

correctly drilled
doesn't gurgle (although gurgle can be caused by tobacco that is overly moist, and, I suppose, poor packing)
a stem that fits one's teeth, that is comfortable, and if you prefer, can be clenched
is a pipe that you like to smoke
etc.

it's my belief that any tobacco can be smoked in it and render a satisfying experience. But we're talking about the best experience. For me the best experience comes from how well I smoke that pipe—smoking slowly—and how much I pay attention to the tobacco tastes, my concentration.

There's an active thread about "Flakes and Flake Tobacco." I love flakes and have smoked a good deal of them in many pipes, but I've never found a pipe that is especially suited to flakes.

See the thread in this forum "Good Flake Pipe" for more information.

 

[jogilli]

oohhhh boy.. is this thread going to start a good 'debate'

I agree w/mike.. I mix and match tobaccos and pipes all the time.. all of my tobaccos have been smoked in Briar, Morta, and Cobs..

james

 

[riff raff]

Good advice from Mike, you'll get 100 different answers. Reading them will help, than, you'll have to find your own style. Btw, welcome to the forum!

 

[Dave_In_Philly]

AB said it best, no need to worry about it. Particularly when your starting out and only have a couple of pipes. IMHO this is a topic that is best not researched, but leaned by experience. Don't go out looking for a pipe that smokes flakes, but smoke flakes in your pipes and see if one does a better job than the others, etc.

 

[Ol'Dawg]

Along the same lines, you'll find that some pipes like certain tobaccos better than others. For example I have a Rad Davis squashed tomato that loves MacBaren Navy Flake. That tobacco tastes better and smokes better in that pipe than any other pipe I have. Why? I have no idea but just happened to find out one day.

As others have said... just experiment to find out what suits you best.

Jim..my ha'pence if that

 

[dshpipes]

it's my belief that any tobacco can be smoked in it and render a satisfying experience. But we're talking about the best experience. For me the best experience comes from how well I smoke that pipe—smoking slowly—and how much I pay attention to the tobacco tastes, my concentration.

This ^

Along the same lines, you'll find that some pipes like certain tobaccos better than others. For example I have a Rad Davis squashed tomato that loves MacBaren Navy Flake. That tobacco tastes better and smokes better in that pipe than any other pipe I have. Why? I have no idea but just happened to find out one day.

As others have said... just experiment to find out what suits you best.

And this ^

 

[Wayne_Teipen]

I've found that the best thing to do is experiment to find out what best suits you. I don't always follow conventional wisdom when it comes to paring tobaccos with chamber sizes/pipe shapes. Like AB says, it's far more important to smoke your pipes well to get the best flavor from your tobacco.

 

[kieveryuu]

Thanks all. Figured it would be largely subjective. The pipes I am smoking vary a lot in bowl size, my favorites are tending to the taller bowls, maybe a 2-to1 ratio of bowl depth to ID. It really comes down to just having smoked only few tobaccos that I am looking for the tips, ideas and opinions. For instance, a few weeks ago I stopped into the local tobacconist and picked up a new tobacco. On the walk there I had a fine smoke. Once there I packed the pipe with the new tobacco and it was really hot. At this point, I am thinking it was as much my packing (if not all because of my packing) as much to the tobacco being moist right out of the bag.

It sounds like what I need to do is just really enjoy my favorite pipes in rotation with different tobaccos and enjoy the ride. (Always good advice.)

Then a more focused question, do you find a different pack is required with a shorter stem pipe? Or does it just come back to rhythm?

 

[Zeno Marx]

It sounds like what I need to do is just really enjoy my favorite pipes in rotation with different tobaccos and enjoy the ride. (Always good advice.)

Yep. Make your own path. To me, that is the essence of things like smoking a pipe. This is one of the downsides of the internet, easy/quick information age. Too much information. Too many opinions. Too many ideas to cloud developing one's own. It can be a bit poisonous at the beginning of a journey.

 

[kieveryuu]

Excellent point Zeno. Thankfully I have had something of a breakthrough with my pipe packing and my favorite pipes just became a whole lot nicer.

Thank you guys for the feedback.

 

[riff raff]

Excellent point Zeno. Thankfully I have had something of a breakthrough with my pipe packing and my favorite pipes just became a whole lot nicer.

Thank you guys for the feedback.

Good deal! The pipe always talks back to you, but sometimes we don't listen...

 

[Dreadgerbil]

Excellent point Zeno. Thankfully I have had something of a breakthrough with my pipe packing and my favorite pipes just became a whole lot nicer.

Thank you guys for the feedback.

when I was first smoking I had a lot of issues with packing. I'd mostly go by the thirds rule, but often I'd end up with the burned tongue or a gurgling pipe.
It still happens once in a while if I haven't cleaned my pipe properly or if the tobacco is too moist or too dry. That's my fault for not paying enough attention, though!

You're doing really well on your journey and I'm pretty sure you'll have a good hand on it soon!

 

[Smoker99]

I agree, this is all pretty subjective. A well made pipe will smoke about everything well, not to say some blends do not smoke better in some pipes than others. I think that is mostly about the briar source curing/aging than anything else though. I smoke multi constituent blends (English) and burley in larger bowls. One thing I learned late, is nosewarmers really do not smoke any hotter than anything else, and I now like them. Tobacco burns at several hundred degrees, and the warm smoke travels thru a shank and stem. There just isn't that much cooling going on in say an inch and a half difference for your mouth to notice.

 

[monbla256]

Take this with a grain of salt, but it's my experience that different pipes have little or nothing to do with optimizing the experience of a certain tobacco; but for my view there are probably 25 who would say the opposite.

As long as a pipe is a good smoker:

correctly drilled
doesn't gurgle (although gurgle can be caused by tobacco that is overly moist, and, I suppose, poor packing)
a stem that fits one's teeth, that is comfortable, and if you prefer, can be clenched
is a pipe that you like to smoke
etc.

it's my belief that any tobacco can be smoked in it and render a satisfying experience. But we're talking about the best experience. For me the best experience comes from how well I smoke that pipe—smoking slowly—and how much I pay attention to the tobacco tastes, my concentration.

There's an active thread about "Flakes and Flake Tobacco." I love flakes and have smoked a good deal of them in many pipes, but I've never found a pipe that is especially suited to flakes.

See the thread in this forum "Good Flake Pipe" for more information.

As you broaden your smoking taste, tobacco wise, the pipe itself will tell you what it "likes" . I have some full Latakia blends I like that smoke equally well in different size, finish and shapes. The nice thing about pipes is the "patience" they teach you about life

 

[jacko]

There are no hard and fast rules. Most learning will only come through experience. One item that I would like to share is that I find that 'clear' un-coated bowls seem to be less finicky with pure VA's and flakes. Savinelli is one to look at for clear bowls.