I just love everything about pipes, why not make a topic about it for everyone to look at and add to?.. Aside from smoking i enjoy looking at different kinds of pipes, collecting and simply admiring the craftsmanship and fine detail that goes into a quality pipe. Who says smoking is the only enjoyable part of the hobby? Cleaning and caring for your favorite pipe is half the fun. My favorite pipe shape is the “Poker” style. They look fantastic with a rustic sandblasted bowl, and feel great in your hand. In my opinion, every pipe with a rusticated finish is very beautiful. I hope to get my hands on at least a couple new pipes this holiday season and i am very excited. What do you like about the pipe smoking hobby? Matthew
I like the fact that it makes you slow down and relax and invest some time. You smoke a cigarette, enjoy a cigar, and savour a pipe.
A strait Rhodesian is my favorite right now. I’ve been using it to smoke Night Train. What I would like to get is a blowfish type. I like my Oompaul too. Thats my VaPer pipe. I think I like bowls that taper narrow at the top like a volcano shape. Volcano’s are quite expensive I noticed. I also noticed that the tobacco used in certain pipes influences the way I feel about that pipe and vice versa. And so on and so forth and blah, blah, blah. I hardly smoke any more because I’m too busy snuffing. Ha Ha.
have three main pipes nothing special but pipe smoking is a ritual for sure.
I’m out of pipe cleaners. How many times can I smoke my pipe without cleaning it? I got going too late today and could not get any pipe cleaners. I really would like to smoke tonight, but don’t want to hurt my pipes. One has been smoked once and the other twice without a proper cleaning.
Should clean them every time, but you have to feed the nic dragon.
I’ve been up and down with that, from cleaning after every smoke to if I think it’s going sour. I tend to want it clean for a pure Virginia. Beyond that, I’d just wipe it out and enjoy.
I don’t always clean a pipe after every smoke, still less do the whole deep cleansing thing. I reckon any pipe cleaning routine is whatever the pipe smoker is comfortable with. And yes, I’ve been smoking pipes longer than I have been taking snuff. Since 1972 in fact, though I’m sure Snuff Head was smoking pipes before that.
I never cleaned mine out very often, you wont hurt em’ I got my first pipe, a small Peterson in 1960. From a tobacconist shop named something like Cowen & Coulman (now long time gone) in London’s Soho. I think they was at the corner of Old Compton Street & Greek Street.
Anyone know if Inderwicks London’s oldest pipe maker is still on the go? They were in Carnaby long before the St got famous with fashion in the 1960’s.
http://www.lsando.com/pipes/e/kiseru.htm anyone try this type of pipe? and tobacco? I’am super curious about it and thinking of trying some.
Am I alone in thinking that the bowl of a pipe should rarely be cleaned but carefully scraped to keep an even hard carbon layer about the thickness of 1/8 inch? If it gets too thick it’s no good and if the ‘cake’ cracks it can super heat and crack the bowl. I always seemed to have a milder,cool smoke with a well used pipe. Maybe you fellows are just talking about cleaning out the inside of the stem?(Which I surely recommend).
depends on the pipe my briars I don’t really clean the bowl keep the cake down but clean no. My meer pipes I clean with a cloth almost every time (then again you don’t want cake in them.)
I use the standard Everclear cotton balls in the bowl, and sump if it has one, scrub the stem and draw hole with bristle cleaners, and think there’s a world of difference in a good clean pipe, especially for ‘clean’ tobaccos like Virginias. I can’t say for sure about the pipe sweeteners. Maybe if you’re smoking more than one type in a pipe. I won’t smoke a straight Virginia in an uncleaned and rested pipe, and reserve pipes by what’s going to go in it. I thought it was silly when I first heard people saying this, but I have to admit I’m convinced. For aromatics I smoke, like 1792 and Dark Flake, that’s all that pipe sees so I’m not as picky, just running a cleaner to keep the moisture down and fire away. Think of it as having a nice clean nose to try a different snuff instead of a buffet without a palate cleanser.
@bob I see you are interested in the Japanese kiseru. I have ordered pipes and tobacco from that site too. Problem is the shipping doesn’t justify a small order, and sadly it is the only online site that sells real kiseru.
I’ve noticed some of my more frequently used pipes are getting stale. About time for the retort treatment for some of them. But it’s kind of a hassle and alcohol on the finish is bad. I use one to several pipe cleaners per bowl; scrape out the loose junk from the bowl. If I’m feeling industrious after a smoke (rare), I’ll dip one cleaner in alcohol, then follow by a few dry ones. The next step after collecting and smoking is making a pipe. It is fun and very rewarding. I’ve made about 20 pipes from scratch. I was considering making them for sale, but it really is not viable for me, takes too long to make em! lol. Here’s one I made: 
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Very nice! I’ve never tried making a pipe. Restoration is as far as I have ever gone.
Actually, for a Japanese website, their shipping isn’t bad. I’ve seen some pretty bad ones, like $25-$30 for a shirt to be shipped. I’ve been thinking about giving pipes another try. I got a rather cheap one at the local tobacconists, but I don’t think it was much good. Smoked from it twice, and after that it went to hell. Couldn’t stay light without puffing very fast and hard on it, which I was avoiding to keep my tongue from stinging. Also, when it did stay lit, it would taste incredibly sour. I tried cleaning it tons, only packing it a third or half full, but nothing really improved on it, so I tossed it a while ago. I don’t want to spend a ton on one, in case I don’t like it, but I was wondering if anyone could give me a recommendation. I was looking at the churchwardens on pipesandcigars, and really like the look of the Savinelli Semi-Churchwarden - Rusticated - Billiard one. I’m still a bit leery of it, as I don’t want to spend another $100 getting another pipe and a good mixture of tobaccos only to have the pipe become irreparably sour on me again. Also, does anyone know of a website or book with a good tutorial/FAQ for breaking in a pipe. I feel like I may not have done that properly, looking back on things, and wouldn’t want to ruin a perfectly good pipe. Thanks.
Tony, Thank you kindly. That one was a challenge to make, I wanted it big, but was trying to show the grain of the wood, and I kept finding more places to sand, and it got smaller and smaller. lol. Shikitohno, To break in a pipe, I use a simple burley, like Prince Albert, or Carter Hall. Gravity feed into the pipe, and smoke slowly.
Actually, I googled dokha tobacco on a whim again. Previously, all I could find was a British site that charged quite a bit for dokha/midwakh, and a snuffhouse thread on it (kind of funny, that was a couple years before I joined Snuffhouse/used snuff at all). Found a US site that I think I might put in an order from.
Well you certainly succeeded in showing off the grain very nicely, even if the pipe did end up smaller than you intended. I’ll second the thoughts on breaking in a pipe - the real key is smoking slowly, not letting the pipe get too hot. I don’t always use burleys (or burley blends) to break in a pipe as I usually only have Va flakes on hand, so the process of building up the cake takes me a bit longer. On Christmas Day I’ll be starting the process of breaking in this one (assuming my wife doesn’t change her mind about giving me it). 