First pipe!

[Dave41079]

I stopped by a local tobacconist today and picked up this little guy. It's a Roma, so not the greatest, but good enough for me to start with. I picked up a tamp/scraper, some pipe cleaners, the pipe, and 2 ounces each of some house blends. One is called Sea Breeze, and seems like a fairly typical pipe tobacco. The other is Black Cherry, and is darker with VERY faint cherry scent. It isn't nearly as strong in cherry smell as the other tobaccos did. Total for everything was $60. I smoked a bowl of the Sea Breeze this afternoon on my back deck and it was nice. I noticed a citrusy flavor, and every now and then a hint of vanilla. It was very smooth and light. This is the first time I've smoked a pipe in 15 years, and when I did then, I had no clue what it was, or what I was doing. I got this mainly for relaxing on the back deck, or for when I go backpacking or camping.

 

[Commander Quan]

Sweet! Welcome to the club. Have fun.

 

[oc_in_fw]

welcome- it won't be your last pipe

 

[Senetsomed]

welcome- it won't be your last pipe

This.

 

[bnalley]

I like to put a little honey on my pinky finger and rub down the inside of a new pipe the first time I pack it. It will help build a nice cake a little faster, which will protect the briar and adds to an overall better smoke.

 

[Dave41079]

I like to put a little honey on my pinky finger and rub down the inside of a new pipe the first time I pack it. It will help build a nice cake a little faster, which will protect the briar and adds to an overall better smoke.

How about the second time?

 

[zatopus]

Welcome back brother! I've never tried the honey thing, but I've heard mention of it for years.

 

[bnalley]

I always do it, my local tobaconist did it for me when I got the first new pipe I ever bought many years ago and explained why you should always initially coat one. I've done it to all of my new pipes since.

 

[zatopus]

I'll give it a try with my new falcon bowl. Wouldn't hurt nothing to try it out.

I always do it, my local tobaconist did it for me when I got the first new pipe I ever bought many years ago and explained why you should always initially coat one. I've done it to all of my new pipes since.

 

[DC_MPA]

Oh yeah, honey is an age old trick. If the bowl isn't precarboned (ie black inside when it is new) then honey is the way to go. All it does is provide a faint glue to the bowl so when you burn it the first time the ash stays stuck. The more bowls the thicker it coats until the bowl naturally builds its own cake. This is absolutely unnecessary if the bowl is precarbonized.

 

[Commander Quan]

Adding honey is unnecessarily in any occasion. There is no shotcut to building a good base layer. Just smoke it and let it happen,.

 

[bnalley]

Adding honey is unnecessarily in any occasion. There is no shotcut to building a good base layer. Just smoke it and let it happen,.

I agree that using the honey on a new pipe is not a "must do" practice, and a good cake can be built without it. It does,however, signifigantly aid in the initial forming of your cake. A proper cake should be an even 1/16th" in your bowl. A thicker cake and you risk cracking the briar due to thermal expansion, thinner and you risk burning out. It is important to maintain your pipes cake correctly ,especially for a novice pipe smoker who might be prone to smoking far to hot. The honey, upon contact with the cherry, immediatly turns to a carbon that sticks to the inside of your bowl and forms a tacky "base layer" for your cake to build up on. without it, it will take much longer for your cake to build, in which time you could already be doing damage to your bowl. While good Algerian Briar is fire resistant, it is still wood and will burn when fire is applied. So it is, IMHO, important for the new pipe smoker to make every effort to build his cake quickly, and using honey speeds the process.
Brett

 

[Uncle Jackie]

I'm old school and build my cake the old fashioned way, (actually, I have no idea if it is old fashioned at all), by smoking 1/3 bowls until the cake is formed.

10 bowls of 1/3 filled
10 bowls of 2/3 filled
10 bowls full.

I like this way because (in my experience) the pipe always seems to burn hotter at the bottom where the coals seem to rest, and the heel of the pipe (again in my opinion) is most likely to burn out, especially near the draft hole where air is being forced.

 

[zatopus]

I have used the ashes from a previous bowl and with some spit on a figner coated the inside of the bowl. Seemed to help. Most my bowls are second hand falcon bowls or pre-coated kirstens though.

 

[Uncle Jackie]

I have used the ashes from a previous bowl and with some spit on a figner coated the inside of the bowl.

This works remarkably well also, coating the sides with 'pipe mud'.

 

[Blackbeard's Delight]

Looks like you should get plenty of good smoking time from that pipe. Classy, like you could take it out at a function while wearing a suit, or have it hanging from your mouth while whittling spears in some south american jungle to do battle with the Predator. And if you are doing that, you probably should build up a nice thick cake in the bowl so the burning bacci doesn't set off his thermal vision and give up your position!

Ok, I'll put my Captain Kirk uniform back on and go back into the basement now. Enjoy the pipe!

 

[zatopus]

Looks like you should get plenty of good smoking time from that pipe. Classy, like you could take it out at a function while wearing a suit, or have it hanging from your mouth while whittling spears in some south american jungle to do battle with the Predator. And if you are doing that, you probably should build up a nice thick cake in the bowl so the burning bacci doesn't set off his thermal vision and give up your position!

Ok, I'll put my Captain Kirk uniform back on and go back into the basement now. Enjoy the pipe!

Pretty sure this is my favorite post ever.

 

[Dave41079]

Pretty sure this is my favorite post ever.

I DEFINITELY agree. I chuckled pretty hard at that. Thanks for the imagery. I love it.

 

[oc_in_fw]

Pretty sure this is my favorite post ever.

Oh, that is nothing. Click the link, scroll down and start reading at post 20. Do NOT have beverages in your mouth:

http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php/286876-How-do-I-build-a-fire-for-survival

 

[zatopus]

What in the world?! No freaking way that can be a real thing. Haha

Oh, that is nothing. Click the link, scroll down and start reading at post 20. Do NOT have beverages in your mouth:

http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php/286876-How-do-I-build-a-fire-for-survival