How much is pipe quality a factor?

[Blackbeard's Delight]

Ok, so I made the switch from cigarettes to Pipe two weeks ago and I am still trucking along without cigarettes, and learning as I go. I have been working at changing years of cigarette habits, including pulling too hard/getting the bowl too hot, etc. It's a learning process, but I know I will get there in time.

That said, I have the corn cob pipe I got at CVS Pharmacy the night I decided to make the switch. Two days later I went to a tobacconist shop and asked the guy for a good entry level pipe (and cleaning tool, pipe cleaners, 2 bags of bacci, etc). For the pipe he pointed me to the tray of basket pipes and told me I should find something that feels comfortable to hold. That was it. He left me to pick up each one until I found one I liked. I picked one with a round bowl, like a big golf-ball shape, because it fits in my big ape hands nicely, and it wasn't like holding a surgical tool (like my Gillette Aristocrat!). The pipe set me back $30.

Anyway, I smoke the nicer pipe at work, and the cob at night when I come home, sort of a poor man's rotation. The cob is showing brown markings around the middle of the bowl, because I keep habitually roasting it too hot from pulling too hard (the cigarette bad habit). I imagine I do the same thing with the fancy pipe, but since it's a thick ball shape, I don't feel the heat coming through like on the cob.

At the same time, I have noticed the cob seems to have a more open stem or something... it's much easier to pull though than the nicer pipe. Also the nicer pipe seems to get moisture collecting in the stem more often. I wouldn't say one pipe is a better smoking experience than another... they are definitely different. But then again I don't know what to look for... it's like asking a college kid if a 24 pack of Miller Lite is better than a 10 year old Scotch. Both will get ya tipsy.

So I am wondering what the more experienced Pipers out there think. How much of a factor is the Pipe in the smoking experience? I imagine it's mostly about the tobacco. But is there a 'holy grail' pipe out there that every serious smoker should get? At my level of smoking, would it be better to just use cheap pipes until I know what I am doing? Or am I giving myself undue grief by struggling with cheap-o pipes and by not springing for a certain brand or type of pipe?

I spent $30 on my basket pipe, but then I see this 6 pack of pipes on Amazon for around the same price... would it be worth it to get something like this? Or would I be better off just getting one nice fancy pipe? I just don't know and I could see it going either way. What does everyone think?

 

[DC_MPA]

Just the reviews turn me off. You did very well for grabbing a baske pipe for $30. This price entrance allows you to build a good variety of pipe tobacco and learn the packing and smoking of the pipe to your palate preference.

There is a difference in quality of briars but typically basket pipes are known as seconds to other name brand companies. Things don't always go well with every pipe so instead of degrading quality standards they just call it something else and it becomes a basket pipe. Most times I've learned this is usually just the requirement of a filler.

My point summarized - I own a $290 Radice hand carved and the briar sat in their shop curing for 15 years before carving by he artisan. It smokes stubbornly to my $85 Stanwells and $80 Peterson. You hedge your bets with higher end briars but sometimes you just don't get lucky.

 

[DC_MPA]

I've even seen a $700 Dunhill pipe with a 40+ year pipe veteran who wants to launch it out a window because it smokes terribly compared to his other Dunhills which smoke effortlessly.

 

[cb91710]

That 6-pack has 10-foot pole marks all over it.
I wouldn't smoke one of those with my worst enemy's lips.

They are quite possibly not even wood... many sub-$40 pipes I've seen are plastic with a metal bowl (and not really intended for smoking tobacco).

A couple of other things to watch for on cheaper pipes is a metal "stinger", and a filter.
I personally prefer unfiltered. Local filter availability can be an issue, and one of the problems with cigarette/cigar smokers is drawing too hard, which causes the pipe to smoke wet. Steam is a natural byproduct, but drawing too hard and too quickly does not allow the heat from the bowl to dry the condensation and the pipe ends up "gurgling"... or worse, you get a load of juice in your mouth (and a pretty intense nicotine hit).

Pipes with metal stingers tend to increase condensation. In my experience, the filters are simply a pain. A few smokes and the filter is a wet mess. The main purpose of both the filter and the stinger is to keep the hot coals from the bottom of the bowl out of your mouth.

 

[cb91710]

My point summarized - I own a $290 Radice hand carved and the briar sat in their shop curing for 15 years before carving by he artisan. It smokes stubbornly to my $85 Stanwells and $80 Peterson. You hedge your bets with higher end briars but sometimes you just don't get lucky.

+1

It really is hard to beat an $80 Pete. Mine tend to smoke a little on the warm side (sometimes downright hot), and when new, I have a seriously hard time keeping them alight (thus the excessive puffing leading to smoking hot), but after 5 or 10 smokes they tend to settle down pretty nicely.

 

[jwhite]

Don't buy those Amazon pipes they are vaguely pipe shaped objects. Pipes don't have to cost hundreds of dollars to smoke well but they do have to be engineered properly. You want to check to see that a cleaner passes through to the bottom of the bowl and that they have a good draw. Smoking too fast and too hot will create excess moisture as will overly moist tobacco and too tight a pack.

 

[zatopus]

+1 to everyone saying avoid the amazon pipes. I've got a plastic pipe knocking around my apartment from a fraudulent ebay auction a while back. Wouldn't even think about smoking it.

Metal pipes have been nothing but good to me. A brand new Falcon is pretty cheap, and they are consistent. It does lack the looks of a full briar, and you might have to explain to someone watching what you are smoking, but they are great smokers. And nothing is better in my opinion than a Kirsten. All that said get a good look at the Falcon and try and think about if you could smoke that at work without the boss getting on you.

 

[xraygun]

You get what you pay for up to a certain extent. When you get up above $250 you just get to part with more of your money. You can get GREAT pipes for $50-100. New under $50 pipes won't last a lifetime. Remember what a carton of smokes cost. Spending that on a friend that will be around your whole life is cheap.

 

[cb91710]

You get what you pay for up to a certain extent. When you get up above $250 you just get to part with more of your money. You can get GREAT pipes for $50-100.

And you can make a pretty sweet pipe for $45

 

[xraygun]

Nice job Rich!

 

[Kentos]

I have gravitated towards Cobs with a forever stem. They smoke quite well, and if I mess one up I just chuck it and get a new one. Once I get to the point where I feel confident in my skills I will invest in a new Briar.

 

[Artistik]

Very good advice above. If I could go back to the begining of my pipe smoking adventure, I would start with two cobs and some of the OTC tobaccos (Carter Hall, Prince Albert, Sir Walter Raleigh, etc.). Cobs are good to learn with for various reasons, primary of which are that they are cheap. If you loose one, break one, burn the hell out of the rim while learning, so what? Go back to the drug store and get another. Most tobacconist recommend an aromatic blend to new pipe smokers. While I like aros, they can burn hot and wet. A good OTC burley (Carter Hall) in a cob, lights well, stays lit well and tastes great. I think it satisfies the nic hit that most cig smokers are missing when they quit the cigs. Good luck to you and don't be ashamed to take that cob out in public.

 

[Commander Quan]

Just to recap and expand on a couple things the other guys have said. Quality and expense do not necessarily go hand in hand. Chances are there is a great smoking pipe in that basket of pipes at your shop, you just need to know what to look for. A pipe should pass a pipe cleaner down into the bowl with minimal effort. When you look into the bowl the draft hole should intersect it at the very bottom, if it's drilled to high you'll always have burn problems. Not all seconds are poorly drilled, some just have too many fills on the outside of the wood to be able to sell as a first quality pipe. On the other hand it's possible to pay much more for a name brand pipe and it still won't smoke well, that's even more frustrating.

I'm a proponent of Dr. Grabows. They are well made pipes with good drilling and wide open draws. They accept the paper medico filters like your cob, but I've never used them.

 

[jdto]

I'll second the cob choice if you're looking to learn and not spend a lot. I just got my first one and it was a very eye-opening experience.

On the briar front, what Derrick says is very important. My best-smoking pipes have two very key characteristics about them: 1) pass a cleaner all the way to the bowl 2) draft hole is at the bottom of the bowl.

I have two Peterson pipes that are very nice, but both are not quite drilled to the bottom of the bowl and I often end up with dottle or a bit of gurgle in one of them, while the other one just leaves dottle (system pipe). A couple of my Brigham pipes smoke really nicely, while a couple of others don't. I'm considering using some pipe mud to raise the floor of the Petes to be level with the draft hole.

 

[conroygc]

Very good advice has already been given above.

Stay away from the amazon and other cheap pipes. If it's not briar, meer, cob, or a quality metal pipe (like a falcon) stay away from it. Nothing wrong with basket pipes and I don't think you'd see a huge improvement by picking up an expensive pipe.

My B&B limited edition pipe ($175), Dr Grabow (free to me but ~$30-$40), and cobs ($6 each) get about the same amount of love from me, they are all great smokers. That being said my next pipe purchase will likely be a Peterson in the $100 range.

 

[oc_in_fw]

I will not give pipe advice, as more experienced pipers have given that. As a cigarette smoker, though, I can offer my two cents. For background, I regularly smoke a king size cig in two minutes. That comes from too many years of working retail. I look at pipe smoking the way I look at wet shaving- a way to relax. Before even going out, I keep in mind that I am going to relax. If I don't have time for a satisfying shave, I don't. If I don't have time to smoke a relaxing bowl, I don't

 

[Gustav]

I will not give pipe advice, as more experienced pipers have given that. As a cigarette smoker, though, I can offer my two cents. For background, I regularly smoke a king size cig in two minutes. That comes from too many years of working retail. I look at pipe smoking the way I look at wet shaving- a way to relax. Before even going out, I keep in mind that I am going to relax. If I don't have time for a satisfying shave, I don't. If I don't have time to smoke a relaxing bowl, I don't

Here is my two cents after three smokes: just for a change, try puffing on your pipe with about the same force you would need to suck a loose rice crispie through a straw. Also do this whilst lighting the pipe. If you puff like mad whilst lighting you will just light a narrow cone in the center of the pipe leading to loads of problems later on. Also this feeble puffing is not only relaxing, it makes the tobacco last much longer.

 

[Uncle Jackie]

Cobs are great (as others have said), clays are great too. Funny thing about pipes... Pretty much all of them are a bored out piece of wood with a hole in the bottom and a stem. Really just a chimney. I don't care what anyone says, good and bad smokers come in all price ranges. There are some companies that tend to produce a higher amount of good ones, some produce more bad ones, but a good pipe can be found in any price range, it just might not look all that pretty. My BEST pipe is a $25 dollar basket pipe, beats the hell out of anything else I have, including my $700 Savanelli Autograph, AND I don't have to worry about banging it up.

 

[Argonaut]

Here is my two cents after three smokes: just for a change, try puffing on your pipe with about the same force you would need to suck a loose rice crispie through a straw. Also do this whilst lighting the pipe. If you puff like mad whilst lighting you will just light a narrow cone in the center of the pipe leading to loads of problems later on. Also this feeble puffing is not only relaxing, it makes the tobacco last much longer.

You Germans have a funny way of eating cereal. Good analogy though.

 

[DC_MPA]

This sounds funny but it works. Try drawing in air with your mouth closed. You will find your tongue pulling back and your lips pulling in. Do that same thing with a lit pipe, that calm, slow and short draw will fill your mouth with the best smelling smoke. That keeps a properly packed pipe lit evenly and burn cool.