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My first pipe.

Hi guys. This is my first foray into this Sub Forum and my first try with a pipe. I smoked cigarettes for many years, and now vape. I do have the occasional miniature cigar from time to time, and have always fancied trying the pipe for occasional use. Anything to distance myself from the cigarettes.

I bought myself a MM Country Gentleman recently and some baccy. I have had two smokes from it and it has went fairly well, although I'm still a bit uncertain if it's my thing. It's certainly a milder smoke than my cheapo miniature cigars which was unexpected.It did stay lit during both smokes though so there's that. I have a few questions if I may?

There's a chunk of wood inside the bowl where the shaft enters. Is that the way it's supposed to be or should I remove it? Will it burn off or should I prevent it burning off? Also...

There was a filter in the stem which I immediately tossed in the bin. Dunno why I did that. I then realised I had a really loose draw which I am unaccustomed to, and can only guess the filter made for a tighter draw. I'm guessing I can get used to the looser draw or just get more filters, or get a unfiltered pipe. Do un filtered pipes have a tighter draw?

Can I smoke a bowl then empty it and have another bowl, or do I have to use another pipe?

Last question for now...Both occasions I have smoked to the bottom and smoked the ash. That's a tad unpleasant which I wasn't expecting. I thought I had smoked burning wood but the stem is still clean inside. Is there a way to anticipate reaching the bottom before it happens? Just eye ball the ember or something more technical?

That's it for now. Thanks in advance. Oh yeah the baccy I have is Solani Aged Burley. I got it because I vape Burley flavoured eliquid.
 

brandaves

With a great avatar comes great misidentification
Welcome friend!

1) The chunk of wood I suspect is the actual stem in the bottom of the bowl. MM cobs are built that way. Some people use a mixture of fine cigar ash and water to make a mud which they use make things look prettier, but to my knowledge it does little above improving the astetic. My dad does this with his cobs but I haven't felt the need.

2) Filtered pipes may be smoked with or without a filter and in most cases there really isn't much difference in the draw. There are filter inserts for many name brand briar pipes to ease the slight difference felt by non filter users smoking a filter'd pipe. You see this with Savinelli. I smoke my filter'd MM cobs without the filter and notice no difference in the draw.

3) The general advice on back to back bowl is to allow the bowl to dry out and rest...that being said, pipe smokers have been known to abuse cobs and I know of several smokers who will smoke three or four bowls a day out of the same cob and think nothing of it. At the end of the day you're spending between $4 and $30 for a cob generally so I say do what you want. If you ruin a cob in a year of smoking it back to back daily then you've still gotten your money's worth out of it.

Enjoy the smokes!
 

AimlessWanderer

Remember to forget me!
There's a chunk of wood inside the bowl where the shaft enters. Is that the way it's supposed to be or should I remove it? Will it burn off or should I prevent it burning off? Also...

It's meant to be like that. In time, the gaps around it will fill up with tobacco residue, and it will start resembling a "normal" bowl bottom. It might get scorched, or it might not, depending when you call time on the bowl. It doesn't matter much either way.

There was a filter in the stem which I immediately tossed in the bin. Dunno why I did that. I then realised I had a really loose draw which I am unaccustomed to, and can only guess the filter made for a tighter draw. I'm guessing I can get used to the looser draw or just get more filters, or get a unfiltered pipe. Do un filtered pipes have a tighter draw?

I use the filters for a drier smoke, some smoke it without. However, I use the Savinelli balsa filters, not the coild paper ones. You can get unfiltered stems to fit, which have a reduced draw. They're called Forever Stems, and cost about the same as three cob pipes, which I personally think is quite farcical, but they are quite popular.

Can I smoke a bowl then empty it and have another bowl, or do I have to use another pipe?

You can smoke it again. It will benefit from a rest, to allow it to dry out, but that doesn't need to be every bowl. As a rather infrequent smoker (normally) I can often get away with using the same pipe for a few weeks... but that's if I'm only smoking two or three bowls a week. If I smoked two or three bowls in a day, I'd be sure to give it a few days rest afterwards.

Last question for now...Both occasions I have smoked to the bottom and smoked the ash. That's a tad unpleasant which I wasn't expecting. I thought I had smoked burning wood but the stem is still clean inside. Is there a way to anticipate reaching the bottom before it happens? Just eye ball the ember or something more technical?

I sometimes get a hint of a sizzle. The juices from the first half of the smoke get filtered out by the tobacco at the bottom. When the hot coal meets the soggy tobacco, I hear it, and abort. The dottle (soggy tobacco) is then discarded. That's why the intruding stem in the cob might not get burnt.

However, it does depend on what I'm smoking, and how dry it was when I packed it. Cavendish is gloopy stuff, and I'll hear it. I'll sometimes hear it with flake too. With Virginias, I don't. However, past halfway if the pipe goes out, i'll lightly tamp the tobacco before relighting. I can tell by the feel of that whether there's anything left to smoke.
 

brandaves

With a great avatar comes great misidentification
Oh...and as far as avoiding smoking ash. What you experienced was probably just a natural part of breaking in a new cob. Your baccy will go out once its been smoked. Once your pipe is broken in you probably won't experience any more this problem.
 

AimlessWanderer

Remember to forget me!
Indeed! And there's not one "correct" approach, so a few differing opinions can be liberating, in that they don't feel they have to follow a set check list. Took me a while to figure that out, with people on different parts of the internet (not here) telling me what I "should" do. :lol1:
 

Hirsute

Used to have fun with Commander Yellow Pantyhose
Hi guys. This is my first foray into this Sub Forum and my first try with a pipe. I smoked cigarettes for many years, and now vape. I do have the occasional miniature cigar from time to time, and have always fancied trying the pipe for occasional use. Anything to distance myself from the cigarettes.

I bought myself a MM Country Gentleman recently and some baccy. I have had two smokes from it and it has went fairly well, although I'm still a bit uncertain if it's my thing. It's certainly a milder smoke than my cheapo miniature cigars which was unexpected.It did stay lit during both smokes though so there's that. I have a few questions if I may?

Of course! We love questions, and unlike some forums where people will respond with snarky comments or tell you the questions have been asked and answered a dozen times and to do a search, in the Brown Leaf we're always happy to help.

There's a chunk of wood inside the bowl where the shaft enters. Is that the way it's supposed to be or should I remove it? Will it burn off or should I prevent it burning off?

Yes, as others have said this is normal. Every cob is a little different. You basically have a wooden dowel that's inserted into the bowl, and the bottom of the dowel is quite prominent, and the top of the dowel has been cut away and the sides tapered down to the bottom, so you get kind of a scoop shape. The bottom of the dowel may char a bit or it might not, and it's unlikely to burn too much. Sometimes the top of the dowel, where it's cut away isn't cut back flush with the bowl. This will burn away and the sides will burn down a bit toward the bottom of the bowl. I like to take a cob and cut back anything on the top part of the dowel by carving it with a small knife so that on the U shape, the bottom of the U which is at the back of the bowl is flush or near flush with the bowl. I'll also trim down the sides a bit. All this really does is remove some of the material that will burn away. When you burn the dowel, you'll notice it--very acrid and bitter--and trimming it simply helps remove the material that would burn and give you an unpleasant flavor. But, this is completely optional, and some cobs I received look pretty good and don't require much or any trimming.


There was a filter in the stem which I immediately tossed in the bin. Dunno why I did that. I then realised I had a really loose draw which I am unaccustomed to, and can only guess the filter made for a tighter draw. I'm guessing I can get used to the looser draw or just get more filters, or get a unfiltered pipe. Do un filtered pipes have a tighter draw?

Those paper filters get really wet and gross and tend to impede the draw, so I just remove them and smoke the pipe without a filter. I also mostly use "forever stems" which are available at Vermont Freehand, which are a nice upgrade and give a better draw than the traditional stem. Not necessary to replace, though.


Can I smoke a bowl then empty it and have another bowl, or do I have to use another pipe?
Typically you want to rest a pipe after a smoke--24 hours or so to let it cool off and dry out. With a cob, I wouldn't worry about that and smoking back to back bowls in a cob is fine. You may find over time if you do back to back bowls every day in the same pipe that it may start tasting bad, but don't worry about this yet. Just enjoy the pipe, smoke back to back if you want, and if the pipe starts tasting bad you can clean it or replace it for short money.

Last question for now...Both occasions I have smoked to the bottom and smoked the ash. That's a tad unpleasant which I wasn't expecting. I thought I had smoked burning wood but the stem is still clean inside. Is there a way to anticipate reaching the bottom before it happens? Just eye ball the ember or something more technical?
Just eyeball it, but you'll also be able to tell, over time and with experience, when you are reaching the bottom of the bowl by how the pipe draws and how the tobacco feels when you tamp it.

Lastly, welcome aboard!
 
As @Hirsute mentioned, tamping gives you a feel for where you are in the smoke. Tamping also, for me, gives me a more enjoyable smoke as I don't have to draw too hard on the pipe to keep it going. The key to tamping is to go lightly, just tamp down the ash on top of the ember. If you tamp too hard, the tobacco will pack and cause a hard draw. I usually smoke a bowl to ash, but it is a fine line at the bottom of the bowl. I would rather dump a bit of tobacco than suck some ash into my mouth!
As for smoking back to back bowls, our dads and granddads did it all the time. My granddad smoked his pipe nearly constantly. I wouldn't recommend that method, but you can do it. If you make a habit of it, you might run a pipe cleaner through the stem and shank between smokes, certainly after you're finished for the day.
Enjoy your pipe!
 
Welcome to the brown leaf! @brandaves is correct on all accounts. So is everybody else.

I love burley.

I personally just smoke whenever i want in whatever i want wherever i want. Haha

I smoked a minimum of two bowls a day for a couple months out of my MM little devil and tried all sorts of blends. Never necessarily let it rest except over night or in between bowls. But I do sometimes pack two back to back without caring.

I plan to have a set of 7 cobs dedicated to different tobaccos but for now all my pipes are utilitarian in that I use them for whatever. I’m a hillbilly and I doubt any of my ancestors really cared either.

But i will use it as an excuse to have more than what’s necessary. guess that’s just the Boy Scout in me trying to be prepared haha

Cigarettes are for smoking, cigars for enjoying, and pipes are for savoring.
-Rick
 
Hey! I'm about 3 months ahead of you for pipe smoking. Also a heavy cigarette smoker.

As for the dowel in your cob, eventually that'll char and look (and taste) better when you reach the end. Some folk will take a knife and trim it back. I didn't. With briars, you have to break them in by leaving some ash and soot along the side then call it cake. With cobs, you don't have to do that. You'll have to char the dowel instead. Takes a few bowls to get there. Not a problem.

The filters, in my opinion, suck monkey butt. But if you like them, they're very cheap and easy to replace. When they get all gunked up, soggy and nasty, a pair of needle nose pliers from a flea market/ yard sale for a buck does a great job keeping your fingers clean. Try a few bowls with them without a filter and see what you like.

You're supposed to rest your pipes for like 24 hours per bowl smoked. But for a $10 cob, go nuts. If you burn through it after 6 months, at $10/cob/6 months, you're looking at 8 years before you spent as much as a mid range briar pipe. Right now, focus on techniques instead of trying to remember if you're allowed to smoke this pipe or that.

Anything to put distance between you and cigarettes. Boy, as a 2 pack a day smoke, do I know that one! If it helps, since I've been smoking a pipe, I've cut back on cigarettes. 1 pipe a day knocks out about 6 cigs a day. Those rare days when I have 2 pipes, I've cut cigarettes by almost a pack. Now, I never went into this trying to replace cigarettes. In fact, I was trying to replace cigars (100% successfully, BTW). Cutting back cigs was a very nice bonus/ surprise.

There's something else I haven't seen mentioned yet. Smoking a pipe is a lot like wet shaving. There's as many methods as there are smokers. And if you're drawing smoke through the stem to your mouth, then you're doing it correctly. If you're enjoying yourself while smoking, you're doing it right.

Something else that was mentioned that I would like to reiterate. Everyone on this forum absolutely loves our outdated methods of doing things, be it shaving with a DE or straight razor, listening to vinyl records, or smoking pipes. The only thing that comes close is talking about our razors or records or pipes. I started a thread that is almost nothing but stupid rookie questions (So You Talked Me Into It) that are probably answered to hell and back, but everyone here has no problem answering them again. So please, never feel bad or embarrassed about asking anything.

Outside of that, let me dog pile on with the welcomes. Glad you've found your way down. I for one look forward to following along on your new adventures.
 
Monkey Butt. :clap: Fantastic. Thanks man. Sitting out in the garden at midnight having a pipe, and a fox sauntered right up to me. It gave out a squeal and ran off when it saw me. Dunno who got the bigger fright, me or him.
 

steveclarkus

Goose Poop Connoisseur
Welcome friend!

1) The chunk of wood I suspect is the actual stem in the bottom of the bowl. MM cobs are built that way. Some people use a mixture of fine cigar ash and water to make a mud which they use make things look prettier, but to my knowledge it does little above improving the astetic. My dad does this with his cobs but I haven't felt the need.

2) Filtered pipes may be smoked with or without a filter and in most cases there really isn't much difference in the draw. There are filter inserts for many name brand briar pipes to ease the slight difference felt by non filter users smoking a filter'd pipe. You see this with Savinelli. I smoke my filter'd MM cobs without the filter and notice no difference in the draw.

3) The general advice on back to back bowl is to allow the bowl to dry out and rest...that being said, pipe smokers have been known to abuse cobs and I know of several smokers who will smoke three or four bowls a day out of the same cob and think nothing of it. At the end of the day you're spending between $4 and $30 for a cob generally so I say do what you want. If you ruin a cob in a year of smoking it back to back daily then you've still gotten your money's worth out of it.

Enjoy the smokes!
I’m one of “those guys”. Just smoked three consecutive bowls sitting in the garage watching a storm come in. Never burned one out though. Generally loose the damn things first. Anyway, ou
@AimlessWanderer from Sheffield smokes cobs. Keep up with him
How is it going Al? Still packing, upgrading and cleaning here. Really getting tired of all that. Can’t wait to find a place in the country and sit back and just smoke because there isn’t anything else to do.
 

AimlessWanderer

Remember to forget me!
@AimlessWanderer from Sheffield smokes cobs. Keep up with him

Yeah, I've got a few cobs. Three I think, plus a couple of hardwoods. Great smokers, but I'd still put a briar in my pocket for smoking away from home. Our pauper pipe was always the clay, but my two clays got chucked out. Cobs are vastly superior. GQ Tobaccos and MySmokingShop are where I go for mine.

How is it going Al? Still packing, upgrading and cleaning here. Really getting tired of all that. Can’t wait to find a place in the country and sit back and just smoke because there isn’t anything else to do.

Steady as she goes, just working through all the samples. I've pretty much abandoned taking notes though, and the weather hasn't been conducive to long pondersome smokes. A great tobacco gets written on the shopping list, and a mediocre one doesn't. Later, a good tin will be replaced, but one I get bored with won't.

Gardening is the focus at the moment. Quite late getting plants in this year, but moved to perennials now to take the effort out of future years. Waiting on another two small deliveries coming in. That's enough of me hijacking Dave's thread though, I think :D
 

steveclarkus

Goose Poop Connoisseur
Yeah, I've got a few cobs. Three I think, plus a couple of hardwoods. Great smokers, but I'd still put a briar in my pocket for smoking away from home. Our pauper pipe was always the clay, but my two clays got chucked out. Cobs are vastly superior. GQ Tobaccos and MySmokingShop are where I go for mine.



Steady as she goes, just working through all the samples. I've pretty much abandoned taking notes though, and the weather hasn't been conducive to long pondersome smokes. A great tobacco gets written on the shopping list, and a mediocre one doesn't. Later, a good tin will be replaced, but one I get bored with won't.

Gardening is the focus at the moment. Quite late getting plants in this year, but moved to perennials now to take the effort out of future years. Waiting on another two small deliveries coming in. That's enough of me hijacking Dave's thread though, I think :D
Watching Gardner’s World at the
moment. He always seems to have good weather.
 
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