Why aren't flat bottomed pipes more common?

[AimlessWanderer]

Aimless Wanderer, I just had a thought that may or may not be relevant for you (or anyone else, for that matter). In my camera bag are three beanbags, about corn hole size. This is so I always have a support for my telephoto lenses. Toss them onto a log, rest the lens on the bags.

It's a patch rather than a fix, I understand that. Not a substitute for a sitter. But it would still allow you sit the foolish thing down.

I've seen pipe rests which are exactly that. A bean bag for a pipe. If I remember where, I'll post a link.

My issue is that I don't always stay in one place throughout the duration of a pipe, and want to be able to put down a pipe wherever I like, whenever I choose. With any kind of stand, it will be wherever you last used it, rather than where you need it right now. That's the beauty of a sitter pipe for me.

 

[Alacrity59]

Not all flat bottom pipes sit.

 

[brandaves]

Aimless Wanderer, I just had a thought that may or may not be relevant for you (or anyone else, for that matter). In my camera bag are three beanbags, about corn hole size. This is so I always have a support for my telephoto lenses. Toss them onto a log, rest the lens on the bags.

It's a patch rather than a fix, I understand that. Not a substitute for a sitter. But it would still allow you sit the foolish thing down.

@seabee1999 is quite the photographer...I bet you guys could talk for hours about cobs and cameras.

 

[seabee1999]

@seabee1999 is quite the photographer...I bet you guys could talk for hours about cobs and cameras.

We probably could. I really enjoy photography.

 

[Claudel Xerxes]

We probably could. I really enjoy photography.

Your profile picture is pretty badass.

 

[seabee1999]

Your profile picture is pretty badass.

Many thanks. It was taken with an iPhone and adjusted with the in phone editing options.

 

[RookieGuy]

That'd be fun! Now that things are starting to open back up, I'll be able to drag the old Pentax out!

 

[KellyG]

My 1949 Dunhill Shell LB F/T sits stably, and I consider it a good looking pipe.

 

[brandaves]

My favorite sitter.

 

[Enemygod]

I mainly clench my pipe when smoking, so my hands are pretty much always free without the need to set my pipe down, so for me it's not as big of a deal.

 

[OldSaw]

I just picked up this sitter by Lorenzo. The massive size seems to balance out the look of the flat bottom. Just relaxing at the cottage and enjoying the peace and quiet.

 

[djm]

My favorite sitter.
View attachment 1107636

That is a great looking pipe. .. I used to think that I wanted sitters, and I do own a few. However, I can probably count on one hand the number of times that I have actually used the feature.

I used to think that I would smoke while playing cards and that it would be handy. But then I realized that nobody in our group smokes (or at least they leave the table for a cigarette) and it would be rather insensitive of me to fill a pipe with a full English even outdoors and start puffing away.

 

[KellyG]

I've wondered about this, perhaps with classic shapes, other than a poker, removing enough material to make a flat bottom creates a thin spot that risks burn through? I've no experience with pipe carving, but it is, I suppose, possible.

 

[radrick96]

I prefer to clench but I enjoy sitters. I’m always smoking these days so I like to have something I can put down when I have to talk to a neighbor or play with the dogs. So for etiquette.

I usually leave the stem hanging over an edge while it rests if it has a flat bottom. But if I’m smoking my pipe it’s in my mouth.

 

[AimlessWanderer]

I've wondered about this, perhaps with classic shapes, other than a poker, removing enough material to make a flat bottom creates a thin spot that risks burn through? I've no experience with pipe carving, but it is, I suppose, possible.

I had similar thoughts myself, but there wouldn't me enough material on the non-sitters I have to do that mod, which is why I came up with the stem stand idea. I'm still waiting for a run of good weather and good health, so I can drag my power tools outside and make some brass ones.

 

[AimlessWanderer]

I usually leave the stem hanging over an edge while it rests if it has a flat bottom.

I do that with my cobs and cherrywood too, as they stay upright but don't have an elevated stem. I do still prefer to have the pipe in hand or sat down though.

I did buy an ultra cheapo plastic stand with my last tobacco order, which will sit by the back door. That'll be more for setting the pipes down when I'm smoking in instalments though, when it might need a few hours left upright, or maybe overnight, rather than just needing both hands for a few moments.

 

[Columbo]

When I was looking at cheap tobacco pipes recently, I was surprised just how few pipes are sitters. To me, being able to put a pipe down, seems a very natural thing to want to do, yet the vast majority need some kind of stand to be able to do that without toppling over. There may of course be some that look rounded, bit do sit stable, but there's rarely anything in the description to say that.

I'll hold a pipe in my teeth while I strike a match, or fish the pokey thing out of my pipe tool, but if I take a drink, reply to a text message or whatever, the pipe goes down. Am I really in that small a minority? A rounded bottom pipe is about as much use to me as a rounded bottom mug.

Anybody else favour sitters over topplers?

My first decent pipe, a newsstand pipe, is a french-made poker. One of its big charms - as with all pokers - is that you can just sit it down flat, no holder needed. It is also a good, dependable smoker, every time.

Otherwise, my mouth is the holder unless I had the rare foresight to tuck a folding stand in my shirt pocket.

 

[Columbo]

... I did buy an ultra cheapo plastic stand with my last tobacco order, which will sit by the back door. That'll be more for setting the pipes down when I'm smoking in instalments though, when it might need a few hours left upright, or maybe overnight, rather than just needing both hands for a few moments.

I have a drawer of these. A wonderful invention. Except I never have one on me when I need one. So they eventually migrate all over the house until Mrs. Columbo decides to corral them all and return them to the drawer. Then I start all over again.

I need one of those gadgets like with the reading glasses to keep one on my person.

 

[RookieGuy]

One with the tobacco, one in the pouch. I'm much more likely to use the foolish thing if I have to move it out of the way first.

 

[steveclarkus]

I rarely put my pipe down once lit, however, if I do, I just lean it in a clay flower pot saucer I use as an ashtray on the patio table. All but one of my cobs are sitters as are, I guess, about half of my briars.