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					Originally Posted by  schollianmj
					 
				 
				Now for a couple questions... 
I need to keep the tobacco in a humidor or something right?  I see online pouches for tobacco, but wont that allow it to dry out?
 
I bought a cheap 30 dollar pipe.  no name brand since it was my first one...  other than aesthetics, what are the benefits of the higher dollar pipes?  I saw a peterson that I really loved, but it was just under two hundred.  why?  what makes them so expensive?
 
my pipe gurgles a bit after smoking for about 15 mins.  I know it is moisture accumulating at the bottom of the bowl from the tobacco, but I cannot seem to get a pipe cleaner down the stem to wick it away.  is there something I can do to fix this?  I was thinking of using a small file and chamfering the opening of the hole.
 
While talking about pipe cleaners...  the opening in the mouthpiece is so small I can hardly get the pipe cleaners in it.  could I open it up a bit with and exact o knife or some such?
 
I think thats about it for now.  Thanks for reading....     
			
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 1) Humidor is too wet for pipe tobacco (not to mention it's like putting Acids in your humi. Buy a flat of mason jars. Cheap as chips and optimal for pipe tobacco.
2) As you are learning, the downside of a $30 pipe is that it is often engineered like a $30 pipe. i.e Not a clean straight airway (this causes gurgles and obstruction of pipe cleaners to try and fix it. $200 is mid-line for Peterson. Look at Petersons, Stanwells, and Savinellis say here:
http://www.smokingpipes.com/
This is my personal favorite e-tailer. They certainly have the widest selection. Also, if you don't mind the look, Missouri Meerschaum corn-cob pipes smoke as well as most $200 pipes IMO. At 8-10 bucks for the better ones, they're a worthwhile investment even if you prefer briar
3) See 2 above
4) An exacto knife, no. Drill bits, files and the like, yes. Seems to me an awful lot of effort for a $30 pipe.
Enjoy the trip!