Is it wrong...?

[Mister Moo]

If the bit is wrong in your mouth or the shape is wrong in your hand... pfui. That's it. It's very hard to get to like a pipe that somehow feels or smokes wrong. My only "give it away" prerequisite is to give it a good cleaning before passing it off.

It was nice to pass it along. It could be perfect for the next guy. Besides, well handled, a pipe can last for generations. We are as much owners as we are caretakers for the next generation.

it will be. how can you give a used pipe to your friend . its better to get it back and buy a new one for him. because most of disease spread through saliva .

[TheTraveler]

Originally Posted by Ethelred Alim

it will be. how can you give a used pipe to your friend . its better to get it back and buy a new one for him. because most of disease spread through saliva .

I've found quite a few pipes in antique stores and rummage sales that were very nasty and gunked up. A good cleaning (sometimes two cleanings ) was all most of them needed. One of them turned out to be damaged beyond use once I got the gunk removed but under the funk on the other ones lived pipes just waiting for a second chance.

A good cleaning with the right products will leave you with a sanitized pipe.

[Mister Moo]

Originally Posted by Ethelred Alim

it will be. how can you give a used pipe to your friend . its better to get it back and buy a new one for him. because most of disease spread through saliva .

Pipes are sanitized with a simple procedure using 91% (preferred over 70% isopropyl for lower water absorbtion by the briar) isopropyl alcohol or Everclear. The procedure for sterilizing and removing "sourness" is described in section 3.2 of the ASP/FAQ and elsewhere throughout pipe literature. To sterilize a bowl (as opposed to removing sourness or excess tar) takes minutes, not the days described in the salt/alcohol procedure.

Swabbing bristle pipe cleaners dipped in alcohol will sterilize a pipe stem; similarly, a clean stem soaked briefly in a dilute chlorine bleach solution (mind not to do this without protecting nomenclature printed on a stem) will be sterilized.

Selling used pipes (or exchanging used pipes between friends) is a common practice. Sterilizing used pipes is a fast, simple process.