New Pipe Smoker With A Question? Ask an Old Fart

[WaRevo]

I bought a pear root pipe and sadly was very unhappy with it. For the price of most the ones I seen back then I could have picked up a nice smoking Briar same price and less in some cases. I don't know what kind of Tobacco you plan to smoke out of it, What I seen is that the pipe didn't like to build a cake and it smoked hot. Also was a little bit of wood burning. A friend of mine liked the look of the pipe and wanted it so I was more then happy to let him have it.

James

[Subvet642]

Originally Posted by WaRevo

I bought a pear root pipe and sadly was very unhappy with it. For the price of most the ones I seen back then I could have picked up a nice smoking Briar same price and less in some cases. I don't know what kind of Tobacco you plan to smoke out of it, What I seen is that the pipe didn't like to build a cake and it smoked hot. Also was a little bit of wood burning. A friend of mine liked the look of the pipe and wanted it so I was more then happy to let him have it.

James

Gotcha! Thank you.

[RevSmoke]

Originally Posted by WaRevo

I bought a pear root pipe and sadly was very unhappy with it. For the price of most the ones I seen back then I could have picked up a nice smoking Briar same price and less in some cases. I don't know what kind of Tobacco you plan to smoke out of it, What I seen is that the pipe didn't like to build a cake and it smoked hot. Also was a little bit of wood burning. A friend of mine liked the look of the pipe and wanted it so I was more then happy to let him have it.

James

Originally Posted by Subvet642

Gotcha! Thank you.

Glad someone else had an answer. I was going to say this...

After the past couple hundred years of pipe smoking, briar, meeshaum, corn cob, (and to some extent, clay) pipe are now presently widely accepted and available. I know that there are many other things that have been tried. As those 3 (4) are the ones that are "readily" available, I doubt that pear root is a good choice.

But, that was only to be my

Peace of the Lord be with you.

[ApexAZ]

So I have had 2 tins of GLP Virginia blends, each with about 3 years of age on them, according to the sticker on the bottom. Laurel Heights and Stratford.

I haven't had a lot of experience with virginia blends before now, and the sweetness really just blows me away each time. The Laurel Heights seems especially sweet, since it's lacking the perique the other blend incorporates. It kind of reminds me of sweet black tea.

Anyways, I was reading a piece written by Mr. Pease where he stated that pretty much all tobacco has some type of casing or topping added to enhance the flavor.

My question is, how much of the sweetness is attributed to natural sweetness, and how much to topping? How do I find out what was added?

[CoffeeWaterBeer]

I dare not attempt to speak for GLP but it's my understanding that he uses the smallest amount of "juice" to hit the target flavor for his blends. As you try more VA's , you will notice many do have a great natural sweetness due to the higher sugar content that is the norm for those leaves. If I'm off base, please chime in.

[Subvet642]

This has probably been asked before, but how does one properly "break-in" a new pipe? The wife has been pretty supportive of this new-ish aspect of the hobby/sickness so I've pulled the trigger on a couple of new Chacom pipes. As I've only ever bought estate pipes and Dr. Grabows, I don't want to screw it up.

[MarkinAZ]

Originally Posted by Subvet642

This has probably been asked before, but how does one properly "break-in" a new pipe? The wife has been pretty supportive of this new-ish aspect of the disease so I've pulled the trigger on a couple of new Chacom pipes. As I've only ever bought estate pipes and Dr. Grabows, I don't want to screw it up.

Here's a nice article by Patrick Dennis titled "Breaking In A Pipe":

http://www.chicagopipeshow.com/educa...rickDennis.pdf

And, another from PipesandCigars:

http://www.pipesandcigars.com/faq/ar...-pipe-break-in

I tend to agree with Mr. Dennis myself...

[WaRevo]

For me I am different then most people that smoke pipe. In some cases I do the Dennis method and I use Prince Albert to start my break in. However seeing that I am not like most I rarely have a pipe with cake in it. I make sure that I clean my pipe after every use and that I keep the stem and bowl as clean as I can daily. I do use alot of Cleaners and from what I have seen in Estate pipes that I have bought I can't understand really how some people could let the pipe fill with such cake. I mean I have had some pipes that you couldn't even put a Pipe tool into let alone a Dr. Grabow filter How in the world did they even smoke the pipe. Then when I take the stem out and it is filled with SO MUCH junk I am like OMG that is nasty. This one pipe I just got from a person that said they didn't want to smoke pipe anymore and didn't like it, Buying the pipe at 1/4 the cost of new because he thought there was something wrong with it. I get it, The pipe wasn't really deep with cake but the drawhole was filled with unsmoked tobacco and the buildup in the shank was deep tar and i was like no wonder they didn't like it. Honestly it looked like they never ran a pipe cleaner in the stem or shank at all. Again the bowl wasn't that bad, ran a Czech took around the bowl maybe 15 times before it was a good clean thin cake. The shank took my shank brush, 40 Q-tips before it came out looking almost clean and the stem took 15 Q-tips and 5 bristle pipe cleaners, and 4 soft pipe cleaners before I could pass it with Alcohol on the tip and pull all the way through clean.

my first thought when I seen this was It had to have been HORRID to smoke this pipe.

James

[MarkinAZ]

Here's a thread regarding breaking-in your pipe from Pipesmokersforum for your review Darren:

http://www.pipesandcigars.com/faq/ar...-pipe-break-in

As you will see, there are various thoughts as to how to break a new pipe in...

[ApexAZ]

I have very little experience myself, but I figured I'll just smoke the thing and not worry too much about it, EXCEPT for keeping it as cool as possible. Heating it up to the point of burning the briar seems like a bad idea and I can see the rationality behind that.

[RevSmoke]

I find Chacoms can break in very slowly and difficultly.

Fill it and smoke it. There are all sorts of methods. Virginias I have found make the hardest cakes.

Smoking too hot and/or too fast are the sure ways to possible harm a pipe.

Peace of The Lord be with you.

[Subvet642]

Originally Posted by WaRevo

For me I am different then most people that smoke pipe. In some cases I do the Dennis method and I use Prince Albert to start my break in. However seeing that I am not like most I rarely have a pipe with cake in it. I make sure that I clean my pipe after every use and that I keep the stem and bowl as clean as I can daily. I do use alot of Cleaners and from what I have seen in Estate pipes that I have bought I can't understand really how some people could let the pipe fill with such cake. I mean I have had some pipes that you couldn't even put a Pipe tool into let alone a Dr. Grabow filter How in the world did they even smoke the pipe. Then when I take the stem out and it is filled with SO MUCH junk I am like OMG that is nasty. This one pipe I just got from a person that said they didn't want to smoke pipe anymore and didn't like it, Buying the pipe at 1/4 the cost of new because he thought there was something wrong with it. I get it, The pipe wasn't really deep with cake but the drawhole was filled with unsmoked tobacco and the buildup in the shank was deep tar and i was like no wonder they didn't like it. Honestly it looked like they never ran a pipe cleaner in the stem or shank at all. Again the bowl wasn't that bad, ran a Czech took around the bowl maybe 15 times before it was a good clean thin cake. The shank took my shank brush, 40 Q-tips before it came out looking almost clean and the stem took 15 Q-tips and 5 bristle pipe cleaners, and 4 soft pipe cleaners before I could pass it with Alcohol on the tip and pull all the way through clean.

my first thought when I seen this was It had to have been HORRID to smoke this pipe.

James

Hi James, I'm kinda anal like that, too. I've only bought estate pipes that have been reasonably serviced; you know, bowl reamed, everything cleaned up a bit. I, of course, do my own cleaning, too.

Mark, thanks for the links! And thanks for the good advice from Brian and the Rev, too. I'm not too worried about smoking too fast, see, I smoke a lot of small ring CC's so I tend to smoke slowly, anyway. Hopefully, the Chacoms won't give me too much trouble. I hear that they're pretty cool smokers and the smallish bowl sizes suit me as well. Besides, they make such pretty pipes.

[RevSmoke]

Originally Posted by Subvet642

Hi James, I'm kinda anal like that, too. I've only bought estate pipes that have been reasonably serviced; you know, bowl reamed, everything cleaned up a bit. I, of course, do my own cleaning, too.

Mark, thanks for the links! And thanks for the good advice from Brian and the Rev, too. I'm not too worried about smoking too fast, see, I smoke a lot of small ring CC's so I tend to smoke slowly, anyway. Hopefully, the Chacoms won't give me too much trouble. I hear that they're pretty cool smokers and the smallish bowl sizes suit me as well. Besides, they make such pretty pipes.

Here is something to consider, since you already like estate pipes. Certain pipe brands really hold value well, usually 50% of new pipe prices. It is why I buy estate pipes. You get a pipe for about 50% of the new price at the time of purchase... as the price of the new pipes in that brand rises, so does the price of the estates of that brand. I have purchased an estate pipe for $50 which I sold about 15 years later for $110.

You are also right, they come cleaned and ready to smoke, and you usually do not have to struggle through the break in period.

Brands I have found easy to break in: Castello, Radice, Don Carlos, Lee von Erck, Cobs. Stanwell, Savinelli, Meerschaums

Brands I have found hard to break in: Peterson, Dunhill, Chacom, Butz-Choquin

Brands that were all over the map in regard to breaking in are plethora!

Peace of the Lord be with you.

[Subvet642]

Originally Posted by RevSmoke

Here is something to consider, since you already like estate pipes. Certain pipe brands really hold value well, usually 50% of new pipe prices. It is why I buy estate pipes. You get a pipe for about 50% of the new price at the time of purchase... as the price of the new pipes in that brand rises, so does the price of the estates of that brand. I have purchased an estate pipe for $50 which I sold about 15 years later for $110.

You are also right, they come cleaned and ready to smoke, and you usually do not have to struggle through the break in period.

Brands I have found easy to break in: Castello, Radice, Don Carlos, Lee von Erck, Cobs. Stanwell, Savinelli, Meerschaums

Brands I have found hard to break in: Peterson, Dunhill, Chacom, Butz-Choquin

Brands that were all over the map in regard to breaking in are plethora!

Peace of the Lord be with you.

Like I said elsewhere, pure gold!

[WhiteMamba]

So a pastor friend of mine decided I needed to "smoke pipes like a man" instead of cigars. I'm not quite sold as I have come to enjoy cigars quite a bit. He gave me a Dr. Grabow and a corncob pipe. I have tried smoking both but I'm not quite sure if I'm doing any of this right since I have never smoked a pipe or known anyone who has. It seems like it should be self explanatory but I am having problems. When I light it the top burns but then it goes out, and I can never seem to get to the bottom. Anyone have some words of wisdom for me? Cigars seem like a lot less work.

[Commander Quan]

Dry the tobacco more than you think you should
Fill the pipe less than you think you should
Puff often, but not too often, and tamp only when needed.

There is a learning curve that all pipers go though, stick with it and you're technique will improve.

[WhiteMamba]

How do I know when to tamp? I guess I don't necessarily understand the concept.

[Commander Quan]

You only want to compact the top layer of ash, not compress the tobacco underneath.

If the pipe isn't staying lit, you probably either have the tobacco packed too tightly in the pipe, or it is too most.

[WhiteMamba]

Probably a combination of the two. Thanks for the help

[RevSmoke]

Originally Posted by WhiteMamba

How do I know when to tamp? I guess I don't necessarily understand the concept.

Do you know where Riegels is in Georgetown Square in Ft Wayne? Get over there with your pipe and sit down with Dennis and tell him what your issue is. Live tutoring is a great benefit, and he's a great guy. Tell him I sent you. If not Dennis, his son would also be a great help.

We can tell you what to do, but sometimes a live tutor is a better resource, and much more helpful than any advice we can give you here. I learned more from experimentation and then time with a veteran pipester refining with him, watching him, letting him watch my technique and then his commentary.

Peace of The Lord be with you.