Who among us are PIPE smokers?

Philip Lebow said:

I used to smoke a pipe, but had to give it up due to recurrent pneumonia bouts (not from tobacco). Still, my favorite was a Peterson military mount Mark Twain replica. Preferred Plum Cake or Latakia Blend...had 7 other briars for trade offs.

Click to expand...

Twisted_1in66 said:

Yes.

It's not a lot of fun at first but if you don't do it this way, you won't build up the carbon cake on the interior walls of the pipe that make it smoke cool with little or no bite. When you first start smoking the pipe fill it no more than 1/3 way fool (tamped down). Light it and smoke it until there is nothing left to re-light. Do that for at least a week presuming you smoke it each day. Then fill it about 2/3 of the way up for another week and smoke it until there is just ash in the bottom of the pipe. Finally, fill it up and smoke it all the way down for at least another week. This will give you the start of a carbon cake that covers all of the bowl and not just part of it. If you don't do this, when you get to the part without the carbon build-up on it, the pipe smoke will get very hot and "bitey" (is that a word?).

You may need to take these steps for two weeks at a time but if you do it, you will start to get a build up of carbon all the way down to the bottom of the bowl of your pipe. Do NOT ream out the pipe after smoking it. You can tap it out when done smoking it and even use your pipe cleaning tool to remove any remnants but do NOT scrape it or you will remove that carbon coating you are trying so hard to build-up. ***Warning*** when you tap a pipe to get any plug or remnants out of it, hold onto the back of the bowl. If you hold onto the stem and tap out your pipe a little too forcefully, you will break the stem - ask me how I know...

After you have built that carbon cake up, try to be sure you don't just smoke it half-way repeatedly or you will get a bump of carbon around the rim and not below it. 1-16th to 1/8th of an inch of carbon is OK around the inside of the bowl. 1/4" thick carbon cake is excessive and should be reamed back - careful you don't ream it all out. Meerschaum is about the only material that doesn't require a carbon build up to smoke well. The clay pipes we use at reenactments are a close second, but not durable. I have one pipe called "The Pipe" that came with a carbon insert built into the bowl of the pipe and I clean that one well whenever I use it because building a carbon cake up on it is just redundant and gives me less room for tobacco.

When I used to smoke a pipe a lot, I used that "The Pipe" because I didn't need to break it in. Now days, I'll smoke a clay pipe at a reenactment or my Calabash or Meerschaum pipe at home on the back porch while sipping an appropriate liquid, although that is a rare occasion.

Click to expand...

fireman1 said:

What pray tell, is a military mount? Peterson military mount Mark Twain replica?

Click to expand...

Whitworth said:

I need some help guys, the stem is stuck in my Ben Wade How do I get it unstuck without breaking it? Thanks fellows.

Click to expand...

Whitworth said:

I need some help guys, the stem is stuck in my Ben Wade How do I get it unstuck without breaking it? Thanks fellows.

Click to expand...

Mad L said:

I do love my clay pipes, had one hang from my teeth for so long I nawed the tip clean off.
I have clay pipes in an assorted sizes and one that was claimed to be an original 1800s found in a crate in a basement in Germany.

But at home my 'go to' is a fine Briar Pipe, I also have a couple cobs that are nice but nothing beats a Briar!
I have four favorites now, each has their own character and @Twisted_1in66 is 100% correct; break a fine pipe in right and she will treat you for years (and NEVER pull the stem for cleaning until the pipe has cooled!).

My 'go to' tobacco, actually the only I fill my pipes with is Montego Bay Rum tobacco, has a sweetish aroma that many non smokers seem to even enjoy.

When first breaking in a new Briar Pipe I treat the bowl with the finest rum there is, cane rum not molasses. I used to use SeaWynde but as it's no longer available I now use Smith & Cross.

Just got me a new pipe, I think once the sun goes down I may begin her adventure..
For fine hand made Briar pipes there are none better the MacQeen Pipes!

https://www.macqueenpipes.com/

Click to expand...

Bucolic Buffalo said:

The military mount is a reinforced band, often of silver, to keep the pipe from cracking or warping from the moisture. A short, tapered tenon which reduces grip so that the pipe can be easily disassembled for cleaning even while smoking. A standard mount by most makers puts the stem right into the wood tenon, or into a decorative banding. Tenons are usually longer and have been known to crack if care isn't used. Not something I have often seen.

The Mark Twain replica goes back to the late 1800's. A well smoked Peterson pipe was found in the Mark Twain museum along with a photo. It's a heavily bent pipe with a good sized bowl. It had been discontinued in the early 1900's and Peterson took photos and measured the pipe to bring it back decades later.

Click to expand...

Bucolic Buffalo said:

They were Peterson's Pipe of the Year in 2022. But I wonder if they are out of production until demand requires they make them again. Still, Peterson offers so many models that there are several that all look like the Mark Twain's. They even sold a set with a poker and a bent.

Click to expand...

fireman1 said:

Googled it. Good looking pipe. I'm looking at a couple of their models.

Click to expand...

northernThaiguy said:

I'm not picky about the pipe - corn cob works well, but I can't pack much into the little bowl, and another couple I've picked up over the past few years work well, too. The tobacco tho - I'm stuck on the cherry blend the little pipe shop down on First St in St. Charles makes. It makes me remember my uncle, who smoked it all the time when I was a kid....

Click to expand...

brewyak said:

I get my pipes and tobacco from JM Boswell. He has a shop local to me. Both of my pipes are his creation and he does all his own tobacco blending

Click to expand...

sturmkatze said:

Is that in Chambersburg, Pa?

Click to expand...