The pipes are calling: confessions of a pipe-smoker
Packing method and humidity can affect how often a pipe must be relit. We have a wide range of estate pipes, all in great quality, that you can acquire to build your unique collection of pipes. Here you can find unsmoked treasures that are truly unique in design and shaping, and tobacco pipe you can find the classics, some of them presmoked and some of them unsmoked. Clay pipes are rarely seen these days, primarily because constructing them requires a lot of effort, making them very expensive. Additionally, clay pipes are very fragile, which isn’t surprising.
The better artisan pipe makers consider this attention to airflow requisite. That is not to say you cannot find a factory or high volume maker’s pipe that smokes well, only that a highly skilled artisan’s work is more likely to yield a good smoke. The uniquely American pipes made from corncobs are cheap and effective, although regarded by some as inelegant. After being dried for two years, the cobs are hollowed out to form a bowl shape, then either dipped in a plaster-based mixture or varnished or lacquered on the outside. Inside the bowl is an inner chamber (2) space holding tobacco pressed into it.
However, metal pipes, as one would assume, do get very hot, as metal absorbs heat inevitably. Humans have been smoking tobacco out of pipes for thousands of years, so it’s no surprise that throughout history, more and more materials have been used to construct pipes that are capable of improving the smoking experience. Today, the pipe market boasts a wide array of materials used for construction, with each one having its own unique pros and cons. Factory brands and most high volume pipe makers generally cannot take the time to focus on this fine, but important factor.
And, it is one that has been repeated often in variations at many, many pipe shows since. Though the smoking and drinking now take place in well appointed tents erected a few steps away from the show hall, the atmosphere of comradeship and fraternity ( and sorority ) still abound at pipe shows. For the true pipe smoker and aficionado, such events are not to be missed. Pipe shops, online retailers, artisan web sites, Ebay, pipe shows, antique stores, estate sales and flea markets all offer the opportunity to purchase a fine pipe. Over the centuries many styles of pipe shape have appeared and faded. In today’s pipe world they are generally thought of in terms of classic English shapes and Danish, or sometimes freehand shapes.
Their heat resistance and flavor work great for smoking tobacco, and they’re surprisingly durable. They can last a lifetime, in fact, as long as they are properly maintained. Most clay pipe making was done in London and Bristol in the 1650’s using clay from the abundant nearby deposits in Devon.
One of the best aspects of the pipe smoking community is that it is made up of some very fine, friendly and discerning folks and they like nothing better than to get together at a pipe show. A good reputation is vital to these vendors so they pay careful attention to provide good service and often go above and beyond the usual return privileges one can expect from any good retailer. Of tobacco made it’s way from the banks of the James River in Virginia across the Atlantic and up the Thames to London docks. Much of this tobacco was consumed by “drinking” the smoke from a pipe. So, some four hundred years ago pipe smoking was taking England and Europe by storm. This is generally considered desirable for controlling overall heat.
The bowl itself is like other water pipes tubular ending in a long straight slightly conical stem going down into the water. In the bowl we always find a screen on which the tobacco is burnt. Usually this is worked out in fine geometrical patters such as a token of happiness of a trefoil. Fashion tobacco pipe Here a simple straight line is brought into the bowl, functional but without any charm. Metal smoking pipes are known for being incredibly durable, as you can imagine. Many different metal materials are used to craft pipes of this nature, and each one has its own resistance level to heat.
Also simply called “cobs”, they are actual dried corn cobs crafted into pipe bowls and inserted with a wood shank affixed with usually a plastic or acrylic stem. Often used by tobacco blenders to judge new blends, they do not affect tobacco taste and are inexpensive enough to be tossed when they begin to burn out. Corn cob pipes remain popular despite the fact that they’re a bit, well, kitschy. Corn cob pipes are extremely inexpensive because they are literally constructed from hollowed out, dried out corn cobs. Surprisingly, however, they are great in terms of providing you with a quality smoke.
Pipe bowls are sometimes decorated by carving, and moulded clay pipes often had simple decoration in the mould. We bring the two together to give you an absolutely divine tobacco smoking experience. Churchwarden pipes in particular provide an awesome experience for tobacco pipe lovers. Churchwarden pipes produce a cooler smoke, and keep the user’s face at a distance from the heat and smoke product in the bowl of the churchwarden tobacco pipe.
Plastic pipes are typically used as party favors and the like because they’re not very high in quality. They’re not great at resisting heat, and you can imagine that it’s hard to avoid getting the taste of plastic mixed up with your smoke. There are people who prefer bent mouthpieces (a Holmesian look) or straight ones (less embarrassing). There are smooth and sandblasted finishes, or ‘rustic’ style pipes that look hewn out of rock. Famous manufacturers – Italy’s Savinelli or Castello, or London’s Dunhill – produce pipes for which hot battles are fought on eBay.