Less common materials include other dense-grained woods such as cherry, olive, maple, mesquite, oak, and bog-wood. Minerals such as catlinite and soapstone have also been used. Pipe bowls are sometimes decorated by carving, and moulded clay pipes often had simple decoration in the mould. Waterpipe tobacco also contains numerous Fashion tobacco pipe toxins known to cause lung disease, cancer, heart diseases and other illnesses. Even after it has been passed through water, the smoke produced by a waterpipe contains high levels of toxins, including carbon monoxide, metals and cancer-causing chemicals.
Spoon pipes are normally made of borosilicate glass to withstand repeated exposure to high temperatures. They consist of a bowl for packing material into, stem for inhaling, and a carburettor (carb) for controlling suction and airflow into the pipe. First, the user inhales while lighting the smoking material and holding down the carb, allowing smoke to fill the stem. Then, the user releases the carb while inhaling to allow air to enter the stem and smoke to be pulled into the user’s mouth. The size of a pipe, particularly the bowl, depends largely on what is intended to be smoked in it. Large western-style tobacco pipes are used for strong-tasting, harsh tobaccos, the smoke from which is usually not inhaled.
Matches, or separately lit slivers of wood are often considered preferable to lighters because of lower burning temperature. Butane lighters made specifically for pipes emit flame sideways or at an angle to make it easier to direct flame into the bowl. Torch-style lighters should never be used to light a pipe because their flames are too hot and can char the rim of the pipe bowl. Matches should be allowed to burn for several seconds to allow the sulfur from the tip to burn away and the match to produce a full flame. A naphtha fueled lighter should also be allowed to burn a few seconds to get rid of stray naphtha vapors that could give a foul taste to the smoke.
To protect the public health of the U.S. population from tobacco-related death and disease, FDA provides information about tobacco products, including pipe tobacco, and the dangers they pose to the public. Some are pressed into flat plugs which are sliced Fashion tobacco pipe into flakes. Others are tightly wound into long ropes, then sliced into discs. Plug tobacco is maintained in its pressed block form and sold in small blocks.
Because of this expense, pipes with bodies made of wood (usually mahogany) instead of gourd, but with the same classic shape, are sold as calabashes. Both wood and gourd pipes are functionally the same (with the important exception that the dried gourd, usually being noticeably lighter, sits more comfortably in the mouth). They consist of a downward curve that ends with an upcurve where the bowl sits. Beneath the bowl is an air chamber which serves to cool, dry, and mellow the smoke.
Don’t be concerned if you have to relight several times; it’s better than having an overly hot pipe and an irritated tongue. Patience here will be repaid later with cooler and drier smokes. Children exposed to secondhand smoke have an increased risk of sudden infant death syndrome, ear infections, respiratory infections, and far more frequent and severe asthma attacks. Adults exposed to secondhand smoke have increased risk of heart disease, stroke, lung cancer, and reduced fertility. Pregnant women are especially susceptible to the harms of secondhand smoke, because it can cause pregnancy complications such as low birth weights and preterm birth. Shop our assorted premium pipe tobaccos and latest pipe tobacco blends.