Pipe smoking, a lost art.

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QFT. I will say my Boswell smoked much better than any other "first smoke" with my other pipes. No gurgle, never got hot, smooth. Is that placebo? Maybe. But I liked it.

Man, they like some ridicuously large pipes, you'd need some seriout tooth power to handle that. I might have to put a shotshell pipe on my future wants list though. No gurgle is a good thing for sure, my Barling gurgles if the tobacco is a little damp, it annoys the crap out of me, but its a 40 year old pipe and I love the nostalgia of it.
 
Yeah, I doubt I could tell the difference between some really old high quality briar like pre-transition Barlings are famous for or what most pipes are made out of today. However, I can tell the difference between one that smokes good and one that doesn't...I just figure that if it smokes good it is well made.

Most of what I bought were "basket" rejects (aside from the Grabow). meaning for whatever reason, usually cosmetic, they were offered at a signifigant discount.
 
Bensiff said:
Man, they like some ridicuously large pipes, you'd need some seriout tooth power to handle that. I might have to put a shotshell pipe on my future wants list though. No gurgle is a good thing for sure, my Barling gurgles if the tobacco is a little damp, it annoys the crap out of me, but its a 40 year old pipe and I love the nostalgia of it.

Yeah this one is much bigger than I expected. It smoked for over 1.5 hours where all my others were 45 min tops. Would be tough to hold in my teeth for longer than a few minutes but I tend to hold my pipe in my hand the whole time so I didn't have any issues last night.
 
Picture of the cap

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Yeah, that is a serious bit of wood to accomodate that shell cap...now I'm thinking a chopped .308 case all polished up might be the ticket for a less substantial pipe that still sports my love for shooting.
 
I'm like pipe smoke wafting through the air pushed and pulled by the currents of time.

Just packed a bowl of Va #1 in my Savenelli, smoked about 1/3 of the bowl then started polking around one of the old pipe cabinets in my garage and found some balsa filters I had forgotten about. That usually forgotten old cabinet is akin to a pipe smoker's treasure trove. I never know exactly what small prize I'll find next.

The filters were in a little plastic bag with directions on card stock written in Italian, English, French (I think) and German. They said "The natural balsa insert will absorb any excess moisture along with smoke impurities without restricting the drawing characteristics of a pipe or affecting the flavrr of the the tobacco. Replace insert after 3-4 smokes"

There must be 30-40 of these triangular balsa sticks in the bag. I never used them before... they seemed to wussy. (forgive me, I was a lot younger then). Anyway, I pulled the stem out of the shank and stuck one in. Fired my briar back up and have to admit. Amazing difference!

I wasn't upset at the smoke before but this little bit of wonder balsa cooled the smoke, made the good flavors come through better and I swear the smoke in the air seemed creamier as did the smoke I pulled through.

Man, I'm buzzing a bit from this. I smoked two good sized bowls. :mug:

PS.. if this is the first post you read on this forum..It's pipe tobacco..
 
Just smoked the first bowl in my Bjarne churchwarden I got from pipesandcigars. Ordered the pipe, a tool and scottys tobacco sampler and all arrived as they should've. I was worried when I grabbed the pipe and felt how light it is but it stayed cooler than my smoke shop briar pipe. Also smoked cooler which I expected from the longer stem. Not a bad looking piece either.



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I here you brother.

+1 Hear That!

I used to go northern pike fishing early in the mornings and take the pipe and some cherry/vanilla tobacco along. Those were fun mornings. All alone in nature; great aroma/flavor; and pretty darn good fishing.

Damn... I use to go Fishing almost every day when I was growing up. Grew up in Massachusetts near a Pond. Some of the Biggest Northern Pike Ever! Me and my brother used to steal granpa's pipe sometimes. I think he knew but he never said anything. Time for a Beer!!:drunk:
 
Just smoked the first bowl in my Bjarne churchwarden I got from pipesandcigars. Ordered the pipe, a tool and scottys tobacco sampler and all arrived as they should've. I was worried when I grabbed the pipe and felt how light it is but it stayed cooler than my smoke shop briar pipe. Also smoked cooler which I expected from the longer stem. Not a bad looking piece either.



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Quite a beautiful pipe Tex! I'm sure you will find in it many years of tranquil comfort. :mug:
 
Went back to my Kaywoodie and it's gurgling to hell. This berry cobbler tobacco sure smells nice though!
 
Dan, your post about find a triangular whatever moisture catching little items in the cabinet was almost like reading a good chapter from the book;) thank you
 
worksnorth said:
Ok just got home from work to check out my new pipe!
Pipesandcigars only shorted me one tin of tobacco from a five tin set. Emailed them and I guess I'll see if they make it right, how hard is it to put five tins in a box?

Just so folks know, emailed pipesandcigars about this order. Received an email back the next day, they apologized and said the missing tin was in the mail.
Sooo.... All is good and ill order from them again! :)
 
Know what the worst part about having a collection of tobacco is?

Walking into a room where you've smoked and savouring the aroma that was left behind so much you want a bowl but cannot for the fecking life of you remember which tobacco it was that left that wonderful smell.
 
What percentage humidity should pipe tobacco be kept at?

IIRC, anything more than 14% and it'll start to mold.

Below that is personal preference.

IMO, the heavily cased tobacco needs to be kept near gummy for the flavors to come through properly. The simpler tobacco, I think, are better on the dry side.

I just try to keep mine moist enough they don't crumble to ash in a pinch between my fingers but not so wet that my hands feel glazed after handling.
 
This is just me, nothing to reference to in written works. I personally like my tobacco dried out. Seems to burn better than mildly moist tobacco. Recently I found some 3 year old tobacco that had been kept in a cupboard. Smoked great. Will have to say it was a moist tobacco 3 years ago.
 
Ps. I know this is a pipe smoking thread so forgive me. Going to throw up a picture of my new kegerator, still in the works. Fourth tap coming soon and a big Harley Davidson sticker on the freezer door. It also makes a great place to display my pipes!

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Edit. I need to update my camera date stamp. I just took the picture about an hour ago.
 
GilaMinumBeer said:
Erm, carry the one.

Huh? I found this on another forum.

An RH of between 61% and 64% will equillibrate most tobaccos to the 12-14% moisture range. This may be too moist for some smokers. To get to an average moisture content of 10%, you'd need an RH of about 56%, according to my experiments.
 
Huh? I found this on another forum.

An RH of between 61% and 64% will equillibrate most tobaccos to the 12-14% moisture range. This may be too moist for some smokers. To get to an average moisture content of 10%, you'd need an RH of about 56%, according to my experiments.

That's what I said.

Like I said, often times I find tobacco straight from the tin has much better aroma and flavor but is hard to smoke because it's still so moist. After a year in a bag, however, some have dried out to the point of becoming dust in your fingers. You have to find the happy middle. And even then that middle changes depending on the blend.
 
What would happen if you put your tobacco in a hop bag, smoked the bag over mesquite or apple wood, and then smoked it. You'd be smoking smoked smoke. That would be awesome.
 
What percentage humidity should pipe tobacco be kept at?

Strangely this is the one area I'm not completely anal retentive. While my cigars never move more than a few percentage points away from 65%, when I buy pipe tobacco I toss it into a ball canning jar and leave it in my pantry. I couldn't tell you what the humidity is, just that I have some stuff that is a good 3 years old now and is much improved and none of it is too dry. Some is a bit on the moist side (no mold) that I can tell from the touch, for that I pull enough out to fill a bowl and let it sit for a bit to get to the dryness I want. I wish I could give you a RH that you could use, but I just go by feel. That is the downfall of premium tobacco, it is finicky and is something of an art...but, a little time with it and you will be able to not think about it, just know what is right for you.
 
Ps. I know this is a pipe smoking thread so forgive me. Going to throw up a picture of my new kegerator, still in the works. Fourth tap coming soon and a big Harley Davidson sticker on the freezer door. It also makes a great place to display my pipes!

Nice setup Dan, wish I had 4 taps, but 2 is all I have room for. Does the garage environment have any impact on the briar as it changes from hot to cold, wet to dry?
 
Nice setup Dan, wish I had 4 taps, but 2 is all I have room for. Does the garage environment have any impact on the briar as it changes from hot to cold, wet to dry?

Thanks. Have to admit though only one tap for beer. The other three soft drinks/gatorade/iced coffee.

Not that I've noticed. Pipes on top of the kegerator I just put there recently but they have been living in a pipe cabinet in the garage for years. Having said that, winters here are fairly mild, I don't think the garage has ever got to freezing temps, maybe a few hours on the coldest of nights. Humidity is not much of a problem here either. So I don't know what the effect of freezing cold and damp weather would be.
 
Thanks. Have to admit though only one tap for beer. The other three soft drinks/gatorade/iced coffee.

Not that I've noticed. Pipes on top of the kegerator I just put there recently but they have been living in a pipe cabinet in the garage for years. Having said that, winters here are fairly mild, I don't think the garage has ever got to freezing temps, maybe a few hours on the coldest of nights. Humidity is not much of a problem here either. So I don't know what the effect of freezing cold and damp weather would be.

I suppose it would have made sense for me to look and see you are in CA...up here in Western Washington humidity and temp extremes is always an issue
 
Ps. I know this is a pipe smoking thread so forgive me. Going to throw up a picture of my new kegerator, still in the works. Fourth tap coming soon and a big Harley Davidson sticker on the freezer door. It also makes a great place to display my pipes!

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Edit. I need to update my camera date stamp. I just took the picture about an hour ago.

That is a beautiful setup!
 
Strangely this is the one area I'm not completely anal retentive. While my cigars never move more than a few percentage points away from 65%, when I buy pipe tobacco I toss it into a ball canning jar and leave it in my pantry. I couldn't tell you what the humidity is, just that I have some stuff that is a good 3 years old now and is much improved and none of it is too dry. Some is a bit on the moist side (no mold) that I can tell from the touch, for that I pull enough out to fill a bowl and let it sit for a bit to get to the dryness I want. I wish I could give you a RH that you could use, but I just go by feel. That is the downfall of premium tobacco, it is finicky and is something of an art...but, a little time with it and you will be able to not think about it, just know what is right for you.

Once the tin is cracked, canning jars are the way to go with tobacco. Seal it up and forget about it!
 
Once the tin is cracked, canning jars are the way to go with tobacco. Seal it up and forget about it!

See, you are all advanced and stuff, I just buy an ounce or two of bulk from Kirsten's in Seattle...love their Mariner blend.
 
Haven't posted in here before, but I enjoy an occasional pipe smoke. My dad smoked a pipe always when I was young.

I smoke a Dr. Grabow De Luxe 9845. It is a very nice smoking pipe circa late 1930's.

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I am a lucky bastid in that I still purchase from the same quality shop my old man did when i was a tiny tot. I have great memories going to Uhle's as a kid with my dad. http://www.uhles.com/

:edit: apparently they ship! You guys should have a try of their stuff, it is very good.
 
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