Thread: Pipe of the Day

Tonight its GL Pease Union Square In a Savinelli La Pipa Private Label. The stuff kind of dried out on me and this broken Virginia flake is laden with sugar crystals. Burning hot as hell I attempt to take it slow. Good Virginia blend but be careful this one can bite.

Sold a razor and got myself a treat. One of the prohibition series from moonshine. This is the Sutton Poker from the series. My first new pipe and I began the break in process with about a one third of straight virginia. I tuned the draw up a bit to get it where I like it.




Just finished a cob of C&D Billy Budd. "A Heavy Latakia blend with rough-cut Burley, bright Virginia flake and a good amount of rough-cut cigar leaf".
This tobacco is a real keeper.

Maybe it doesn't matter so much but Virginia's can burn real hot and may scortch that naked Briar. Smoke it real slow if you can. Many folks recommend Burley for breaking in a pipe due to cool smoking characteristics. I dont know if its true or not but the Virginia's I smoke burn like coal. I have some pits in some of my pipes from bad break in practices. Just be aware.

H&H Latakia Flake in Missouri Meerschaum Diplomat cob

Originally Posted by lz6

One of the prohibition series from moonshine. This is the Sutton Poker from the series.

Jonathan makes some real sweet pipes...

Originally Posted by Razorfaust

Maybe it doesn't matter so much but Virginia's can burn real hot and may scortch that naked Briar. Smoke it real slow if you can. Many folks recommend Burley for breaking in a pipe due to cool smoking characteristics. I dont know if its true or not but the Virginia's I smoke burn like coal. I have some pits in some of my pipes from bad break in practices. Just be aware.

Thank you for the heads up. It will be Burley for this afternoon. I figure a bit over 1/3 again and slowly.

There have been so many recommendations for pipe break in. One method I found interesting was to fill the pipe loose til the top and without packing just smoke it down. When finished shake up the ashes in the bowl and dump them rinse repeat..

Disclaimer although I freely give out acquired info on pipe smoking, my practices are poor. I am a greedy impatient smoker by default and although have gotten much better I have torched half my pipe collection in the process. I think the key is just dont heat your pipe and it will be alright.

Originally Posted by Razorfaust

There have been so many recommendations for pipe break in. One method I found interesting was to fill the pipe loose til the top and without packing just smoke it down. When finished shake up the ashes in the bowl and dump them rinse repeat..

I haven't bought a pipe in a good 10 years and no unsmoked pipes in 15 or more. Had to stop and think about what I did to break in a pipe way back when. I recall that I read smearing a thin coat of honey on the inner walls was a good protector for break in and I did that on at least one pipe when I first started in the '80s. Later I remember I'd just put a gob of saliva on my little finger and swab the bowl to moisten it before I smoked in it.

I had also read about smoking a third of a bowl a few times, then a half, then when a bit of cake was built up two thirds, and finally up to the top. I did that routine with quite a few pipes before I began just doing the saliva thing and filling the bowl up to the top. That worked just fine on most average sized bowls. On tall bowls, or really large pipes I'd sometimes find that I'd have soggy dottle the last 1/4 or 1/8 of the bowl.

In that case I would smoke half bowls in that pipe until I got a good cake all the way to the bottom. I know some guys don't believe in smoking a pipe down to the very bottom, but that is how I learned, and I've never had a burn out in a pipe yet, and I've gone through a heap or them. My father smoked Half & Half pretty much all of the time, so naturally that is what I started with.

That was all that I smoked for years until the Internet opened my eyes and broadened my horizons. Anyone who has smoked it will tell you that it is a good tobacco to learn to smoke a pipe correctly. If you don't puff on H&H easy and slow you will get tongue bite that you will not soon forget. It will either teach you to smoke 'right' or cause you to give it up entirely.

Originally Posted by JimmyHAD

Had to stop and think about what I did to break in a pipe way back when.

Well back in my day... 19 years ago, my first pipe was a Dr. Grabow... No break in necessary...

As of today with any of my new pipes, other than cobs... I just smoke gently...

Now cobs on the other hand, stuff, light and smoke like there is no tomorrow...