Recent content by John Offerdahl

An interesting question, and one which has sparked a lot of debate. I can't personally say that I favor one over the other at all; rather, I find each finish to be special and unique. A straight grain represents not only the utmost perfection of the briar surface but also of the briar growth...

The salt and alcohol treatment is certainly effective. However, it can lead to problems - rare problems, but avoidable problems. Salt can leech into microcracks in bowls, where it causes the cracks to expand. Again, such an issue is quite rare but does happen. Thus the adaptation of cotton...

I'll second the suggestion of Mason jars. You can buy a box of a dozen for about $8. They seal completely, keeping tobacco fresh. About the best bargain you can find in the pipe world.

I'll quibble, if I may. Notice that Greg doesn't state "St. James Perique", but instead says "Louisiana Perique".

Pease is very reluctant to change the recipe of a blend. He would discontinue it before changing it. However, he uses Green River Perique, which is burley taken through the same curative process as St. James Perique. It can be argued that the Green River is real or fake perique, but it can't be...

I think I'm pretty fortunate. As long as my wife has known me she's also known my pipes. Thus, she simply accepts pipe smoking as something I do. She has asked that I don't smoke them in the bedroom, but if I'm walking through with a pipe in my mouth she doesn't say anything. And so my answer is...

The top three would be Jan Zeman, Ardor, and pipes I've made. But Rad Davis' pipes are close behind and gaining steam!

I've gotten them quite clean using a bristle pipe cleaner on a cordless drill, and using rough tripoli. I put the cleaner into the drill chuck, then rotate it on the tripoli to pick some up on the cleaner, and run it through the stem at a fairly low speed. Works like a charm for me.

This question gets asked a lot on the boards, and the only way I have ever been able to asnwer is is by asking: Would you make me pick a favorite among my children?

Typically I can load a pipe in about 30 seconds. I can't think of a single pipe I own that won't last at least 90 minutes.

Hi all, I'm John, from Georgia. Atlanta area, in fact. I probably know a lot of you from other groups, and look forward to getting to know those of you I haven't encountered before!