Holding a Meer

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Blue Max

Blue Max

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I've never had a meer mainly because I was told you can't touch them on the meerschaum because it will leave brown fingerprints. I thought I would look and feel dorky holding it by the stem.

Is this true or an urban legend?
 
Yes, if you hold it with your fingertips while it´s hot it can stain the bowl. Especially while it´s hot. The oil from your sweat will get soaked up by the bowl and can discolor it over time. You can use a glove, or a cloth to hold it- but that is about as ridiculous as holding it by the stem. I know the Hacker book makes a big deal of this...

This is only if the appearance of the pipe is of utmost importance. You don´t have to do that. You can just smoke it like any other pipe and it will discolor a little as part of regular use. It´ll have character then- YOUR character. The only drawback is that it might not fetch the same price on ebay later....


:lol:
 
Well....I know from personal experience that it is generallly unwise to hold a hot meerschaum, as your fingers can and will smear the beeswax on the bowl that coats the outside; this happened to a meer of mine when I first started out smoking pipes 30+ years ago, with the result that the coloring was "streaky". I hold a meer by the bit when I smoke one. Some guys hold them on the stem, which does not get hot like the bowl, and therefore is less apt to smear. Another VERY OLD approach is to cut a piece of chamois (you can us the leather that the car chamois cloths are made of (not the artificial fiber ones, the leather ones)) and make a covering for the bowl, and hold the pipe that way. If one is skilled, you can make the covering to go around the bowl, and use some very narrow strips of chamois to sort of sew it up in a few places so that it will stay on. Of course, you cannot see the coloring that way, but I guess one can take the chamois on and off. And one more school of thought: do not worry about touching the bowl! Just hold it lightly, do not smear the bowl with your fingers, and go for it !!!
 
I just got my first meer recently and I hold it by the bowl just like any other pipe. I haven't experienced any fingerprint stains or smeared wax and during normal smoking the bowl gets warm but not hot. I have heard that touching the bowl will make it color unevenly but so far I can't tell. The whole bowl is taking on a tinge of brown and besides I got it more for its smoking quailtys than its looks anyway. My advice is smoke like normal but wash your hands well beforehand. That's worked for me.
 
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