Horn for smoking?

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sstodvictory

sstodvictory

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While I've always thought that the Horn shape looks attractive on a good piece of briar, the shape has never struck me as one that would be easy to smoke. Look at this Ebay offering for example. Its gorgeous, but at 72 grams it certainly is not a clencher, and, to my eyes it doesn't look very comfortable to hold. (some of you may remember that Great Estate is auctioning some of my pipes, but this is not one of them - I'm not tooting my horn!)

http://www.ebay.com/itm/180768870199

Do you smoke a horn, and what do you think of the experience of smoking one?

Steve
 
I have one Moretti I have never smoked, so I can't give much feedback. However, the horn shapes that cant forward, seem to be ideal for smoking in the supine position. :santa:
 
I have a couple and they deliver a good smoke, but tend to really heat up towards the bottom of the bowl. The wood is usually a lot thinner down there and I've scared myself a couple of times when I wasn't careful!

This one seems to be a little more uniform in thickness down the bowl than the ones I have.
 
Although horns carved by high-end pipe makers who know how to display the grain of a great piece of briar can be some of the most finely-grained pipes that I've ever seen, if I bought such it would be as a collector.

How do you possibly light one when the rim is so far away, and from what I can tell, out of sight? The salesman at a CORPS show with one such said that the way a horn is usually held is with the palm of the hand and three or four fingers around its middle.
 
The shape seems ludicrous to me for actually smoking. I think it's more a style exercise for the maker. I had some old Charatans that were mildly horn shaped. I dumped them years ago.
 
They look cool. There's something to be said about heat rising and ashes falling that would make some positioning while smoking a bit awkward---this is my assumption. I also imagine wind could play havoc with them: I saw one recent example where the bowl was at a 45° angle to the smoker... :scratch: I can't see this being a benefit.
 
The other thing about any shape where the bowl faces foward is that they tend to heat up alot more on the back side od the bowl.
 
Richard Burley":v5grojbi said:
The shape seems ludicrous to me for actually smoking. I think it's more a style exercise for the maker. I had some old Charatans that were mildly horn shaped. I dumped them years ago.
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Well said, and I agree. I always wonder about those high end horns that end up as used estate pipes with scorched rims. :scratch:
 
I have two. An Il Ceppo rhodesian and an a Jacono Bishop, both pictured below and both less than six months old (one less than six days) It's true that they can be tricky to light as you can't see the tobacco chamber, and both of these have a lot of rim. The one in the Ebay link looks like it might just be visible though.

I enjoy them both, but they do require extra care and should only be smoked when not doing anything else. They're not for stuff-and-puff moments.



bishopE1.png
 
Anyone else care to comment on this shape, show pictures, or talk about how they smoke?
 
Here's my Steve Weiner horn. It is an absolutely superb smoker.
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I had a Radice horn for a while and it was absolutely beautiful and smoked very well. Only problem was the weight. It was over 2 oz, and pipes that weigh over 2 oz seem to have a relatively short life in my collection.

I'd recommend the shape as long as it wasn't ridiculously canted away from the smoker.
 
I have a Danmark (spelling) and a Jirsa horn that I bought many moons ago. I personally find them a little difficult to light and smoke. I like the looks of them but am not fond of smoking them.
 
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