I Fill The Bowl....

[RSteve]

I have far too many pipes, mostly briar, some olivewood, several meerschaum and a dozen cobs. A couple of years ago, I gave most of the high grades to one of my daughters to sell on Ebay. I wasn't smoking them very often and she needed the extra cash. For almost two years, I've been primarily smoking the cobs; almost all are the Mark Twain model, fitted with Italian acrylic stems. I always fill the bowls with a pipe cleaner through the stem, shank, and into the bowl. I never have a plugged pipe when I do this.

 

[Gusto]

I like cobs for smoking flakes because of the cylindrical chamber. I load them twisting in a folded flake. Without careful practice that technique can plug any bowl though.

 

[Timbo]

Good advice with the pipe cleaner, another quick tip I found recently loading one of my Falcons, is to unscrew the bowl after filling it and put the tobacco that fell into the dome back into the bowl then reattach it.

Yes I've got Scottish heritage...