Savinelli: Adapter or Filters required?

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I just smoked my first bowl using a balsa wood filter. The pipe is a Savinelli Punto Oro 1/8th bent sandblasted poker with an army mount. I've always used the adapter in it until the smoke tonight.

I'll have to do it all again a dozen times or so yet, but my experience was awfully positive. Dry smoke, no need to use a pipe cleaner (as GeoffC predicted), and no damp dottle in the bottom of the bowl at the end. Very nice. I suspect, if the dry ash smoke to the bottom phenomenon repeats itself in further smoking, that the balsa wood filter use will contribute to building up "heel cake" in the bottom of the bowl--very very nice.

I'm not sure I can be definitive at this point, but I thought the taste was a bit woody. Maybe the balsa gives a slight taste as the moist air humidifies and passes around and somewhat through it. I'm not sure of this yet so we'll see what other smokes tell.

It sure was nice though, and fun to have a smoking test project. Certainly worth a half to a full dozen test bowls.

Thanks for the suggestion for sure.
 
I got the Savinelli filters and so far I like them. For the helluvit I also picked up some Medicos. I wanted to try them because they're more readily available than the Savs. The draw has changed little, but it's definitely not as bad as what I've read here. I'm not getting that slimy feeling in the throat that happened without a filter. For me it's a keeper. I think I like the Medicos more, actually. :scratch:
 
So after reading this I decided to take the adapter out of my 320 and try one of the balsa wood filters that came with it. The filter didn't seem to restrict the air flow any that I could tell. I was smoking an aro, (P&W: Gramercy Park), and it smoked cool and dry. Very pleasant. Looked at the filter a little while afterwards, and it collected quite a bit of moisture... so, I'm thinking they are probably a good thing. Definitely worth trying for as long as I have the balsa wood filters on hand, then we'll see from there.
 
My Savinelli Bing's Favorite Punto Oro is one of my favorites. I tried the balsa filter, tried the insert, and like it best without either of them. It's nice to have options, though.
 
So just to gain the experience, I left the filter out of my new Sav Linea Artisan and replaced it with the little plastic tube thing that came in the filter pack. I still can't notice any difference between filter, adaptor and nothing. Except this -- I wondered what the little tick, tick sound was. Thought it might be a hot lamp shade, but no. Turned out to be the adaptor sliding up and down in its channel when I moved. So annoying. So I've gone back to past practice of going without.
 
I smoke mine wide open have not had any problems and it smokes great!
 
I prefer to use the basla filters in all my filtered pipes Savinelli, Pete's etc..
Fiqure there cheap enough, new filter with every bowl and like that the Savinelli filters fit tight & don't slide up or down.
 
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