leftover421
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- Oct 24, 2012
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I am very picky about my pipes, they have to smoke great and at the same time be
elegant. I keep my pipes in top notch condition at all times because they are
works of art. My stems get polished once a month just to ensure I keep the
oxidization monster at bay as well as most of my pipes get a turn on the buffing
wheel with some wax at the B&M once a month or more. I carefully scrub the
loose bits of gunk in the bowl out to ensure a slow building even cake. I use a
special B&M brand pipe scrub on the draft hole and inside the stem once a
month. I try to let my pipes dry as long as possible between each smoke and I
buff them with a microfiber shine cloth, also purchased from my B&M, before
the go back into the rack and before I load them up. I do my best to be kind to
the pipe during a smoke as well. I avoid rim char with a carefully controlled
lighting using my handy Zippo Pipe Lighter. I mop up any moisture with a pipe
cleaner as soon as I notice it and I smoke gently for the most part. I must
have influenced the owner of my B&M with my OCD behavior because he has
started polishing his old workhorse pipes again. All it took was a “tisk tisk,
that stem has seen better days” and he was trying to scrub the thick day-glow
green color off his stems.
All that might seem like a lot of work just to have a smoke but admiring the beauty
of the pipe I am smoking out of has become a large part of my pipe smoking
experience/pleasure. I like a simple shaped pipe and I’m not much into the hand
carved art pipe. (Too much art not enough pipe IMO) Although I do like a small
band of gold, silver, or anything shiny to catch the eye of my simple mind.
Fancy stems are nice (Cumberland, GBD Perspex stem are cool on the right pipe,
Gold stem on a Sav Unfinished, etc, etc) but a black as sin on a moonless night
stem has a very classy appeal. I also don’t like stems with rosettes, knobs,
bumps or any fancy carving work that is usually only there to detract from the
badly crooked bent drilling IMO. If the stem is shaped in a way that is
supposed to be for grip like military mount stems are then that’s fine as a
functioning part of the pipe. I’m a busy guy so I don’t really have time for a
huge bowl from a monster pipe. I tend to lean towards the smaller bowled pipes
for that reason but I understand the want for a great big pipe with a great big
bowl. My favorite shape is the classic strait billiard ripped right from the
mouth of a 50’s era dad but any strait shape appeals to me. On the flip side I
also have an enjoyment for a full bent pipe because it hangs well and is out of
the way while doing chores. Although I have also come to figure out that the
pipe shape doesn’t affect the smoke that much as long as it’s well made with
attention paid to proper drilling.
Anyways, I just wanted to share my minimal pipe smoking experiences with you
all.
Thanks for reading this if you made it all the way through and thanks for trying if ya
didn’t, can’t say that I blame you though.