[SAjunidog]

I can't talk on these balsa filters as I've never seen them, but I do have a few pipes that use the cheap-o paper/cotton medico filters. Personally I dislike them, as I find that they impede the draw significantly, and can make the smoke fairly nasty. The latter is probably my fault, as I tend to be stingy and change the filter out very rarely, if you did it every 2-3 smokes you should be fine (probably only 1-2 with a larger bowl, but my filtereds all have small ~1/2" bowls).

I do find that the significantly reduce the nic-hit from a drag, which I personally hate, since I like the occasional blast of nicotine. If you don't want the nic then they do that quite well, but given the effect on taste and the way they impede the draw I'd say just don't inhale at all if you really don't want the nic (the nocotine I get from smoking without inhaling is so minimal I can't really see the point of trying to filter it out).

One thing I will give filters is that they are good for keeping ash out of your mouth. That is, however, a bit of a self fulfiling prophecy, since the only reason ash can get through a pipe is if its got the cavernous stem built for a filter. Even then its not a huge deal, I just don't tamp as much near the end of a bowl and even wthout a filter ash doesn't really get through.