Looking into clay pipes

[Lord Wigglybottom]

Well after a decent hiatus from the forums I'm back, hopefully to stay this time.

Over the last short while, life has happened and I have incurred some unexpected expenses but I'm still in the game. My two cobs are smoking great, I've figured out how to pack and smoke them properly so they need no more than one relighting, tops. They are however, still only temporary solutions. It's a steep slope, and I can feel the ground beginning to shift 'neath my feet.

With that said, I still have my heart set on a long churchwarden-style pipe (and maybe someday a nice meer or oldschool gourd calabash) but recently I've been seeing more and more clays in my google searches. Can anyone who owns a clay attest to their value? They seem a little more expensive than cobs, but from the little bit of information I've been able to find they seem to smoke wonderfully. So my questions are as follows:

1) How do they smoke?

2) Do they hold onto flavors at all?

3) How resilient are they?

4) While I understand that with many pipes "you get what you pay for", what's a good price range for the longer clays (tavern/churchwarden style). I've seen everything from $4.00 on ebay to $100.

Thanks guys,

Wiggly

[Mister Moo]

Old skool gourd calabash is more novelty than pipe. The design is a masterpiece, if not a tribute to British (African) colonial imperialists with too much time (and too many gourds) on their hands. They are large, they don't travel well and really need a stand. I have one, a '60's vintage Pioneer - it smokes great - and given its impractical size it is more often than not ignored. Nice on the back porch with a gin and tonic on a hot summer evening - like Rhodesia. Ask MadHatter to confirm/deny - he messed with mine for a while.



Plain meer is a great pipe except for consideration to fragility. Where a briar mostly bounces, a meer mostly breaks. Many come with a pocket-sized snug-fitting case making them ideal travel pipes in my opinion. They tend not to ghost, are easy to clean and they're not limited by moisture. Block meer yellows slowly; compressed meer yellows hardly at all - both smoke about the same. If you want a monument, get a carved one. If you want a nice smoking pipe get a modestly priced traditional shape in meer. Make sure it comes with a hardshell case. $0.02

[dmkerr]

You can buy a new clay churchwarden from pipesandcigars.com for around $25. If you want to get "antique-y", I suppose there's no limit to what you can spend.

1) They smoke pretty well - dry but a little hot. The long stem helps to cool the smoke and it gives you something to hang onto. You don't want to touch the bowl while it's hot. The good news is you can smoke it as hot as you like without fear of burnout. Your tongue will fry before the pipe does. As for the taste, the pipe has none of its own. No subtle briar flavoring. But I guess overall the experience of a long clay churchwarden is more enjoyable than the actual smoke. It's cool to smoke like an 18th century Dutchman or Londoner would have.

2) Good question! I only smoke latakia-based blends in mine so I don't know if they "hold the ghost". I would guess that due to their absorbency, they probably don't hold flavors nearly as long as briar would. But like all my pipes, my clay only sees one style of tobacco, and I recommend that pipes be dedicated to avoid crossover flavor.

3) Resilient? hahahaha - no. Drop it and it'll shatter. Turn your head suddenly and graze it against the wall and it'll likely chip. But if by resilient you mean under normal smoking conditions, then yes - it won't burn out.

4) See first paragraph.

Clay churchwardens are fun on occasion but they are definitely a "sitting" type of pipe. The other pain in the ass is that because of the curvature of the stem, you can't see your lighter flame go into the bowl unless you're sitting in front of a mirror. Sorta annoying. Quite honestly, if you really want to explore how good a clay can taste, I recommend the Lepeltier double-walled ceramic. Great smoker, looks like a modern pipe, cleans easily, can be smoked over and over without need of drying out, has a vulcanite stem instead of a clay mouthpiece, etc etc. They are awesome pipes.

[Lord Wigglybottom]

Now that's a nice looking calabash! To smoke something like that though I'd feel naked without a monacle.

As for clays and calabashes just being sitting pipes, well...when I smoke I like to devote 80% of my attention to the pipe, and 20 to the sky so it's not likely that I'll be walking about with a pipe in my teeth anytime soon. I have been making some serious eyes at LePeltier's collection though. Fragile they may be but I think it'll be okay since I even baby my cobs.

Come to think of it, I'm not sure what kind of blends I smoke. One is a very light blend that, unburned, smells strongly of vanilla (the B&M called it "Yosemite"), and the other is black cherry cavendish. This would fall close to aromatics, right?

[dmkerr]

Lepeltier pipes, being hard-glazed ceramic clay pipes, are not nearly as fragile as ordinary clays. Granted, you can't drop one on a hard surface and expect it to survive, but you don't have to baby it. Breaking a Lepeltier could only be caused by supreme carelessness or ruthless desire. I take mine anywhere I'd take a briar and it has a normal vulcanite stem so it can be held in the teeth. They're not perfect but they have more advantages than disadvantages.

Ordinary clays, particularly churchwardens, are definitely sitting pipes.

[Lord Wigglybottom]

You know, I've tried holding my pipes in my teeth but damn it if I don't always end up getting some smoke on a regular, draw-free inhale. It's awful and ruins the next few draws for me because all I can taste is that horrible sharpness. Is there a particular technique to holding a pipe in the teeth? The most I've been able to come up with has been sticking my tongue over the hole in the stem to prevent any accidental drawing, but that always seems to make my pipe go out pretty quickly.

[dmkerr]

Originally Posted by Lord Wigglybottom

You know, I've tried holding my pipes in my teeth but damn it if I don't always end up getting some smoke on a regular, draw-free inhale. It's awful and ruins the next few draws for me because all I can taste is that horrible sharpness. Is there a particular technique to holding a pipe in the teeth? The most I've been able to come up with has been sticking my tongue over the hole in the stem to prevent any accidental drawing, but that always seems to make my pipe go out pretty quickly.

When you're not intentionally puffing, breathe in through your nose.

That works for me.

[Mister Moo]

Originally Posted by Lord Wigglybottom

You know, I've tried holding my pipes in my teeth but damn it if I don't always end up getting some smoke on a regular, draw-free inhale. ...Is there a particular technique to holding a pipe in the teeth?

OK. Here's the deal.

It's hard enough to walk and chew gum for a lot of us (me); and it's way harder to walk AND keep a lighted pipe clenched in your teeth, puff, not drool, not inhale by accident, not get smoke in your eyes, remember not to exhale and blow a fountain of ash and flaming embers all over the place, etc. etc. And to smoke, clench and simultaneously read, prepare food, curry the horse or paint the window frames is out of the question (for me).

Actually, I can keep certain (lightweight or bent) pipes clenched and proceed with other life-activities but, most times, I sooner or later find myself chomping so hard on the stem I think it's going to dent or crack. I have some lovely old smokers, 95% with perfect vulcanite stems - I'd hate to ruin one.

In short, I like smoking a pipe for its own sake, without distractions. Keeping a lit pipe in my mouth and trying to do something else detracts from attention to the pipe, the tobak and the process that makes them enjoyable. And I would be PISSED if I accidentally chomped a piece off a 50-year old pipe I'm supposed to be caretaker for. You guys who can smoke, clench and do one or two other things at the same time while enjoying a fine tobak - I honor you.

WTH? I forgot the point... Oh yeah -

... I've tried holding my pipes in my teeth but... It's awful...

Fergettabowdit. It doesn't work for some of us. Looks good in the movies, though, those guys who chomp and smoke and relight and puff and talk all at the same once.

[Lord Wigglybottom]

To be sure, I am definitely a "sit and enjoy" type of person at heart when it comes to pipe smoking. The desire to learn to clench comes from that same desire to experience all facets of the hobby at least once. That doesn't mean it will become a staple of the ritual for me (fill, char, char, light, clench, puff away whilst taking the dog for a run). I couldn't imagine smoking even while driving on a regular basis but hey, to each his own.

It's simply that I want to learn how because it is for many, an integral part of the pipe smoking experience. Even if it ends up having no practical value to me other than "I can do that". Call me crazy...and you'd probably be right.

@dmkerr - For some reason that ends the same way. If my tongue moves at all while clenching I get a very direct whiff of the puff that comes up from the bowl. I am perhaps just not built to clench (although when it comes to walking and chewing gum, my skills are world class ).

[Searchlight]

Originally Posted by Lord Wigglybottom

You know, I've tried holding my pipes in my teeth but damn it if I don't always end up getting some smoke on a regular, draw-free inhale.

That's exactly what happened to me the couple of times I experimented with clenching a pipe. I got a lung full of smoke, and got to stagger around gagging and coughing for a few minutes.

Made me feel sick enough that I decided I prefer the pipe in my hand.