Choosing a Tobacco Pipe Based on Your Smoking Style

Large western-style tobacco pipes are used for strong-tasting, harsh tobaccos, the smoke from which is usually not inhaled. Smaller pipes such as the midwakh or kiseru are used to inhale milder tobaccos such as dokha and kizami or other substances such as cannabis and opium. With care, a briar pipe can last a very long time without burning out. However, due to aggressive (hot) smoking or imperfections in the wood, a hole can be burned in the tobacco chamber of the pipe. There are several methods used to help prevent a wood pipe from burning out. These generally involve coating the chamber with any of a variety of substances, or by gently smoking a new pipe to build up a cake (a mixture of ash, unburned tobacco, oils, sugars, and other residue) on the walls.

A pipe should be allowed to cool before removing the stem to avoid the possibility of warping it. In England clay pipes were sold in bundles of dozens or twenties, and were often free in taverns, where the tobacco was sold. Although Missouri Meerschaum pipes are smoked all over the world today, they are a uniquely American example of craftsmanship and history. Founded in 1869 in Missouri, the first corn cob pipes ever manufactured were produced by founder Henry Tibbe. The following is by far not an all-inclusive list, but a Fashion tobacco pipe selection of tobaccos that have for years been sought and highly lauded.

Many Filling cut tobacco modern briar pipes are pre-treated by the manufacturer to resist burning. Another technique is to alternate a half-bowl and a full-bowl the first several times the pipe is used to build an even cake. Like Peterson, Vauen pipes manufacturer drew on the association of ‘cleverness’ with smoking pipes to build their brand.

This shape may originally have been a popular choice for “basket” pipes made of cherry wood, which some say is the the origin of the name. Higher quality pipes are made in a labour-intensive hand shaping process.12 Traditionally, clay pipes are unglazed. Clays burn “hot” in comparison to other types of pipes, so they are often difficult for most pipe-smokers to use.

My generation turned to pipe smoking, not for this claim, but because “brothers” thought that pipe smoking was cool. I make this point based on conversations I have had with friends and colleagues that smoked pipes in the past. To a person, they indicated that they turned to pipe smoking upon entering college because pipe smokers appeared to be intelligence and cool. Pipe tobacco contains many of the harmful chemicals found in cigarettes, including nicotine and toxic chemicals known to cause cancer. Smoking pipe tobacco is addictive, and users have an increased risk of head and neck, liver, and lung cancers. With no “junction” between the bowl and shank, the lines flow gracefully back and forth along the length of the pipe, only interrupted by the meeting of bowl and stem.