Clays

[MikeDennison]

Here's how you expect it to stain if smoked regularly for two weeks or so, [mention]MikeDennison[/mention]

No special treatment needed? No breaking in and all that?

[Whalehead King]

Here's how you expect it to stain if smoked regularly for two weeks or so, [mention]MikeDennison[/mention]

No special treatment needed? No breaking in and all that?

No, man. Pack it and light it. You'll see. It will be maintenance free until it eventually breaks. JUST DON"T DROP IT!!!!!

[MikeDennison]

Here's how you expect it to stain if smoked regularly for two weeks or so, [mention]MikeDennison[/mention]

No special treatment needed? No breaking in and all that?

No, man. Pack it and light it. You'll see. It will be maintenance free until it eventually breaks. JUST DON"T DROP IT!!!!!

Right on! I'm kinda excited! I'll be extra careful with it.

[Whalehead King]

Here is an update. I've been smoking my clay since yesterday back to back to back. Let's say twelve bowls. Six yesterday, six today.

The heel is getting black and that dark stain is growing up the bowl and up the stem. Here is a photo of the bowl from the angle from the pharaoh/bishop side:



Here it is from the smoker's POV:



Get ready, [mention]MikeDennison[/mention] . Smoking a clay is a parallel world.

[MikeDennison]

Here is an update. I've been smoking my clay since yesterday back to back to back. Let's say twelve bowls. Six yesterday, six today.

The heel is getting black and that dark stain is growing up the bowl and up the stem. Here is a photo of the bowl from the angle from the pharaoh/bishop side:



Here it is from the smoker's POV:



Get ready, [mention]MikeDennison[/mention] . Smoking a clay is a parallel world.

Mine's supposed to be arriving tomorrow, and I'm looking forward to it. Does the clay act like a filter of sorts, soaking up gunk that might normally make it's way into a briar's stem?

[Whalehead King]

Here is an update. I've been smoking my clay since yesterday back to back to back. Let's say twelve bowls. Six yesterday, six today.

The heel is getting black and that dark stain is growing up the bowl and up the stem. Here is a photo of the bowl from the angle from the pharaoh/bishop side:



Here it is from the smoker's POV:



Get ready, [mention]MikeDennison[/mention] . Smoking a clay is a parallel world.

Mine's supposed to be arriving tomorrow, and I'm looking forward to it. Does the clay act like a filter of sorts, soaking up gunk that might normally make it's way into a briar's stem?

It's gurgle-proof.

That's what's turning the pipe black, all the gunk. The pipe isn't as black as the pictures make it look but it is very dark brown, especially compared to the white that it was when it first arrived.

It's a super-interesting and enjoyable pipe to smoke once you get used to how to handle how hot it is to the touch. I hate to use a pipe stand, which is why I prefer pokers, but I use my one stand with my clay. Here is how it looks in action.



I keep the stand facing away from me because I hold the pipe by it's stem, not it's bowl. I use the stand because I don't enjoy clenching the clay. As [mention]arturo7[/mention] says, it will wear down your teeth so that you'll need dentures. I'll clench it for brief periods, but I use my lips as cushion between the stem and my delicate teeth. I'm 55----I only have a limited supply of dental enamel to waste.

There is a reason clays were the pipe of choice for, I don't know, 200? 300? years. It's not like they didn't have other options. Clay was inexpensive, convenient, reliable, and provided the best smoke. You'll find your technique on how you like to hold it.

Connoisseurs like to use a clay to sample tobaccos to get a pure taste.

It doesn't matter what kind of lighter you use. I'm using a two-torch butane Jetline most of the time on this pipe. It may was well be made of metal, as far as its resistance to fire goes.

Just don't drop it.

[MikeDennison]

Well, today's the day [mention]Whalehead King[/mention] ! It's supposed to arrive today! I'm as excited as a kid whose sent in 25 box tops from Post Toasties to get a secret decoder ring, or some such. (Yes, I actually did something of the sort when I was an anklebiter.) I don't have a pipe stand, but I'll rig some sorta thing up. Hold by the stem; check. Don't clench; check. Don't drop; check. I'll post a pic after it arrives.

[MikeDennison]

So, my first clay arrived this morning, and I've already taken it for a test drive. First thing I noticed is how fragile it feels...I find myself holding it by the stem very gingerly. Second thing is how small the bowl is. Then, how my lips stick to the stem unless they're completely dry. But I love how it smokes! It's very cool and dry, and I think I'm getting more flavor out of the tobacco. Overall, it's great! I'm just wondering if my anxiety is gonna flare up out of fear of snapping the stem, dropping it, or otherwise damaging it in any of the myriad ways I can imagine.

[JTWilliams]

Meerschaum pipes aren't really considered a rich man's pipe, nowadays, though they do have the connotation that they are elite. Never ghost, low maintenance, intricate carving, don't drop it, keep it in a case, whatnot. The myth that you have to wear a glove when you smoke it has been debunked.

A brylon pipe is a working man's meer----smokes the same way, with some over-exaggerated downsides. Unless it is at ground zero of an atomic blast or the focal point of a meteor crash, a brylon pipe is indestructible.

A clay pipe, though, that's a poor man's meer. It has the same qualities as a meer, shares some of the same qualities as a brylon, but is very fragile and very hot, while providing a cool ghost-free smoke requiring little maintenance.

A clay pipe is as light as a butterfly and it works hard like a bee. Like most things, a clay pipe will never last forever. That's not what it's made for. It is made to be broken, eventually, if only at the bit for the next guy who wants to smoke it. It is a transitory disposable thing by design. That's why it's cheap.

Here is my newest clay pipe. I didn't take this photo to subliminally influence your political opinions. It just happened to the page of the WSJ I was reading at the time.


I like a clay pipe. That's why I bought another after my first one broke. I have my reasons. I think they are good reasons, too.

Really dig your way with words WK

[Whalehead King]

Meerschaum pipes aren't really considered a rich man's pipe, nowadays, though they do have the connotation that they are elite. Never ghost, low maintenance, intricate carving, don't drop it, keep it in a case, whatnot. The myth that you have to wear a glove when you smoke it has been debunked.

A brylon pipe is a working man's meer----smokes the same way, with some over-exaggerated downsides. Unless it is at ground zero of an atomic blast or the focal point of a meteor crash, a brylon pipe is indestructible.

A clay pipe, though, that's a poor man's meer. It has the same qualities as a meer, shares some of the same qualities as a brylon, but is very fragile and very hot, while providing a cool ghost-free smoke requiring little maintenance.

A clay pipe is as light as a butterfly and it works hard like a bee. Like most things, a clay pipe will never last forever. That's not what it's made for. It is made to be broken, eventually, if only at the bit for the next guy who wants to smoke it. It is a transitory disposable thing by design. That's why it's cheap.

Here is my newest clay pipe. I didn't take this photo to subliminally influence your political opinions. It just happened to the page of the WSJ I was reading at the time.


I like a clay pipe. That's why I bought another after my first one broke. I have my reasons. I think they are good reasons, too.

Really dig your way with words WK