The
Briar Pipe
The Briar pipe is always the first choice of any pipe
smoker. Briar comes from a tough little tree called Erica Arborea, which is a
member of the heather family. It grows no more than 20 feet high, and would
never be thought of as a premier pipe material. The burl, which pipes are made
from, is found just under the ground. It's not tree trunk nor roots; it's
actually the meeting place for the two.
Today nearly 30,000,000 tobacco pipes are
manufactured across the world and the Briar Pipe is in reach of nearly every
pipe smokers' wallet. Ebay is an excellent place to find a great deal on a
briar pipe, so check out their huge selection.
The Meerschaum Pipe
Meerschaum
is a mineral that comes primarily from Turkey. This material is soft and easily
shaped but wasn't used as a pipe material until the discovery of tobacco. Its
scientific chemical name is hydrous magnesium silicate and is thought to be
remnants of prehistoric sea shells. Once the pipes are carved they must be
dried and polished. Meerschaum's are renowned for the cool, mellow smoke, and
remain very popular today. Meerschaum pipes have quite a long break-in period,
but the smoker is rewarded with a beautiful autumn brown pipe and a full ripe
quality and flavor.
The Clay Pipe
Clay in this case is almost always a very fine white clay.
Low-quality "clay" pipes are actually made from porcelain slip poured
into a mold. These are porous, of very low quality, and impart unwanted flavors
to a smoke. Top-notch clays, on the other hand, are made in a labor-intensive
process that requires beating all air out of the clay, hand-rolling each pipe
before molding it, piercing with a fine wire, and careful firing.
Traditionally, clay pipes are un-glazed. Clays
burn "hot" in comparison to other types of pipes, so they are often
difficult for most pipe-smokers to use. Their proponents claim that, unlike
other materials, a well-made clay pipe gives a "pure" smoke, with no
flavor addition from the pipe bowl. In addition to aficionados, reproductions
of historical clay styles are used by some re-enactors. Clay pipes were once
considered disposable items and the rapidly changing designs in the past are
often used as an aid in dating by archaeologists. They were once very popular
in Ireland, where such a pipe was called a dúidín.
The Calabash Pipe
Calabash gourds (usually with
meerschaum or porcelain bowls set inside them) have long made prized pipes, but
they are labour-intensive and today quite expensive. Because of this expense,
pipes with bodies made of wood (usually mahogany) instead of gourd, but with
the same classic shape, are sold as calabashes. Both wood and gourd pipes are
functionally the same. They consist of a downward curve that ends with an
upcurve where the bowl sits. Beneath the bowl is an air chamber which serves to
cool, dry, and mellow the smoke. There are also briar pipes being sold as
calabashes. These typically do not have an air chamber and are named only
because of their external shape.
A calabash pipe is rather large and easy to
recognize as a pipe when used on a stage in dramatic productions. Early
portrayers of the character Sherlock Holmes, particularly William Gillette and
Basil Rathbone, took advantage of this fact when it was required to portray
Holmes smoking. This is why Holmes is stereotypically depicted as favouring a
calabash. In fact, most stories, particularly The Adventure of the Copper
Beeches, described him as preferring a long-stemmed cherry-wood or a clay pipe.
The Corn Cob Pipe
Did you know that a small town in
Missouri pumps out 15,000,000 corn cob pipes a year? The corn cob pipe industry
has been supporting farmers since 1969. Farmers can sell the corn kernels then
hand over the cobs to the pipe makers. The corn cob pipe is a great starter
pipe since they are readily available and extremely cheap. Most pipe smokers
prefer corn cob pipes only to the coveted Briar Pipe.
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