Hey, how's it going? Today, rather than posting pictures, I'm going to talk through how to break in a pipe.
A pipe is essentially a piece of wood with a couple holes in it. Wood is porous, and will expand and contract more readily than stone or metal. Because of that, pipe smokers have to take care of their bowls to protect against damage that could be done from excessive heat and/or moisture. The first step in making a pipe last a long time is to make sure it is broken in properly.
Three pipes at various stages. Bottom pipe is brand new, right is a pipe that has only been smoked about five times, and left is a pipe that is many years old.
The goal of breaking in a pipe is building "cake" around the inside of the bowl. Cake is compiled ash and spent tobacco that coats the inside of the bowl that serves the purpose of protecting the bowl from moisture and heat. We want the right amount of cake, too little and the bowl could get too hot; too much and you'll have to eventually buy a tool called a reamer to remove the excess cake.
First a note about tobacco choice. I've read and heard many times that the type of tobacco you use to break in a pipe will permanently flavor the pipe. So, a pipe broken in with an aromatic should only be used to smoke aromatics, break in with a cavendish and you should only use that, and so on. Now, I'm no aficionado, but I have been smoking pipes for about ten years and I honestly can't tell the difference. I've broken in pipes with strong aromatics and smoked them as specific aromatic pipes and then switched to random tobacco and they smoke no different than my other pipes. So, its up to you. "Professionals" say you should have a variety of pipes that are specific to different kinds of tobacco. I think you should have a variety of pipes too, but I don't think keeping certain pipes for specific types of tobacco makes much difference. At least not for an average hobbyist.
Ok, so you have a new pipe and you're ready to smoke. First step, lick your finger. Get some saliva on it. Now coat the inside of the bowl with your saliva. This will cause the ash to stick to the bowl once you're done smoking it. Now, there are two different ways you can load the bowl. Either fill it up but don't pack it, or fill it up and pack it down halfway. I think its easier to keep it lit if you pack it halfway, and it draws better. On the other hand, if you're not using matches, this isn't the best way because you'll probably burn the outer rim of your bowl trying to light it, if it even reaches. Once you've got the tobacco in the bowl, its time to smoke.
I've heard a lot of people talk about how nice it is to be the first to smoke a pipe. "That first smoke." Actually, its about the worst smoke. It doesn't get that nice draw or feeling until like the tenth smoke. Sometimes later. Generally, a more mature pipe will always smoke better. The first smoke is going to be bitter, you're not going to get a lot of flavor, but this is necessary. Ok, so smoke it down. Make sure you cache the whole bowl. Get as much burnt up as you can.
Next step is to get that ash coated around the bowl. Put your thumb over the bowl, and shake it real good. Get all that ash around the whole inside. You'll get some on your thumb, but man up, its just some dirt and it washes off. You've just accomplished your first smoke. Now go get a different pipe and celebrate, because you're not going to use this one for a couple days, the pipe needs to cool off and rest a bit.
I suggest doing this (except the saliva part, you'll just wipe off your cake) for the first five smokes, and then it can be packed regular. I'm cautious. I prefer to take it easy on a new pipe rather than just diving in. So for me, I still only do a light pack for the next few smokes and give it the full blast after like eight or ten smokes. After its been smoked about ten times, its pretty much broken in. It'll still continue to mature over time, and should smoke better each time. After about 25 smokes you can figure your pipe is mature and this is how it will smoke for years to come.
Well hope that helped. I'll write some more articles as time goes about taking care of the pipe and other random stuff. As always, feel free to comment or ask questions.
Have a good night!
