Welcome to My Smoking Chamber!

(circa 1995-1998)

On why this page exists...

This complex hobby, tended to properly, produces such rewards as to force one, even an introvert, to share his experience with his fellow man; that he may also know pleasure and refuge such as this.

Or... I like smoking and collecting pipes, and I had some free time, so I thought I'd share this with you.

On the history of my pipe collection...

My first pipe was purchased from a local tobacco store. The store carried many different pipe makers, but the best look and feel at the best price seemed to be Stanwell of Denmark. So it was that I purchased my first Stanwell pipe. As the list of Frequently Asked Questions from the alt.smokers.pipes newsgroup points out, it is a good idea to have many pipes, that no one pipe gets over-used leading it to smoke less than sweet. So I went back to that local tobacco store, as soon as I could afford to, and purchased my second Stanwell pipe. So it was that I began to develop a small collection of Stanwell pipes. Over one or two years I amassed about 12 Stanwells in all.

After learning more about pipe quality in terms of appearance and grain, and after I had enough pipes that I could smoke 2 or 3 a day letting each rest for 5 days, I began to look into "better" pipes. I then purchased an American Smoking Pipe, 1996 Christmas edition by Mark Tinsky with which I am very happy.

Since then I've also purchased a few Savinelli's and one Dunhill.

Edit: I remember enjoying that Dunhill and wondering if I'd ever be able to collect Dunhill pipes.

On the lighting of my pipes...

These days I light my pipes with Swan Vestas matches exclusively. I've grown to love using wooden matches. They wreak much less havoc on the rim of a pipe's bowl, and if one allows the sulfur to fully burn off of the match before puffing, the tobacco's flavor remains pristine in comparison to lighting by other means.

Before I saw the wisdom of using wooden matches I amassed a small collection of pipe lighters, my favorites of which were the IM Corona Old Boy pipe lighters with their built in tampers.

On my pipe related library...

Reading and collecting books on smoking pipes is as enjoyable as practicing the gentle art itself. I'm always looking for a good pipe related read, so if you know of one not listed here please drop me a note.

To date my pipe related library includes:

  • My Lady Nicotene, by J.M. Barrie (Author of Peter Pan).
    An excellent tale of a man, his friends, and his pipe.
    Although unsubtantiated by a professional, I believe this to be the original edition circa 1896.
  • The Ultimate Pipe Book, by Richard Carleton Hacker.
    Probably the best book on pipe smoking and collecting ever published.
  • Rare Smoke, by Richard Carleton Hacker.
  • Pipe Smoking - a 21st Century Guide, by Richard Carleton Hacker.
  • Pipe, The Art and Lore of a Great Tradition, by Robin Crole.
  • The Perfect Pipe, by Paul Jeffers.
  • The Pipe Book, by Alfred Dunhill.
  • "Pipes & Tobaccos Magazine", All issues published to date.
    A first class magazine dedicated to this gentle art.

On refreshment between puffs...

Before I light a bowlful of tobacco, I like to prepare a cup of the best green tea I can find. For me that's Harney & Son's Chinese Lung Ching

On my taste in pipe tobacco...

Variety is the Spice of Life, and thus I smoke a variety of tobaccos. The first blends I truly enjoyed were Symphony, Golden Extra, and PlumCake by MacBaren. These would be described as "Aromatic" blends. Aromatic blends are flavorful and sweet, but after a year and a half of MacBaren tobaccos I started longing for something spicier. And thus I started experimenting with "English Blends" and "Matured Virginias". Like coffee, I didn't like these blends right away, but over time I grew to appreciate them, and once I developed a taste for Latakia, Perique and Oriental tobaccos, I could not fully appreciate a blend in which they were absent.


To learn more about my experiences with the tobaccos I have tried, with pipe and tamper please accept a formal invitation to My Pipe Tobacco Reviews.

On the cleaning of my smoking pipes...

To keep my pipes sweet, I'll use a pipe for one day at most and then clean it. These cleaning habits have been developed around experience, need, and advice from members of alt.smokers.pipes. I insist on using Long's "Extra Absorbent" premium pipe cleaners which come in bundles not plastic bags. I do this because Long's don't bend half as easily as other pipe cleaners and they leave much less "fuzz" behind in the pipe than most other cleaners.

After the pipe has cooled for at least an hour I perform the following steps:

  1. I separate the stem from the shank by gently twisting the stem.
  2. I dip a pipe cleaner in grain alcohol and tap it on paper towels so it's not too wet. I then run the pipe cleaner, back and forth, through the shank. I repeat with fresh pipe cleaners if necessary until the pipe cleaners stay clean.
  3. I then dip a pipe cleaner in grain alcohol and tap it on paper towels so it's not too wet. I then run it back and forth through the lower portion of the stem by the tenon. I repeat with fresh pipe cleaners if necessary until the pipe cleaners stay clean. When the pipe cleaners are remaining reasonably white I begin to run them all the way through the mouth piece. In this way I don't push tar from the tenon up to the thinner mouthpiece area of the stem.
  4. Lastly, I use a dry Long's Extra Absorbent pipe cleaner to remove any ash and tobacco from the bowl.

After a pipe is thoroughly cleaned I let it dry out for five days before smoking it again.

In conclusion...

From first pipe, to final cleaning . . . . that concludes our tour through my personal tastes in tobaccos and pipes. I hope you've been able to read between the lines and expose portions of my personality; for pipe smoking and collecting is mostly that; an expression of one's personality.

Done perusing my pipe page of yesteryear? You could return to The Gentlemanly Art of Pipe Smoking.