The Pipe Bit: Glossary #5: Briar and Beyond

By Chris Rentner

 

            Pipes have almost as much variety as pipe tobaccos.  Briar, the king of pipe materials, is carved and processed into many unique shapes in addition to the standards of Bulldog, Apple, etc.  Some of the more obscure shapes are Oompaul, Skater and Oliphant—the last shape being a pipe that has its bowl jutting off straight from the shank,  instead of the usual bowl that points up.  Yes, it’s a challenge to smoke.  There was even a pipe introduced about ten years ago that was as flat as a tongue depressor—the bowl was just a dimple in the wood, and specially-made discs of flatted tobacco (thoughtfully, from the same manufacturer) fit in this area.

            Beyond briar is the reliable tier of meerschaum, corn cobs, clay and occasionally cherry wood.  But some manufacturers have, over the history of pipe smoking, made their products of truly different materials.

            Kirsten pipes (www.kirstenpipes.com) have stems and shanks made completely out of metal.  This is called the “radiator stem.”  The reason?  Kirsten pipes feature interchangeability of pipe bowls—any of their bowls will fit on any of their radiator stems.  So you can buy just a bowl and screw it onto your existing stem—almost a new pipe without the expense.  As a rule, metal is a no-no in pipes; but Kirsten fans treasure the variety this pipe offers.

            Ah, but you want to try a pipe that’s truly out of the ordinary.  The check out the pipes offered by the Bartlett Pipe Company (www.mountwashingtonvalley.com/pipe).  Bartlett pipes, such as the New Englander and Windjammer, are made of rock maple instead of briar.  And they smoke upside-down—you smoke the pipe with the bowl pointed at the floor.  The system to do this is complicated, but apparently works.  This company, by the way, first offered this peculiar style of pipe in the Freedom Smoking Pipe, but this model seems to no longer be produced.

            Not unique enough?  Wood is old hat and you want something truly different?  Then search for the pipe (yes, all lowercase) on ebay.com.  This brand of pipe lined its bowls with a substance called pyrolytic graphite, used in aerospace applications.  The material created, the company claimed, a lessening of tars and nicotine in this pipe.  For an abundance of information on the pipe, visit http://www.thepipe.info/history/index.html.  Author Billie W. Taylor II, PhD has put together on that site the definitive source for learning about this product.  The company that made this pipe is long gone, though, so ebay and pipe shows are the best ways to find one.

            Whatever material you choose for your pipe, be sure to enjoy it.  Briar is still the reigning champ of pipes but variety is welcome, in pipe smoking as in life.

 

            Uhle’s has its own line of handcrafted pipes, the JS pipe.  Made right here in Milwaukee, they start below fifty bucks are fine examples of traditional briar craftwork.  Check out www.uhles.com for more info on Uhle’s own JS pipe.