Pipe Packing and Smoking techniques: Difference between revisions

:For your first pipe, you'll probably want one made of briar. "Briar" is wood from the burl (that portion between the root and the trunk) of the white heath (Erica arborea), a small tree or bush that grows in the Mediterranean region. [[Briar]] is durable, heat- resistant, and pleasing in appearance. There are other materials-- such as clay, meerschaum, and porcelain--that are also used to make pipes, but these materials are fragile and lack the smoking characteristics and ease of use of briar. Corncob pipes are the least expensive option for a first pipe, and they are a viable alternative to briar; however, they often have very small bowls (the bowl is the part of the pipe that holds the tobacco) and brittle plastic stems (the part that you place in your mouth) that are quite easy to bite through. Most briar pipes have stems made of vulcanite (rubber) or lucite (acrylic); either material works fine, and stem material is purely a matter of personal choice. Vulcanite is softer, which many find more comfortable, but lucite is more durable and resists oxidation.