Big Bowls and Where to Find Them
jim102864
Master
I just read about a TPL member who was looking to buy a Big Ben Wade freehand pipe. I too have an interest in buying a new or perhaps estate pipe with an XL, big or whatever you may refer to it as bowl. Any suggestions? I can't seem to track them down using the usual websites, ie Smoking Pipes, Pipes and Cigars, Cup O' Joes, etc.
Comments
I wrote an article on here, some years back, about the practicality and where to find these massive pipes. My suggestion is go to a pipe show/ convention. I got introduced to some pipes that are ridiculous/ impractical to practical large pipes. Going to show really opens your eyes to what you might like and you'll also find pipes at a better price that way.
Marco Biagini will make you a pipe to whatever dimensions you specify.
The one thing I'm concerned about is balance and weight of some of these larger pipes that have been suggested. The 2 inch depth rule suggested by @pipeman83 makes sense to me. I'm going to look into these pipes further and see if I can score one that's a good fit for my tastes, comfort and budget.
@jim102864, I have only purchased 1 of these larger sized pipes from Marco, which was a Lovat. When you are smoking a pipe this large, it can be difficult to see what you are doing when lighting the pipe, so looking back on it now, a quarter to half bent would have been a lot more user friendly. When it comes to bowl depth, pipeman83 is right. Form needs to follow function, and when things get too radical, there can be drawbacks.
@Charles, well the standard .75 drilling in most pipes seems to work for most blends, and sometimes a wider bowl can change the flavor profile of a particular blend. Sometimes for the better, but sometimes a wide bowl can cause a pipe to really heat up. Marco will drill a pipe to your specifications though, so if you want to experiment with a wider bowled pipe it's possible. The thing about large bowled pipes, is they do not conserve tobacco, wheras a small bowled pipe can make a little tobacco go a long way. Back in England during the time when tobacco was rationed, limited, or scarce for whatever reason, folks almost exclusively smoked clay pipes, even of they could afford a larger bowled meerschaum.
Personally, I have chosen to limit most of my pipe purchases to pipes weighing in the 20 to 50 gram range, possibly going up to 55 to 75 grams, if the pipe is bent or a short nosewarmer,