I'm usually a straight stem guy, as I find it harder to pass a pipe cleaner through most bent pipes. I love my Peterson 05 bent pipe, but I can't get a cleaner through the air hole unless I fully remove the stem from the shank. While I love the look of a full bent pipe, I find that they tend to get smoke in my eyes while I write if I'm not careful.
My preferred stems are quarter bent or at a slight angle. I'm a sucker for bent dublins and zulu's, as they just have a bend to them that I find appealing, akin to something you'd see clenched in a ship captain's jaw.
I tend to prefer a straight stem myself - they are easier to pass a cleaner through when smoking. I do have some nice bents,but most of them are earlier acquisitions. I almost always go for straight stems,now.
I generally like bent the best as I am normally smoking while doing other things. My favorite pipe is the Oom Paul so I like lip hangers with almost a 90 degree bend.
The straight pipes, like a classic billiard, I like the fact that I can pass a pipe cleaner straight through to the bowl with no effort, though my bents can pass a pipe cleaner through the stem to the bowl but not as easy. The straight pipes I own are on the lighter side so they are good when I'm making a pipe or doing another hobby. One minor thing is that I don't get the occasional gurgle with a straight pipe that I can get with a few of my bents. With that said there is something very nice about sitting in my chair with a bent pipe relaxing. I can pick straight or bent depending on the occasion but not for every smoking occasion.
I'm a proud member of the bent community and have been so for quite some time. I still have a few straight pipes around that I acquired years ago, but they are no longer in my rotation.
Man, bent Billiards are my jam! Although it really makes me laugh that I love bent pipes so much but the vast majority of my pipes are straight or like....1/8th bends. It's kinda ironic, but it is most likely because I don't buy new pipes. Estate pipes are much cheaper.
I did not think that I had a preference until I looked at my collection and found that 8 of my 10 pipes are bent. I guess I just need to aquire more pipes to balance out the ratio.
I gotta join the bent crowd on this one. All of my best smokes have been on bent pipes. It just feels better to me. Yes it's harder to pass a cleaner through. I just wait to clean after the smoke when the pipe has cooled down and take it apart.
@abreathawayfromglory I am a massive Oom Paul fan. Do you have a picture of your restored estate?
I never paid much attention to it as if I get a gurgle I gently blow into my pipe and let it sit a moment and it normally goes away but passing a pipe cleaner through an Oom Paul while smoking isn't the easiest task in the world.
No bias here, like them both. If I working on something at home it's a bent. But other than that it doesn't matter to me. I can get a pipe cleaner to pass most of my bents unless it's really dramatic.
I have straight stems, full bents and a lot of in between. I get along with all of them but in cooler weather when I'm likely to be wearing a flannel with breast pockets, a bent is easier to tuck away if I duck inside somewhere.
Along these lines, I was never one to give a second look at a poker, until I got my first one. Since then I have picked up five more.
@highstump, I'm still not the worlds biggest fan of pokers, I tend to like more stem on my pipes that help to cool the smoke and I find that bents can pull that off without being too long. I've never smoked a church though, so I may have to try one of those, but the shorties are not currently for me.
@pipeprofessor I agree with you and notice that I normally like bent pipes when smoking hotter burning tobaccos, I have several Peterson system pipes that are bent, and it does make a difference. If you've never smoked a church warden I highly recommend it. At least when it's not 110 degrees outside I notice that the smoke, unless I'm puffing to much, gets much cooler than a normal pipe and I notice it opens up more of the flavor a in some of the aromatics I smoke and have some blends I'll smoke in nothing else
@drac2485 My 16 year old son just bought me one to be nice....I have noticed it totally gurgles like crazy. Have you notice yours do that with aromatics?
@thesubcon in regards to churchwardens the first one I got (First pipe period) it gurgled a lot. Primarily I smoked aromatics so it may be some of the casing but I learned that aromatics have a tendency to be much wetter, in general, because of the casing so they need a little drying time. If I know its something I will smoke the next day I'll load the pipe the night before. Also, in general, I've learned to carry pipe cleaners with me whenever I smoke because I do drool a bit into the stem (nasty but some of us do it). A trick that seems to work for me is that if I get a gurgle I very gently blow down into the stem (not enough to disturb the ash) and it seems to make it go away (Sometimes the more bent pipes don't pass pipe cleaners very well) ***WARNING*** If attempted expect to wear the ash every time you do it or else the one time you think you got it your covered. Pipe cleaners work best though, the pipe doesn't have to be cool to use them just be careful that you don't dump the bowl in your lap (Unlike a smaller pipe that you can hold and control easily I ended up dumping my bowl in my lap trying to get a pipe cleaner in my churchwarden). Hopefully this help but YMMV
@pipeprofessor I just remembered the way I learned learned the stem makes all the difference I that I have a Nording Valhala with a regular stem and I bought a semi-churchwarden stem and smoked with both and then stole a stem from a Nording churchwarden I had and the difference in the three stems on the same pipe (and same tobacco) were very noticeable. YMMV
@drac2485 yeah I am a droller and I do dry my tobaccos, etc, but I noticed the same tobacco that smokes fine and try just gurgles like crazy in the churchwarden. I generally just use pipe cleaners to take care of that cause I'd prefer that hassle to pushing the moisture into the cake and souring it for future use. I guess I just never figured that would be a thing, though I think I probably should have. I guess I was just curious if it may just be my pipe or if that was a churchwarden normality. It was a very cheap pipe so I wouldn't be surprised if it was just THAT pipe.
@thesubcon I have a friend with a cheap pearwood churchwarden that does the gurgle every time and it ends up being the pipe. My understanding though is that the longer stem cools the smoke more so it will possibly condensate more and being a wet smoker probably doesn't help. I gurgle in all of my bent pipes smoking aromatics unless they are only lightly cased and very dry. Do you have a goopy wet mess at the bottom when your done?
I prefer straight stems, but only because I'm such a wet smoker. I really enjoy a lip-hanger, but I have to hold the pipe or it will gurgle. I have some bent pipes (enjoying one right now, in fact), but I try not to clench it or I pay as I go.
PipeProfessor
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My preferred stems are quarter bent or at a slight angle. I'm a sucker for bent dublins and zulu's, as they just have a bend to them that I find appealing, akin to something you'd see clenched in a ship captain's jaw.
#PAD
No bias here, like them both. If I working on something at home it's a bent. But other than that it doesn't matter to me. I can get a pipe cleaner to pass most of my bents unless it's really dramatic.