Resting your tobacco pipe properly is crucial to preserving its quality and ensuring that you always have a pleasant smoke.
In this article we will find out why it is important to rest the tobacco pipe between smokes, the ideal rest times and some practical tips on how best to do this.
Tobacco pipe rest: the timing
That the tobacco pipe should rest between smokes there is no doubt, because it allows its physical and chemical balance to be restored.
But how long should the tobacco pipe rest between smokes?
It depends on the moisture level: the important thing is that the tobacco pipe has dried completely.
There are tobacco pipes that take longer to dry and others that take less, so the advice, at least after the first few smokes, is to check how long it takes yours to dry.
One thing is certain: a bent tobacco pipe will take longer to dry than a straight one.
This is why people tend to buy more tobacco pipes, precisely to avoid having to wait between smokes.
Tobacco pipe rest: where
First of all, you should never store your tobacco pipe in an enclosed space, such as a box or drawer. To dry the tobacco pipe, it needs to be exposed to the air (not the open air).
The risk is that the tobacco pipe, by not getting air, will not dry and will end up smelling bad.
Also, it should never be placed on a cold surface of marble or glass while it is still hot
For these reasons, smokers tend to store their tobacco pipes in a pipe rack or pipe stand. In fact, the affective and emotional aspect also comes into play: for a smoker it is certainly a source of pride to have his or her tobacco pipe collection in plain sight.
Smokers with larger collections find the use of the rack essential, because it allows them to easily locate and choose the most suitable tobacco pipe at the moment, at a glance.
Since choosing a certain tobacco pipe for a certain moment also responds to practical considerations, this will be facilitated by the orderly deployment of the entire collection.
Tobacco pipe rest: head down or head up?
Now we come to a dilemma of many smokers: should the tobacco pipe rest upside down or head up?
This question often divides enthusiasts, but let's understand the reasons behind these two choices.
The head-up faction is in the minority and considers the stove to be the most important part of the tobacco pipe, so they think it is right for it to be upright for practical and aesthetic reasons.
It is believed that leaving the tobacco pipe upside down causes tars to penetrate the stove caused by the heat of smoking, creating bad odors in smoke. By holding the tobacco pipe with the stove up, the tar would slide toward the mouthpiece, where it would be easier to remove.
Let us now turn to the contrary opinion, that is, the opinion for the head down, which is held by the majority of smokers.
The first reason is that air tends to circulate upward, so if the stove is down, air will be able to enter and dry the coal as it flows upward.
The stove, if placed upside down, would cause moisture to slip into the shank and mouthpiece, leading the tobacco pipe to dry much more slowly in these parts, unlike the stove which is exposed to the air.
It is clear that if moisture were to seep down into the mouthpiece, the smoke will taste unpleasant the first time it is smoked.
The differences end there, but proper cleaning after each smoke is more crucial in choosing between the two methods.
Once the tobacco pipe has been smoked, the stove should be emptied of ash, and this already makes a big difference, because it already reduces the problem of condensation.
Then a pipe cleaner is run through the shank and the mouthpiece to remove residue and additional moisture.
To delve into tobacco pipe cleaning in detail, we recommend you read our complete dedicated guide.