[Ask the Pipe Doc is a regular column comprised of questions and answers provided as a way of educating pipe smokers. Answers are provided by our resident 'Pipe Doc,' Marty Pulvers.]

PHOTO: Straight and Bent Pipes

To answer your question as specifically as I can, I will tell a story: David Field and I import, among others, the pipes of Karl Heinz Joura, undoubtedly one of the finest (and most expensive... bless him) pipe carvers in the world. On one trip to his home in Bremen, Germany, I asked him to make a large, full bent pipe for a customer. Money, I told Karlo, was no object. This customer has plenty of "geeters," I explained, he just wants a large, bent pipe from you. Karlo said "no!"  "What do you mean, no?" I shot back... "The pipe is sold, all you have to do is make it."  Karlo is a purist and he explained that bent pipes do not smoke as well as straight pipes and he would not make a bent pipe, although he does make curved pieces. Nothing as worthless as money was going to influence his integrity.

I think he is right. I know that I much prefer straight pipes, but that well may be because I simply like the shape and style of straight pipes. I certainly am not equipped to tell you I have done controlled tests and thus can tell the difference between how a straight pipe and a bent pipe smoke. I doubt that many palates could. In short, you should pick up and smoke what you like, and not worry about infinitesimal differences, unless you are truly anal-retentive and want to worry about those differences. If that is the case, go ahead, knock yourself out.

PHOTO: Churchwarden Pipe

You then say, and I quote, "I understand the importance of thicker bowls..."  Don't stop there, David, tell me, because I do not know what that importance is, other than adding unwanted weight to the pipe. If you are thinking that thick bowl walls smoke cooler than very thin walled bowls, think again. A well aged briar will smoke quite cool, regardless of bowl thickness (and we are applying reason here; obviously, there is a point at which the wood would be too thin, but it is unlikely anyone would make or sell such a pipe). Some of my favorite smokes are in quite thin bowled pipes. And if the wood is not well cured, or is simply a flawed piece of briar, no amount of thickness will keep it from getting too hot to handle and even burning out.

PHOTO: Does Bowl Thickness Make a Difference?

I have never really smoked a pipe with the filter inserted  although I have at least one good pipe that could take a filter, if I chose to insert one.  And not even to answer your question (worthy though it may be) do I intend to undertake that exercise. What I think, however, is that filters impede the draw, impede the taste and create a "wrong" turbulence. Cigars are a good example here.  A well rolled cigar creates a smooth, direct flow of smoke to the mouth, and will give you as good a flavor as you can get from the tobacco being used.  Poor rolling, blocking the smoke, will do the opposite, as I am sure you have experienced. Shoving a filter between the tobacco and the stem is the equivalent of creating a poorly rolled cigar. I think a filter filters out the possibility of a more fully enjoyable smoke.

I hope I have answered your questions.  Get some experience under your belt and you will be able to answer these for yourself... from first-hand experience. 

Enjoy your pipes,

Marty, the Pipe Doc

Other credentials include his being named a Doctor of Pipes by the Chicagoland Pipe Club and a Certified Kapnismologist (don't ask) by Pipe Collector's International... now defunct (don't ask). He is also a Certified Beer Judge, which he concedes has nothing to do with the subject at hand, but might help explain, in advance, the quality and tenor of some of his answers to your pipe questions.

Marty began his pipe voyage in abject ignorance of pipes and tobacco, and over the 45-plus years of pipe smoking, he claims to have experienced and learned a lot. Alas, he's willing to admit that it is possible he has been at it so long that this journey may have resulted in a complete circle.