The Great Filter Challenge

My first pipe was a Dr Grabow which took 6 mm paper filters. After the first box (I think it came with the pipe) I never bought another filter. Initially this was simply a matter of convenience. I could not detect a difference in the smoke with or without the filter, so the filter was just one more thing to fuss with, and I had (and have) no desire to increase the complexity of pipe smoking beyond packing, lighting, and tamping.

After a few years with the Grabow, I made a fateful trip to the Tinderbox at Century III mall in Pittsburgh. The woman working there showed me a beautiful “Irish Second” that is still in my weekly rotation. She handed me my first “real” pipe for inspection and told me that I could look at it but should not put it in my mouth (solid advice I suppose). So what I did was immediately try to remove the stem, but it was tight and I was a bit nervous. She asked “what are you trying to do?” And in an attempt to cover I told her I wanted to see the filter (okay, I was nervous and a little stupid). She took the pipe from my hands and asked, “have you ever smoked a pipe?” in a tone that indicated I was wasting her time. So I just paid for the pipe and left the store firmly believing that “real” pipes don’t have filters.

And I was happy. Without a filter I could run a pipe cleaner through the pipe after each smoke and not have to take it apart. I didn’t need to buy filters, change filters, think about filters…. And why should I even consider changing? Filter supporters tend to argue that the filters give a cooler dryer smoke. Well, I honestly have not ever (at least as far as I can remember) thought to myself “this pipe would be so much better if it smoked cooler and/or dryer.” I can adjust my cadence to make any pipe I have come across smoke exactly the way I want. It is practically automatic as soon as I take the first draw, just muscle memory, but I don’t get hot wet smokes. Well, I also tend to smoke relatively dry tobacco and avoid humectant-laden aromatics (unless Carter Hall counts). A potential problem that worries me is that the filter might restrict the draw. I like an open draw for several reasons, but the most obvious to me is that I can puff slower to account for an open draw, but can only puff harder to adjust for a restricted draw. So I was set to go merrily through the rest of my life without another thought on filters. But then my friend Christian (perhaps I should change his name…nah, he deserves recognition) did something horribly kind.

Christian is part of the 9mm filter cult. You know the guys I’m talking about. They sell off pipes because they don’t accept filters, argue over various filter materials, and generally try to make the non-filter crowd feel like they are missing something. Yes, it is a religion, and they proselytize in a manner that makes Jehovah’s Wittness’ seem lazy. So Christian, my friend, has been subtly suggesting that I try a 9mm filter pipe, and I have been skillfully deflecting his suggestions by mostly pretending that I didn’t hear them. But he recently decided to up his quest to save my pipe smoking soul by giving me a gorgeous Savinelli 311 KS.

And while it is deigned for a 9mm filter, it does have adapter that allows it to be smoked without a filter. In addition to the Savinelli balsa filters, Christian included a variety set of filters to try.

So I’m left with a decision. I could just forget about the filters, but Christian will ask and I’m a lousy liar. I can hear the discussion now:

“The cat ate them.”

“But you don’t have a cat.”

“It was visiting from out of town…”

I could just stuff them in and see what happens, but I know I am biased, so that is not really going to be much better than the first option other than I don’t have to make up a story about visiting cats. So what I have decided to do is an experiment of sorts. Below I’ll list the steps, and all of this will be done from the same 4 ounce jar of Peter Stokkebey Deluxe Navy Flake, a blend I want to like, but has always been a bit too harsh for my pallet.

1) Smoke pipe until it is broken in using the adapter. So far I have had about 6 bowls through the pipe and it smokes like a dream. There is a bit of a bowl coating flavor coming through at the end of the bowl, but I think that will be gone after a few more smokes. Once I am satisfied that the pipe is broken in, I will give my impressions of how it performs and write a bit about the airway geometry, the adapter, and what I think of the Navy Flake.

2) Test the filters. Beginning with the balsa filter, I will smoke the Navy flake using each filter and report both on the pipe performance and the effect of the filter on my enjoyment of the tobacco.

3) Make a quantitative measure of the effect of the filter on the draw. This is going to be a project because I will have to build some device that will measure the flow of air over time (velocity) for each pipe/filter combination and compare that to pipe with the adapter installed. It’s not a trivial thing to measure correctly, so I will be looking forward to the challenge.

In the end, I’m hoping that I will be able to make an honest, albeit subjective, decision for myself as to whether or not I get any benefit from the filter. In addition, I hope to provide enough information to help the filter-curious out there decide if they want to take the leap. Who knows, we may all wind up on the “dark side.”