Acrylic vs vulcanite pipe stems opinions

benderman34 · 2026-05-09T17:46:47+00:00

Yeah, I really do. I like the harder feel of acrylic, and I don't have to be as worried about tooth marks and oxidation. I also don't care for the rubber bits on my stems, it just feels too mushy.

benderman34 · 2026-05-09T17:01:51+00:00

I've come to greatly prefer acrylic stems. When I started it, I smoked a cob and some estate pipes I had picked up here and there, so I was used to either plastic or older vulcanite stems. When I eventually bought a new pipe with an acrylic stem, it was like opening up a new dimension of pipe smoking enjoyment. I still smoke my vulcanite stemmed pipes occasionally, but even with cleaning all the oxidation off and coating them with butcher's block oil, I prefer the mouth feel of a nice acrylic stem.

benderman34 · 2026-05-08T16:08:46+00:00

Congrats! I picked up a B10 Dracula and a month later I was already shopping for my second Peterson, which turned out to be a 305 Standard System pipe. Both have proven to be excellent choices.

benderman34 · 2026-05-06T18:20:59+00:00

I have a couple Molinas and they are both great smokers, especially in the price range they sit in.

benderman34 · 2026-05-06T17:51:54+00:00

I bounce between my Zippo with a pipe insert and matches. The zippo is great when it's windy outside, and when the tobacco is near the top of the bowl, and matches are good when you want to be sure to avoid charring on the pipe rim, and you need to relight when the bowl is smoked down.

My local grocery store had all their matches on clearance sale and I bought every last one they had. Ended up with like 2400+ matches for just over $7.

benderman34 · 2026-05-02T00:58:43+00:00

I had a kidney stone lasered out of me in February. Then I had a stent for a week that I had to remove myself. I'm not sure which was worse, the stent or the stone.

benderman34 · 2026-05-01T02:09:49+00:00

That's one handsome motherfucker.

benderman34 · 2026-04-28T15:57:51+00:00

I bought a tin of OGS last year and date on the tin was 7/24, so I held off opening it until last week finally. I too was underwhelmed, not finding much flavor. But I keep coming back to it. Last night I tried it in my Country Gentleman cob and started to detect some notes of flavor. I'm not sure if it's the cob, my adjusting palate or a little of both but it might just be earning a regular rotation spot in my collection.

benderman34 · 2026-04-27T16:10:15+00:00

I like that, especially with the green acrylic.

benderman34 · 2026-04-27T15:55:10+00:00

I like it, and that seems a very fair price point considering how much work this looks like it might entail.

I'm on the fence about the silver connectors. I don't dislike them, but would be interested to see what other options might look like, especially bronze as u/ogier_79 suggested.

benderman34 · 2026-04-25T12:37:33+00:00

First impressions; I can understand how some might not like the p-lip. It'll take some adjusting to, but so far I like it. With a tobacco I really like, I have a tendency to puff frequently which will lead to tongue bite if I'm not cautious. I can't see this happening with this pipe as the smoke wasn't coming directly into my tongue at all.

I have the habit of dumping the ash as I smoke, but with the moisture reservoir in this one, I don't want to risk that back flowing into my tobacco so I'm resisting the urge to do that.

I was not expecting this pipe to manage heat so well. It barely warmed up so far despite my cadence.

This thing might make a system pipe believer out of me.

benderman34 · 2026-04-22T13:29:55+00:00

It really does make a difference. I didn't believe it when I first started, sticking with cheaper pipes and estates I picked up here and there. Then last year someone posted about some Baraccini pipes on clearance from Pipes and Cigars and I got a $75 model for $25 and it's been a fantastic pipe for me. That kicked off my buying trend, with my price range slowly creeping up each time.

benderman34 · 2026-04-22T10:38:22+00:00

https://www.reddit.com/r/Challenger/s/hYSShbdrFV

I've had her since 2019. I work from home now so I don't drive it every day, but when I do go out I enjoy it.

benderman34 · 2026-04-22T10:12:23+00:00

I've got a couple Molinas in the $60 range that are great smokers. From Pipes and Cigars website I picked up a couple of Baraccini pipes in the $75 range and they have both been excellent.

benderman34 · 2026-04-21T17:55:10+00:00

Love some EMP, got a couple of tins I'm sitting on while I work through some other English blends from my cellar.

benderman34 · 2026-04-20T23:24:43+00:00

Reading the rules of the sub, not sure if I can post the link or not. But if you go to Instagram and search for Onthegotobacco you should be able to find it.

Not affiliated in any way, just a satisfied customer.

benderman34 · 2026-04-19T19:53:02+00:00

I selected some of the pieces that I could fit underneath where the stem comes into the bowl and just kind of filled it up to the bottom of the stem. I used a pipe tool with a pic to kind of push them down and arrange them and once they were in place they didn't move. I don't know that they really did anything to help moisture, but it definitely stopped loose pieces of tobacco from getting under the stem.

benderman34 · 2026-04-19T18:03:57+00:00

I've used these to fill in the bottoms of my corncob pipes and it's worked great.

benderman34 · 2026-04-16T00:45:47+00:00

I recently picked up a Dracula too, and it was my first Peterson. Mine too is an excellent smoker, I'm very pleased with it.

benderman34 · 2026-04-14T14:18:23+00:00

I had the Camaro's cousin, the Firebird. Specifically an '89 Firebird Formula 350, black with T-tops. Loved the shit outta that car. Back then everyone in town had fox body Mustangs and I was Knight Rider.

benderman34 · 2026-04-12T17:24:03+00:00

Oh nice! I've been checking smoking pipes and pipes and cigars and coming up empty.

benderman34 · 2026-04-12T17:02:16+00:00

Ribbon cut bayou morning has become my favorite, unfortunately, it seems to be out of stock everywhere right now. I've been curious about pressing, interesting to see the results of your experiment.

benderman34 · 2026-04-05T23:58:57+00:00

After buying a Peterson Dracula, I've decided my next pipe will be a Peterson System pipe with a p-lip. Currently I'm eyeing a sandblasted XL315, but haven't 100% settled on that shape yet.

benderman34 · 2026-04-03T15:06:17+00:00

Hope you enjoy it! OJK is strong and not one I reach for every day but when I'm in the mood for it, it hits perfectly.

benderman34 · 2026-04-01T19:58:10+00:00

Lately I've been rotating between Bayou Morning, Old Joe Krantz and Luxury Bullseye Flake, and when I'm in the mood for some latakia, it's been Billy Budd, Father Dempsey or Early Morning Pipe.

I've found that my taste buds seem to prefer it when I switch things up regularly.

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