Silver Palm Leaf Pipe - A Review

Discussion in 'Smoking Pipes, Glass Spoon Pipes' started by Elvis420, Jun 14, 2011.

  1. The Silver Palm Leaf is a bit of a modern classic, becoming very popular as the 'credit card pipe' a few years ago - at least in this part of the world. I didn't find many mentions of it here on this site so I thought I'd post some thoughts from my month with it. It comes in two finishes, high-gloss and matt. I chose the matt one. :cool:

    Unlike some other credit card designs, it has only 3 components (casing, back plate and gauze) and the smoke travels in a single layer between the casing and back plate. It comes fitted with a gauze and comes with a pack of 5 spares. Only gauzes specifically made for it will fit but they are available at normal gauze prices. I went ahead and bought ten packs!

    Some sellers are claiming a smoke path length of 34 cm, presumably from official marketing material, but the actual length I measured with string is 15 cm. Maybe they added together the lengths of each possible smoke channel to make it sound better. Or something.

    The back plate is held in place by four magnets and can be lifted off fairly easily with a thumbnail, for cleaning purposes. The seal provided by the back plate is pretty good, at least on my example. I can put my hand over the bowl and give the pipe a good suck without any sign of air leaking.

    Bad points:
    Being made of metal and not glass, it does have a slight metal taste, while its weight and shape mean that it can't be held comfortably between the lips without using one hand for support.

    The bowl is a good size but suffers from uneven air flow, in that the hole under the gauze is at one edge, nearest the toker.

    Good points:
    It's genuinely pocket-sized and portable. It will fit into any wallet or could be worn on a chain or thong around the neck (like dog tags), using the hole provided.

    It is very easy to clean. I have found that even when quite dirty it can be wiped spotless in a couple of minutes with about three isopropyl alcohol wipes. I have a bunch of those lying around anyway for my injections and I keep finding new uses for them! With the aid of the end of a matchstick it's easy to reach every corner of the smoke path.

    Conclusion:
    It's very good when portability is an issue. I made up a little purse for mine (see my sig) and it goes anywhere I might want to toke. The taste and usability issues have been improved by using a Beeline hemp wick. I wouldn't want to go back to awkwardly trying to point a butane lighter at it!

    :smoke:
     

    Attached Files:

  2. So now I need recommendations for a pipe to keep at home...

    It needs to be
    • simple
    • fairly cheap
    • fairly easy to clean
    • generally awesome
     
  3. How hard is it to take a hit off this. Do you have to breathe so hard that you may have to hole the edges to prevent it from slipping into your mouth, or do I just need a hand to support it from falling like you said? And would this really fit into the credit card slot of your wallet, or by it fits in a wallet it can fit somewhere inside it, not specifically inside a slot? Sorry for all these questions, I just don't want to spend so much money and be dissapointed.
     
  4. It's not too difficult to draw on really. No more so than a bong or something. You're just suppoting the weight with your hand.

    It's about as thick as three credit cards plus the lump for the bowl is almost as thick again. It will fit into a normal card slot because it is at least 0.5 cm shorter than a normal card.


    I'm thinking of getting myself a glass shabong/steamroller for my home pipe as I like the idea of seeing the smoke and having the hole to take it all in. :)
     
  5. That piece is stunning, I never get sick of pieces that have that solid steel look. [​IMG]
     
  6. They had some great designs on those in the late 90's.

    [​IMG]
     

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