This is my pipe. I call it Shumani Tutanka owachi, which if you've seen Dances with Wolves you'll know that it means Dances with Wolves in Lakota, spoken by the Sioux indians. I know its not perfectly authentic, and I hope to one day get my hands on a more real one. Until then, this thing is still pretty fun. I made it myself. Or, at least decorated it myself. Anyway, I have a question about it or wooden pipes in general, I guess. I've smoked weed out of it a few times and when I hit it dry still manage to get a LOT of smoke. It gets a strong flavor from the pipe that completely masks the resin flavor. Now what I'm trying to figure out is what is actually happening here; am I smoking resin out of the wood? Or am I smoking the wood itself. Thanks in advance.
depends on how hard your torching it really. Unless it a wood that is soft and not good for pipes you're probably just hitting resin. I resin hit my wood pipe a few months ago just to prove to someone you could without smoking wood.
Well you can tell pretty easily by the taste... If it tastes like a wood stove then it's the wood. If it tastes like normal rez than it's rez. Since you say it tastes like the pipe than it's the wood... I wouldn't dry hit it like that anymore until it's much more used. Just keep smoking bud out of it for now, let the wood get soaked in rez and then it won't happen anymore. When I made pipes I would torch the inside of the bowl until it was black and crackled, then the wood taste was gone. I wouldn't do that with a nice piece like that though. Just smoke up. I've always meant to ask you, when you make your wooden pipes do you torch the inside of the bowl to prevent the wood taste? It sounds like you just carve the bowl, sand it, and pack er up with buds. I've made little wooden chillums before, thay tasted like wood until I torched the inside every time.They needed that carbon/ash coat. Does it depend on the wood more? I used apple and pear usually, pine once but regretted it when it caught fire every hit... I liked the taste of applewood whenever it came through, the pear was funky. But could any taste be prevented with the right wood?
I've torched a couple, but personally I always just go with the long seasoning. Just pack fresh buds on sanded wood and never really empty the bowl out super well so a 'cake' forms around the bowl. This is what you do with a traditional tobacco pipe. You'll rarely find a pre scorched tobacco pipe.