Pipe Filters? Yes? No? What Type?

[pierredekat]

I'm hoping to get some fellow pipemakers opinions on pipe filters, pipes that use filters, etc. Like, if you were going to get into building a line of semi-custom filter-pipes, how would you go about it?

See: Pipes: Filters and Filter Pipes

Different Sizes: 6mm? 9mm? Etc.

Type: Paper? Charcoal? Crystals? Wooden filter? Etc.

Availability in Local Markets? Like, Europeans seem to have much better access to 9mm filters, while "Dr. Grabow" type 6mm filters are on the shelves of most drug stores in the US. Canadians seem to have better access to "Brigham" type filters. Etc.

So if you were building a line of semi-custom filter pipes, do you choose a design based on what's most readily available in your local market? Or do you pick whichever design you like best and hope end-users figure out a way to get ahold of replacement filters?

Do you have a personal favorite system?

What about the longterm availability of a particular filter design? Like, some types of filters have come and gone. So how would that play into your choice of designs?

Or are pipe filters strictly taboo in your opinion?

[Frank]

I will readily admit that I am a "wet" smoker. If I don't use a filter..... well, you all know the taste of stinging tobacco juice on the tongue.

My solution, a P-lip button & a Peterson type system to hold the filter with a moisture trap below it. I don't really like Peterson pipes themselves, since I find the "draw" too tight & the briar too heavy.

I have customized factory P-lip stems for my (mostly) unsigned "Oom Paul" pipes, so they all have P-lip buttons & take a 6mm (1/4") filter. Result: A cool, dry, open draw.

I have tried paper filters & charcoal filters. The paper filters get blocked up with wisps of tobacco and/or the paper expands with the moisture, further reducing the draft hole size.
The charcoal filters seem to severely restrict the draw right from the get-go. Perhaps the 9mm filters are less restictive, I've never tried a pipe with that size filter.

I finally settled for 6mm Savinelli balsa filters. One filter lasts me a full 24 hour day, after which I toss the filter (clean the pipe) and switch pipes to the next in the rotation.

My particular setup is obviously for bent pipes, but bents are my personal smoking preference.

[pierredekat]

My solution, a P-lip button & a Peterson type system to hold the filter with a moisture trap below it. I don't really like Peterson pipes themselves, since I find the "draw" too tight & the briar too heavy.

I have customized factory P-lip stems for my (mostly) unsigned "Oom Paul" pipes, so they all have P-lip buttons & take a 6mm (1/4") filter. Result: A cool, dry, open draw.

Wow, that's a cool idea. I had forgotten about the Peterson system. And incorporating that with an actual, physical filter is pretty ingenious.

I finally settled for 6mm Savinelli balsa filters. One filter lasts me a full 24 hour day, after which I toss the filter (clean the pipe) and switch pipes to the next in the rotation.

Yeah, there's a lot of advantages to using a wood filter. Like I was reading about the "Brigham" filter system, and apparently a lot of people actually just wash Brigham filters and reuse them.

That's makes it pretty attractive to folks who don't want to have to make a special trip to pick up special filters from time to time.

And the balsa filters seem like a more "natural" alternative to putting something in your pipe that seems a little more "manufactured", like a paper/plastic/charcoal canister-type deal.

Thanks.