This is research for a story I am trying to write…
I’ve heard people say that a pipe makes a noise when you smoke it, sometimes described as a soft “bubbling” sound. Is this true?
What happens if you try to smoke a pipe at a very high elevation, like, say, Quito, at 9300 feet? Is there any significant difference in the way a pipe draws?
Thanks!
Bubbling can happen if liquid builds up in the bottom; this will not happen in a properly made pipe, unless you’re holding it wrong.
High elevation can cause dizziness when smoking (especially other than tobacco), but I’ve never heard of any difference in drawing.
smoking two pipes is fairly aggressive smoking.
if you allow tar to build up in the bowl or stem it will bubble.
No experience at high altitude (at least not above Denver), so I can’t help you there. No difference between ~sea level and Denver, though.
Bubbling, as mentioned, shouldn’t be normal. I’ve only rarely had any hint of that, and it was very, very subtle.
I used to smoke a pipe but never did at a high elevation. However, the oxygen is thinner at higher elevations, therefore anything that burns will burn a little less. So I would imagine a pipe would burn slower, smoke less, draw less. But I would also guess the difference would not be too big. I now yield to someone with experience.
Thank’ee kindly! This is definitely the SDMB’s greatest strength: people here know stuff!
johnpost: grin! Why, one for each ear, of course!
One cool bent you could try for a story is to have a character, say, deny traveling to a high-elevation area (where they are accused of committing a murder). The critical clue comes from some sort of observation of deposits or something in the pipe that the accused smokes. A reader who knows a bit about pipes could tell that the deposits indicate that it was recently smoked at a high altitude…
The phrase “woefully esoteric” springs to mind.
If one wanted to use a bit of pipe-esoterica as a mystery clue, the fact that smokers of wooden pipes generally rotate them and don’t smoke the same pipe multiple days in a row (whereas smokers of clay or corncob pipes don’t have to rotate) always struck me as a good one.
But how could you tell after the fact that the pipe had been smoked at a high altitude?
From the 1981 documentary, Continental Divide:
Ernie Souchak, city boy, and his grizzled mountain guide have just finished climbing to the top of a very tall hill. They stop for a break, and Souchak lights a cigarette and starts smoking it.
Guide: I wouldn’t do that if I were you.
Souchak: Every day of my goddamned life, some asshole has tried to tell me… passes out
Wait. Ernie Souchak. Played by John Belushi. Documentary?
everyone has their own standards for facts.
Blast. I thought this was IMHO…
You will hear something like bubbling if there is resin built up in the pipe.
Grin! Cool idea! I’m stealing it! No, really, all I wanted was realism/verisimilitude. For instance, earlier in my story, I wrote about someone pouring a “neat whisky over ice.” Oops! “Neat” contradicts “ice.” I was hoping to avoid this with pipe-smoking.
(Or even “pope-smoking,” which I just typoed and corrected.)
Is this something an experienced pipe-smoker would prefer not to let happen? i.e., “If so, you’re doing it wrong?”
Well, you’re going to hear bubbling if there’s water in it, but that’s a completely different kind of pipe.
Someone new to pipe smoking may leave the stem in their mouth a bit too long allowing saliva to drip down to the bottom of the bowl. Then you get that bubbling noise, I’ll have to research myself on tar/resin build-up for myself.
Most pipe smokers I know clean their pipes quite often. To have enough resin built up to bubble, would be frowned upon. It could also make the pipe taste “sour”.
Exactly the opposite of the pot heads I know. They intentionally let the resin build up, so that in tough times they can scrape out the resin and smoke it. 
There are lots of reasons a pipe might make noise when smoking it, none of them are good. Smoking too hot can also lead to condensation building up and making things gurgle. Pipes should be pretty well silent if smoked and cared for properly.
If you really want to get into esoteric shit, many pipe smokers will have not only a rotation of days they smoke the pipe (you should really let briar rest 48 hours) but dedicated pipes for different tobaccos. Something flavored or containing latakia will “ghost” the flavor into a pipe. This is not bad if it’s dedicated to that tobacco, but will ruin a delicate aged red Virginia.
Feel free to ask me anything. It’s been a few years since I gave it ip, but I was a VERY serious pipe smoker for a while.
Liquids bubble. There could be excessive moisture in the tobacco, which has pooled at the bottom of the bowl. It could be saliva. It could be liquid tar residue (and tar residue tastes bitter/bad).
Tobacco that is too dry will burn hot. Tobacco that is too moist is difficult to light, and difficult to keep lit. You try to keep the moisture level somewhere in between. My Dad used to add a slice of apple to keep the tobacco moist. I use a small humidifier ( http://www.smokingpipes.com/accessories/pipe%20accessories/moreinfo.cfm?Product_ID=84688 ) or occasionally add a few drops of water to the humidor.
As a pipe smoker, bubbling is something you would prefer didn’t happen.