Pipe Stems
AKA To Clench or Not to Clench
Some people clench a pipe between the teeth. Especially when doing other things that require the use of both hands. A lighter pipe is more comfortable to clench. A heavier pipe really needs the support of one hand.
However, after a long period of using one of your favourite pipes, the mouthpiece will first develop tooth marks, then worn indentations, and eventually a hole will be made.
It happens. Always.
Shown here are some stems from old and well used estate pipes. (Old pipes that have come into my posession for restoration). Sometimes they can be restored using a very fiddly hit and miss process of building up the indentations and holes with activated charcoal and super glue.
Softies are available from all good online pipe stores. I buy mine form GQ Tobaccos.
There is a solution to prevent the damage from happening. Shown here are a variety of rubber "softies". They are desinged to slip over the mouthpiece.
If you value a pipe and want to prevent "tooth bite" on the mouthpiece then this is the answer. They last quite a while before eventually needing replacement, but they are very inexpensive.
I wish that I had known about them 55 years ago when I started smoking a pipe.
Some people like them, and some people say that they can't get on with them. Your choice. If you don't use them then you will eventually get bite marks in the stem of your valued pipe, and worse still, eventually a break or a hole.