Hand pipes are available in a variety of materials these days, including glass, silicone, metal, clay and wood. But when it comes to breaking them in there is really only one material you’ll have to worry about: wood. Wood pipes are some of the oldest smoking implements known to man and they have a lot going for them. But because the wood itself is flammable there are certain rights and wrongs you’ll want to pay attention to when it comes to putting your brand new wooden hand pipe to work.

Breaking in New Hand Pipes: The Rights

Smoking weed from a wooden hand pipe is not exactly the same as smoking pipe tobacco from a traditional briar pipe. First of all, with pipe tobacco, it's all about the flavor, as in preserving and enjoying that flavor. With weed, it's more about getting a consistent burn and not overheating the pipe. That said, breaking in the two types of wooden pipes requires a similar process.

• Moisten the pipe bowl - As we mentioned, wooden hand pipes require breaking in because wood burns. So in order to prevent your wood pipe from going up in smoke along with your weed, you’ll need to break it in. The first step in that process is moistening the bowl the first half dozen times or so that you use it. Moistening can be as simple as dipping your finger in water and then rubbing the inside of the bowl before filling it. A more involved process is to dip a Q-tip in honey and then apply a very thin coating to the inside of the bowl. Let it sit for a day or so to absorb into the wood before using the pipe the first time.
• Fill the bowl incrementally - After you’ve moistened the inside of the bowl don’t stuff it with weed and take a blow torch to it. Instead, fill it about 1/4 of the way the first time and go easy with the heat. Once the first bowl is finished, let the pipe cool for half an hour or an hour, clear out the ash, moisten the inside of the bowl again (if you’re using the water method), and fill it 1/2 full the second time. Repeat the process filling the bowl 3/4 of the way, and finally all the way.
• Smoke everything in the bowl - The goal is to create an even coating of ‘cake’ around the entire inside of the bowl. In order to do that you have to make sure burning weed contacts every part of the bowl. So make sure you smoke everything, right down to the bottom of the bowl. If you only develop a cake on the upper half of the bowl you’ll create a situation where excessive heat will build up in the bottom of the bowl and your smoke will be a hot, caustic mess that burns your throat.

Breaking in New Hand Pipes: The Wrongs

• Don’t reload your new pipe while it’s still warm - You want to give the pipe a chance to cool down thoroughly before you load it and light it back up. This will give the cake on the inside of the bowl a chance to solidify before being subjected to more heat.
• If you use the honey method don’t use too much - Applying raw honey to the inside of wooden hand pipes is a great way to ensure the cake builds up in an even way. But if you smear too much honey on the inside of the bowl and then spark it up, your smoke is going to be extremely bitter and unpleasant thanks to all the sugar in the honey.
• Do not pack the bowl too tight - This is important no matter how old your pipe is, but until the pipe is properly broken in it’s particularly important to avoid stuffing it too tightly. If you push too much product into the bowl there’s a good chance that you’ll wind up with a plug of unburnt weed known as “dottle” at the bottom of the bowl that will interfere with producing that nice even cake you want along the inside of the bowl.
• Don’t scrape away all the char along the inside of the bowl - This might seem obvious considering everything we’ve said about building up cake on the inside of the bowl, but it bears repeating anyway. That charred material clinging to the inside of the bowl is what will protect the wood from burning away. It will also prevent the bowl from getting too hot in the future and creating a nasty, unpleasant smoking experience. So, in your zeal to clean your wooden hand pipes don’t remove all of that charred material.
• Don’t use alcohol to clean your pipe - Alcohol is sometimes used to clean glass pipes or metal pipes but it should never be used to clean wooden hand pipes. If you use alcohol it will absorb into the wood, meaning that next time you fire up the bowl you’ll be inhaling toxic alcohol fumes. Those fumes may not kill you, but at the very least they’re going to ruin your smoking experience and they might cause lung damage.

Not all hand pipes require breaking in, but wooden ones do. Particularly if you care about the pipe lasting and your smoking experience being cool and pleasant.