That's interesting! I forgot to mention that he carved his own set of pipes as well, which I found to be the coolest part of the whole business. Does the material used to smoke change the taste of the tobacco? To elaborate, is there a difference between smoking in a plastic pipe versus a wooden one?
That's pretty neat that he carved his own pipes. Pipes are most commonly carved from briar wood (root wood from the heath tree). This wood works particularly well because it does a good job of insulating and absorbing moisture which helps keep a dry smoke. There are a few other materials that are used for pipes (clay, corn cobs, meerschaum), but, to be honest, I don't know a great deal about them, and I don't really know which woods are suitable to carve a pipe out of. Anyway, to answer your question: yes, the material does make a difference in the quality of the smoke. Also, I wouldn't recommend smoking out of a plastic pipe; that could end badly.