Smokin Moose
Fallen Cannabis Warrior & Ex Moderator
To screen, or not to screen... In a word: no. Most people who use glass pipes these days have chosen to forgo the whole screen rigmarole. Although I have heard rumors that screens have a toxic coating you should burn off, I haven't validated that. For myself, I just find them too much of a hassle to mess with as they get clogged so easily. I use to not be able to stand 'sucking crap' down, burning bits in the back of my throat and all that, but, I have since become adept at avoiding this by learning when to suck hard, and when not to. Also if I do eat a bit of ash occasionally, I just swallow it. I discovered that the distastefulness of this was largely psychological for me, and I've even found that partially burned material doesn't taste that bad after all. On the other hand, I hate trying to hit a bowl through anything clogged, especially when you have to pull out most or all of the bowl just to get enough air flow for decent combustion, and nothing is more aggravating than trying to dig an air passageway through a bowl with a poker, and, not being successful, having to pull most or all of the bowl out just to clean the screen (and of course by the time you get the bowl loaded back up, you've somehow lost half of it). Others will swear by screens, and seem to require them with the same intensity that I require food and water. Screens may be best used if you only have shake to smoke. But to each their own...