If you regularly indulge in the relaxing experience of smoking some smooth, flavorful tobacco from your favorite pipe, you know there’s more to it than just the pipe, the tobacco, and a light. Pipe smoking is a hobby, a retreat, and even a ritual, with accessories to help you make the most out of your pipe smoking throughout the day. If you’re new to pipe smoking, or a seasoned connoisseur, now is a great time to start or to add to your pipe smoking collection

Nine Essential Pipe-Smoking Accessories

From the artistic to the purely practical, pipe smoking accessories are crafted with an eye to both form and function. From pre-assembled kits to individual pieces, there are an almost overwhelming number of choices on the market today. Your pipe smoking accessories can speak volumes about what kind of pipe smoker you are. Make a statement and choose wisely when selecting these essential pipe-smoking accessories to accompany you and your pipe.

1. Lighters

While some pipe enthusiasts are strict about only using matches, others prefer easy-to-use and stylish soft flame lighters, which have a slightly cooler flame than torches. With special features like an angled flame designed to keep you and your fingers intact, soft flame lighters are a must-have for pipe smoking. While chrome, black, and metallic styles are the most popular, lighters are a great way to personalize your pipe accessories collection.

2. Pipe Stands

Pipe stands are a great way to display pipes for easy use and for decoration. They come in a wide range of designs, colors, and materials, including ceramic, wood, acrylic, and leather, and can be built for either one or two pipes. Usually, stands designed for more than two pipes are called pipe racks.

3. Pipe and Tobacco Pouches and Jars

Whether you need a place to store excess tobacco or a way to get it from here to there without spillage, pouches and jars are essential for all pipe smokers. Many are designed to carry both your pipe and your tobacco. Choose from among leather, vinyl, suede, and cloth pouches as well as airtight jars designed for keeping your tobacco fresh and flavorful.

4. Pipe Tools

Pipe tools help you to pack, smoke, and empty a pipe as easily as possible and with. Often, these small tools come together in a set, but they’re also sold individually. A pick clears the shank and aerates tobacco that’s tightly packed while a reamer scrapes dottle and ash from the pipe. A tamper aids in packing the tobacco and gathers the ash to make relighting a cinch. Wind caps are essential to successfully lighting a pipe in breezy conditions. These tools range from elegant to simple and usually feature a sleek metallic look.

5. Pipe Cleaners

Pipe cleaners are not just for your kids’ arts and crafts projects—they also help to keep your pipe in tip-top shape by removing moisture and debris. Different types of pipe cleaners include regular for everyday cleaning, bristled for occasional thorough cleanings, tapered for narrower or bent pipes, churchwarden, and fluffy.

6. Polishes and Washes

Make your beloved pipes shine with cleaners and sweeteners that remove oxidation and work together with pipe cleaners to get rid of residue. Specially formulated stem oil aids in protecting vulcanite stems against UV rays and other damaging effects. When you don’t have a buffing wheel on hand, smooth on some wax that will give your pipes a smooth sheen.

7. Filters/Inserts

Pipe filters are a great way to reduce the irritation that sometimes results from pipe smoking, keeping some of the nicotine, tar, and other chemicals from entering the smoke and giving you a clean, dry inhale. Filters come in many different forms including filter crystals, charcoal filters, and pipe screens.

8. Ashtrays

Ashtrays come in as many designs, patterns, and styles as you can think of. They are as diverse as they are handy. Pipe ashtrays often come with pipe rests, cork knockers, and lots of room for leftover ash. They come in a wide variety of colors from green to burgundy to blue, materials including ceramic and glass, and shapes.

9. Pipe Racks

When you’re an avid smoker, you’re bound to have more than just one or two pipes. You may have a collection of pipes you actually use and pipes that are for display only. Either way, you’re going to need to keep those pipes organized so you can find one when you need it—and maybe to show off a little for guests. Classic pipe racks are available in cherry, oak, walnut, and other beautiful woods as well as in multiple pipe stand and stacker designs.

Whether you prefer a briar to a meerschaum, a corncob to a calabash, no pipe smoker’s collection is complete without a range of accessories to complement their favorite tobacco pipes.