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SpiralArchitect

Ew. Smoking potpourri?!

Well, it looks functional enough. Nice work man, I'm wondering how well it will hit myself...I'd probably smoke a bowl out of it, just because its one of the more unique and natural pieces I've seen. How did you manage to seal the shell and the quill together?

BTW: that is a huge quill. You guys must have huge porcupines in your area... lol

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Merry-juana

I live in south africa. I used glue (non-toxic, inflammable, made sure, even called the costomer support centre to hear if heat could make it toxic.). The glue is made for fishtank repairs, so it has to be non-toxic otherwise the fish can die.
Thanks for the responses. I love everything natural, infact, to me it was torture putting on that glue, even though I read on the bottle that it was non-toxic and inflammable, since I knew it probably was processed. My next pipe is going to be made out of the biggest cone shell I can find, just the cone shell, with a hole in the back. The fact that it swirls will probably quadrupple the efferctive length, and tornado into my lungs. I prefer not to even smoke out of glass, but out of wood or stone or other naturally accoring substances. I would love to make it my hobby to make pipes. And btw if you think that one is big, look at this one:

http://i246.photobucket.com/albums/g...g?t=1212946625

Maby the correct translation from afrikaans to english is not porkupine, since the afrikaans name for it is aardfark, littally meaning earthpig. Or it might just mean that they grow bigger in there natural environment, being savanna.

SpiralArchitect

South Africa? Wholey shit, awesome!!! You guys must have massive porcupines, haha. Here in Alaska, USA our porcupine quills are really small. Hm, yes it does kind of look like a porcupine quill but not quite. I'm unsure really, I've never heard of 'earthpig'. I googled 'earthpig' and it came up with an Aardvark, which is what we must be talking about because the afrikaan name for it is aardfark. So maybe you have an Aardvark pipe


Is this the animal?

Good call on the fish tank glue.

Hm, yes some people do but I'd like to point out glass is the safest substance to smoke out of and glass is actually naturally occurring (although glass pipes are artificially made, they are still the safest, healthiest thing to smoke out of)

sterbo

Here's the critter!
Nice quills...


Rhinoceros African Crested Porcupine » Hystrix Africaeaustralis » ‘Ystervark’

Porcupines on the red Kalhari dunes, Kgalagadi
©South African Tourism

Definitely the most spectacular of the Shy Five, this endearing creature loves to roam at night rootling for... no, not truffles but bulbs and tubers. Alas, we don't have such a sublime wild delicacy in South Africa… but we do have the ‘African potato,’ or imkomfe, a yummy, wild tuber that grows commercially in KwaZulu Natal and is making its way into stores.
The name "porcupine" is a combination of the Latin and French words for pig and spine, roughly translating as "quill pig" which is also the meaning of the Afrikaans name Ystervark. Unquestionably the largest rodent in the southern hemisphere, porcupines are instantly recognizable with their armory of black and white-banded quills. Females can weigh over 25 kg and measure 100 cm in total length. They have good front claws for digging and their tracks are similar to those of the honey badger.
Porcupine roaming in the Northern Cape
©South African Tourism

You might be pondering why on earth mother nature endowed this creature with such a crest of formidable spikes. Well, if you knew how tasty and succulent their plump flesh is under that bristle of quills – you would know why the great creator of all beasts and evolution itself provided such a veritable armory of spines.
The head, neck, sides and underbody are covered with dark bristly hair. A crest of very long coarse hair extends from the neck and shoulders and is erected when the porcupine is alarmed. The tail has hollow quills that function as a warning rattle when shaken. If cornered by a predator then it erects its quills and keeps its vulnerable head away from the attacker. Contrary to popular belief, they cannot 'shoot' their quills, but sometimes make a rush at attackers to stab them with their spines.

A wary porcupine with crest errected, KwaZulu Natal
©South African Tourism

Our friend, the porcupine is a vegetarian who prefers roots, tubers and sometimes a little bark or wild fruit. Well trodden trails are easily identified by shallow holes, exposed plant roots and bulbs and the odd quill. If by chance it rambles into a farmer’s patch it will feast gloriously upon the tatties, pumpkins and any other root vegetables in its path. It gobbles away noisily until just before dawn and then slips away into the foliage to slumber in a burrow - a veritable Winnie the Pooh. After overly sampling the forbidden delights it leaves a trail of destruction to greet the hapless farmer in the morning.
Porcupines have also been known to raid cultivated gardens adjoining nature reserves, mystifying gardeners with the nightly disappearance of their beloved arum lilies. A single sighting of these remarkable creatures roaming around the garden by moonlight tends to be ample compensation to the gardener for the pilfering.

• Status: Their population is stable although the increasing demand for their quills as interior decorations and tourist souvenirs sadly spells untimely death to this benign creature – as distasteful as the fur and ivory trade. It has been given Least Risk status on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species
• When you’re most likely to spot porcupines: Porcupines are nocturnal and start foraging well after dusk until just before dawn. Sometimes they bask in the sun just outside their burrows.
• Where porcupines roam: They range widely but prefer broken veld, occuring throughout southern Africa except in the Namib desert.
• Reproduction & dwellings: During the day they sleep in caves, rock crevices, burrows or hidden in dense vegetation. Although they are solitary foragers, they often share their burrows. They usually have one or two young but can have a litter of up to four. The young are well developed at birth and suckle for about 3 months. They start foraging under the protection of their parents during the weaning stage.

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feedyourhead

since when is glass not naturally occurring?

sweet pipe though... that's a really cool idea!! :-)

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SpiralArchitect

Haha good find Sterbo. I was thinking to myself Aardvarks don't really have quills....

Merry-juana

Damnit, there is so many "varks", I get them mixed up. And btw, I picked up the quills (at a game researve, on a vacation), so no anamals where harmed. I can not imagine killing one for quills, since they can lose there quills naturally, like a lizzard can lose it's tail. And yes, glass is naturally occuring, but glass pipes are artificial, and unless you can get a glass formation in the formation of a pipe, you are not going to get a natural glass pipe. I personally like the idea of smoking out of a shell the best, probably because I surf and love the ocean even more than weed. The best thing to do though is to make a joint, put it in a waterproof bag (you get it for surfing) along with a lighter and paddle out. Then smoke the joint out in the water.

SpiralArchitect

Cool. I figured you just found it on the ground, I love lil' crittters too. Even if they are spikey things. Sadly I can't say everyone here appreciates porcupines as much as me, there are more than a few dead ones I see on the side of the road, on trails and sometimes at campsites

haha. Well. Um. Didn't you take that quill, hollow it out? Then use GLUE to attach it to a shell? It sounds to me by your definition of an 'artificial' device, your 'natural' pipe fits the bill dude. I don't get what your saying I guess...

Awesome, surfing in South Africa. Man, that must be awesome. I assume you've lived there for a while now? How is it, and how is the bud?

Merry-juana

Actually, what I mean by artificial is anything that is processed to form a different chemical compound, like taking MJ and making marinol, or taking poppiues and making heroin. I must admit the glue thing hurts my soul a little, I would have liked to use tree sap to do it.

And yea I have been living in SA all my life. It kind of sucks because of the negative vibe everyone has because of crime and xenophobia, but I just shut myself out of that and enjoy the great surf. The best thing is that the surf in mosselbay is the most consistant surf in the world, and is pretty good quality too, and nobody outside of SA knows about it, and it is pretty uncrowded. It probably has a lot to do with the fact that we have the most dense population of great white sharks in the world, just a paddles away from the beach, on seal island. One of the things we have to go through to be able to surf the main break as a local (it has quite a lot of advantages.) is to paddle from dias beach, to seal island (where the sharks are.), touch land, and paddle back. It is a big paddle, but you can take a break on the island. There isn't really any danger to paddle to seal island (there hasn't been a single attack in the history of mossel bay.) other than the fact that it is a big paddle. I haven't experianced much of the bud, only the best. (I have a very good friend, who has contacts, really good contacts, I get a gram of White Widow for the same price as mids.) All I can say is it takes 1 drag to get stoned, and in the right setting, it is mind blowing and indescribable, almost shroomish, but WAY stronger.

SpiralArchitect

Cool, man thats really awesome. It must be quite the experience living in South Africa.

Be careful about those sharks, I'm sure you've seen the American movie Jaws?